The Swiss Agent: A Novel

by Anna Pitoniak

CIA officials Amanda Cole and Kath Frost must work together to untangle a global bribery scheme involving murder, wealthy oligarchs, and high-level Swiss bankers—unless Kath’s mysterious past tears them apart first—in the next novel from the author of The Helsinki Affair. Amanda Cole’s posting as the CIA station chief in Rome is normally too quiet for her liking. But when a chef’s body washes ashore on Capri, and Amanda learns he worked for a Russian oligarch with deep Kremlin ties, her alarm bells start ringing. Even more suspicious is the fact that the oligarch had hosted a private dinner with NATO’s deputy secretary general the night the chef died. To get answers, Amanda calls on her former partner Kath Frost, a semi-retired CIA legend who is as brilliant as she is unpredictable. As they dig deeper, they discover a web of corruption that stretches from Moscow to Geneva to Washington, eventually uncovering a Kremlin-backed scheme to bribe NATO officials and tip the global balance of power. But when a suave Swiss banker named Julian Schmidt emerges at the center of the scheme, it becomes clear that Kath shares an intimate history with him and that she may know more than she’s letting on. It turns out that Kath’s past is full of shadows, and the choices she made decades ago, in the gray borderlands of the Soviet collapse, are resurfacing now with devastating consequences. Amanda must uncover the truth about Kath—and whether she can really be trusted at all—before it’s too late.

368 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication December 1, 2026

About the author

Anna Pitoniak is the author of The Futures, Necessary People, Our American Friend, and the forthcoming The Helsinki Affair (November 2023). She graduated from Yale, where she majored in English and was an editor at the Yale Daily News. She worked for many years in book publishing, most recently as a Senior Editor at Random House. Anna grew up in Whistler, British Columbia, and now lives in New York City and East Hampton, NY.

Reviews

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review to come. Unsure how to rate this. I liked a fair bit of it, but not as good as some of the author’s other work. Maybe struggled to pick a genre (or, written in a way that suggested this was the case).

Full review here: https://civilianreader.com/2026/04/22...

[Mal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reader copy.

When CIA Rome Station Chief, Amanda Cole, is given a tip about the suspicious death of a private chef in Capri, she's sent down a rabbit hole of Russian oligarchs, Swiss bankers, and a backroom deal with NATO. But in order to solve the puzzle, she'll have to team up with Kath Frost--an unpredictable CIA agent who has more secrets than anyone can count--and keep the job off the books. Traveling between Rome, Geneva, and Washington D.C., Amanda must work with, and sometimes against, Kath to solve the mystery before Kath's secrets catch up to them both.

I know a book is good when Iim racing through it and then find lots of things to do occupy my time when I get near the end--I want the moment of being in the world the author created for just a little longer. THE SWISS AGENT is one of those books. Pitoniak does an excellent job of making very complex international issues feel just simplified enough for the average reader to follow, but not so dumbed down that there isn't a sense of urgency and reality. While Amanda is our entry into the story, the book mostly revolves around Kath, who is charismatic, suspicious, and infuriating in equal measure. From moment to moment I couldn't tell what her real motivations were, which kept me turning pages. This book comes out in December and is an excellent gift for someone to curl up on the couch and get sucked into the complicated, but still very human, world of international spies.

The Swiss Agent is out December 1, 2026

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine follow up to the authors first espionage novel, The Helsinki Affair. Once again we follow the adventures of CIA Rome Section Chief, Amanda Cole, along with freelance agent Kath Frost. Lots of wonderful use of actual settings in Rome and Capri, as the death of a famous French chef sends our heroines into the fray, This book focuses more on Kath, and thanks to that the settings move from 1972-73 to 1992-93 and then today. I really enjoy these books and their authenticity really makes the plots very believable. If you enjoy the Espionage and Spy genre, then this is for you!

[Jen Lovelace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting spy thriller. However, it was maybe 100 pages too long and a very slow burn. Don’t expect fast pace here—but somehow the intrigue and mystery was enough to make me want to carry on. By the end, I was definitely ready for it to be over (ha!) and nothing was earth shattering in the end’s twists and turns. Overall, a decent read, but a few less words and a bit higher stakes could take it to the next level.

Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley!

[Keles Wyntor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley. I love a good Spy novel. I’m not usually the biggest fan of third person writing, but I understand why Pitoniak chose to write this story that way. There are so many characters involved and moving pieces that require us as the reader to understand multiple POVs. I really enjoyed Amanda and Kaths characters and enjoyed watching them figure everything out. A fun read!!

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment in the Amanda Cole series, but I hope it's not the last! I flew through this and couldn't put it down. I liked the flashbacks to the 90s and it was cool reading how everything unfolded along with that. Amanda is awesome, but I'm not as big of a fan of Kath as I was after the previous book. I'm a big fan of Anna Pitoniak's books.

[MadiG Raps · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting spy thriller involving the CIA, various international offices and geopolitical incidents.

it felt slightly too long and the ending left more to be desired.

thank you netgalley for the arc!