What do you think?
Rate this book
American Spy Sisters #2
A Spy Above the Clouds : A Novel of WW II
For the first time in her pampered life, the headstrong American, Constance Vivier-Clarke, has been pressed into doing something useful for a change. Driving an ambulance for the American Hospital in Paris, “Viv” is caught in the crossfire when the Nazis march into Paris. She makes a harrowing getaway over the Pyrenees into neutral Spain and on to London in hopes of finding a role to play in the fight against fascism.
The mysterious Marcel Delonge, a deputy to General de Gaulle, touts Viv’s successful clandestine escape to British Intelligence, emphasizing her notoriety as a daredevil skier. The “washout” Olympic hopeful is enlisted as a secret agent and courier-on-skis, ferrying messages and weapons to the Resistance in the enemy-infested French Alps.
Jean-Paul Morand, a young physician, is desperate for someone to guide the downed pilots and Jewish orphans he’s hiding in his alpine infirmary to safety in Switzerland. But a question lingers: Is this former playgirl up to the task, or will Viv get herself and her comrades killed—especially when this unlikely member of “Churchill’s Angels” flaunts the most important rule of all and falls in love with a fellow spy and saboteur?
With rumors rife of an Allied invasion, someone has betrayed Viv’s Mountaineer intelligence network, but who? The Allies’ most implausible secret agent still must complete a last, crucial mission—but only if she and the man she loves can survive the final battle in this electrifying WW II romantic thriller based on historical fact.
New York Times & USAToday bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning former broadcast journalist Ciji Ware once again displays her extraordinary talent for weaving historical fact into mesmerizing fiction.
“Thoroughly engaging.” BOOKLIST
The mysterious Marcel Delonge, a deputy to General de Gaulle, touts Viv’s successful clandestine escape to British Intelligence, emphasizing her notoriety as a daredevil skier. The “washout” Olympic hopeful is enlisted as a secret agent and courier-on-skis, ferrying messages and weapons to the Resistance in the enemy-infested French Alps.
Jean-Paul Morand, a young physician, is desperate for someone to guide the downed pilots and Jewish orphans he’s hiding in his alpine infirmary to safety in Switzerland. But a question lingers: Is this former playgirl up to the task, or will Viv get herself and her comrades killed—especially when this unlikely member of “Churchill’s Angels” flaunts the most important rule of all and falls in love with a fellow spy and saboteur?
With rumors rife of an Allied invasion, someone has betrayed Viv’s Mountaineer intelligence network, but who? The Allies’ most implausible secret agent still must complete a last, crucial mission—but only if she and the man she loves can survive the final battle in this electrifying WW II romantic thriller based on historical fact.
New York Times & USAToday bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning former broadcast journalist Ciji Ware once again displays her extraordinary talent for weaving historical fact into mesmerizing fiction.
“Thoroughly engaging.” BOOKLIST
- GenresHistorical Fiction
468 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 3, 2021
28 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Ciji Ware
44 books259 followersCIJI WARE is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling novelist, an Emmy-award winning television producer, reporter, writer, lecturer, and host. Her latest work, THE SPY WORE LONG WHITE GLOVES (Book 4, American Spy Sisters series), published October 14, 2025 , was inspired by the exceptional American women who volunteered as "Churchill's Angles"--secret agents during WW II, fighting enemy infiltration within Britain, as well as parachuting into occupied France to fight the Nazis. As with her other novels, author Ware invites her readers to view her research photos at www.pinterest.com/cijiware/the-spy-wo...
Ware's Four Seasons Quartet "THAT..." series includes stand-alone titles set in CORNWALL, EDINBURGH, VENICE and PARIS that were released betweeen 2013-2017. A novella "The Ring of Kerry Hannigan," part of the RING OF TRUTH anthology with novelists Diana Dempsey and Kate Moore, was released as a single title in the spring of 2015.
Ware has won numerous awards for her 15 works of fiction, including the Dorothy Parker Award of Excellence; the 'Golden Quill' award for Historical Fiction; 'Best Fictionalized Biography' for her 18th c. historical novel, ISLAND OF THE SWANS. For the latter work, she was bestowed in Edinburgh the honor of FSA Scot, of which she is exceedingly proud. Another historical novel, A RACE TO SPLENDOR, debuted in April, 2011 on the 105th anniversary of the devastating 1905 San Francisco Earthquake and Firestorm and was short-listed for the WILLA (Cather) Literary Award in 2012.
In 2015, Ware was named to the Martha's Vineyard Writers-in-Residence program where she began a long-term project: REINVENTING...ME, a memoir of her years in all aspects of media. Currently, she is working on the second of two novels in her Spy Sisters series set in WWII based on the lives of several American women secret agents in the armed conflict.
Ware's most recent nonfiction, RIGHTSIZING YOUR LIFE: Simplifying Your Surroundings While Keeping What Matters Most, was named by the Wall Street Journal as "One of the Top 5 Books on Retirement Issues." She is at work on a sequel, SIMPLIFYING FOR SENIORS: Decluttering, Divesting, and Downsizing. She continues to lecture extensively on the subject of domestic downsizing for people age 50+ as she relates her own journey from 4000sq. feet of living space in Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara, down to a "cottage by the sea" of around 1000 square feet in the San Francisco Bay Area--and loving it! She is also the author of JOINT CUSTODY: Making Shared Parenting Work.
For eighteen years, Ware was heard daily as a commentator on ABC Radio & TV in Los Angeles. During her noted career as a broadcaster, she has worked as a reporter or anchor for PBS and all three major network affiliates, covering a wide range of topics in the areas of health, consumer, lifestyle and women's issues.
Ciji Ware is also a sought-after event speaker, print journalist, (AARP, Travel & Leisure and other national magazines) and has the distinction of being elected as the first woman graduate of Harvard College to serve as President of the Harvard Alumni Association, Worldwide. The author is married four decades+ to Internet marketing executive, Tony Cook. The "Cook-Wares" have a son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren.
Visit Ciji's website at www.cijiware.com; her Facebook page: Ciji Ware, Novelist
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ciji-Wa... and her Pinterest page at http://pinterest.com/cijiware/
Ware's Four Seasons Quartet "THAT..." series includes stand-alone titles set in CORNWALL, EDINBURGH, VENICE and PARIS that were released betweeen 2013-2017. A novella "The Ring of Kerry Hannigan," part of the RING OF TRUTH anthology with novelists Diana Dempsey and Kate Moore, was released as a single title in the spring of 2015.
Ware has won numerous awards for her 15 works of fiction, including the Dorothy Parker Award of Excellence; the 'Golden Quill' award for Historical Fiction; 'Best Fictionalized Biography' for her 18th c. historical novel, ISLAND OF THE SWANS. For the latter work, she was bestowed in Edinburgh the honor of FSA Scot, of which she is exceedingly proud. Another historical novel, A RACE TO SPLENDOR, debuted in April, 2011 on the 105th anniversary of the devastating 1905 San Francisco Earthquake and Firestorm and was short-listed for the WILLA (Cather) Literary Award in 2012.
In 2015, Ware was named to the Martha's Vineyard Writers-in-Residence program where she began a long-term project: REINVENTING...ME, a memoir of her years in all aspects of media. Currently, she is working on the second of two novels in her Spy Sisters series set in WWII based on the lives of several American women secret agents in the armed conflict.
Ware's most recent nonfiction, RIGHTSIZING YOUR LIFE: Simplifying Your Surroundings While Keeping What Matters Most, was named by the Wall Street Journal as "One of the Top 5 Books on Retirement Issues." She is at work on a sequel, SIMPLIFYING FOR SENIORS: Decluttering, Divesting, and Downsizing. She continues to lecture extensively on the subject of domestic downsizing for people age 50+ as she relates her own journey from 4000sq. feet of living space in Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara, down to a "cottage by the sea" of around 1000 square feet in the San Francisco Bay Area--and loving it! She is also the author of JOINT CUSTODY: Making Shared Parenting Work.
For eighteen years, Ware was heard daily as a commentator on ABC Radio & TV in Los Angeles. During her noted career as a broadcaster, she has worked as a reporter or anchor for PBS and all three major network affiliates, covering a wide range of topics in the areas of health, consumer, lifestyle and women's issues.
Ciji Ware is also a sought-after event speaker, print journalist, (AARP, Travel & Leisure and other national magazines) and has the distinction of being elected as the first woman graduate of Harvard College to serve as President of the Harvard Alumni Association, Worldwide. The author is married four decades+ to Internet marketing executive, Tony Cook. The "Cook-Wares" have a son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren.
Visit Ciji's website at www.cijiware.com; her Facebook page: Ciji Ware, Novelist
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ciji-Wa... and her Pinterest page at http://pinterest.com/cijiware/
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 5, 2021
I could not put this one down. I read it in one day and forgot to do much of anything else around the house! Character development and plot are wonderful.
September 20, 2021
This book takes the reader with the heroine as she skis into the swiss mountains in deep snow, uses her skills as an actress to persuade the nazi soldiers that she is just a spoiled rich girl hitting all of the ski resorts. Little do they know the real reason that she is there. She is so well depicted that the reader can identify with her and feel her fears and insecurities. She is part of a network of people who all depend on each other to get their work done. Everything must be in sync or the cause could fall apart. What a responsibility. The French resistance movement is very well described and the dangers they faced every day. This is all based on historical fact but the characters are brought to life by Ms. Ware. It also gives a good depiction of the scarcity of food, water, wood, and warm clothing both by the allies and the Nazis. There is also the human side of war and family pressures as well as divided loyalties. As always with war, there is money to be made. It's easy to live in a safe place and sell the Nazis supplies, with little regard for human life. It's all here in this incredible book.
March 31, 2022
Constance (Viv) is a spoiled American rich girl who has been traveling around Europe when the war breaks out. She loathes her stepfather who trades with the nazis. She's angry with her mother. Her stepfather has sent money for her to come home but Viv eludes the embassy staff member that is to get her the ship to get her on her way home. Viv heads for Paris and the American hospital. She drives an ambulance for them and Viv finally feels she has found herself. She is given the job of taking Michel DeLonge to Dunkirk as France is about to be occupied. Since she has an American passport she is able to stay on. But eventually she has to leave and ends up training with the SOE. Ciji Ware is a long novel with so much happening in A Spy Above The Clouds. Many ups and downs. Couldn't stop reading. Viv grows up and changes as the story goes on, she falls in love and more than does her bit. It is a work of fiction but real history is wound in.
May 18, 2024
A Spy Above the Clouds by Ciji Ware is the second book of the American Spy Sisters mystery series set in WWII. Constance Vivier-Clarke "Viv" has lived a pampered, privileged life. Her only true misfortune was the death of her pilot father in WWI. She rebels against her mother's second marriage by "acting out" all over Europe. A talented skier, she can't be bothered to show up for all the Olympic tryouts - so she's dropped. But that isn't enough to stop her childish behavior. Only the outbreak of WWII can do that. Viv suddenly decides to change her life, to make a difference, to be a daughter who would have made her father proud. She gets her chance as a courier and passeur for British Intelligence. The more difficult and dangerous, the more she welcomes the challenge.
A long story spanning the war years, with plenty of suspense, a little romance and heartbreak. Educational as well - the author clearly researched thoroughly. Satisfying and enjoyable, with a cute "comeuppance" at the end.
From the prologue: She seized her poles and edged her skis back onto the trail once again. Glancing over her shoulder, she pushed off down the mountain as if she were the Olympic skier she’d once hoped to be…and the devil was after her. Ultimately, it turned out—he was.
3 years earlier:
At an inch-and-a-half shy of six feet, she felt her usual sense of awkwardness at being nearly a head taller than the man about to interview her.
“I skied all last winter at Chamonix and Verbier in the Alps, training for an Olympic tryout.”
“Fortunately, in my case there’s no need for gainful employment,” realizing what an entitled twit she must seem to this man.
the last thing Viv wanted or intended was to sail home and live with her parents in Hickory, North Carolina, three miles from her stepfather Karl’s boring manufacturing plant.
Leave France for an empty, aimless life in Hickory, North Carolina, sharing a house with a stepfather she despised? No way!
She’d behaved as a spoiled, pampered, over-indulged American more often than she cared to admit.
Some perverse willfulness to meet the low expectations of others had gotten the upper hand over her long-buried desire to succeed
Fiddling while Rome burned—that’s what she’d done
the fourteen-foot windows offered a stunning view of Paris
The shock to French citizens and ex-pats alike finally registered when the Germans made swift work of the Maginot Line’s two-hundred-mile stretch of concrete fortifications on the border with Germany.
their ambulance unit’s recent journey to the battlefields that had very nearly met with complete disaster. All along the route back to Paris, swooping German aircraft had shot directly at their vehicles. What kind of savages behave like that?
“Targeting neutral entities like the Red Cross is part of the terror campaign Hitler relishes. I’m afraid I must alert you that the German pilots are making special efforts to fire on your vehicles. You must complete the task of removing the red symbols today.
“Can you believe how the French have simply given up even though the barbarians are about to breach the barricades?”
“Act Two of a German play the elder generation has already seen.”
as phalanxes of goose-stepping German soldiers surged down the Champs-Élysées in the warm spring air of June 14.
Viv found herself wondering if beautiful women like Pamela Bradford felt they were simply entitled to secure whatever they wanted from the opposite sex—be they gentlemen or scoundrels—simply by virtue of their good looks and sexual appeal?
But what an ignorant dope she’d been then, with no idea what it was like to be someone the German enemy could just dispose of at will.
“Of course Germany wouldn’t bomb you,” Viv snapped. “All that stolen gold in the Swiss vaults is the only thing that allows you to be neutral…it’s what keeps Hitler and his SS goons from calling the tune in Bern or Geneva.”
the words of a therapist she’d sought in a moment of teenage desperation came back to her now. That’s what narcissists do, Viv…they are incapable of thinking about anyone’s welfare above their own. To expect otherwise just gives birth to future resentments…
She was nearly thirty now, she thought. Practically an old maid by any standard. Would she ever marry? Have children of her own? A piercing foreboding made her wonder if all the good men like Marcel and this Swiss renegade would be in their graves before this terrible war finally ended.
On several occasions they observed French officials being as ruthless as their German counterparts grabbing Jewish escapees off trains, from the streets, out of their homes, and from their places of business.
“Think of it this way. There are only a handful of American women in this corps,” she reminded Viv, “so no matter how hard it gets, we’ve got to show the flag, right?”
“Yes, you hated it and you were afraid, but you did it anyway,” he said. “That’s the definition of courage, you know.”
“Have you heard that Coco Chanel has been living with a Nazi officer at the Ritz in Paris all this time?”
The leader of the Free French wants to be seen getting all the credit for liberating the country that surrendered itself to the Nazis.
de Gaulle had ordered all Allied secret agents to be forced out of France.
Isn’t it pretty pointless to wish for a better past?
“It is what it was,” she declared out loud. Acknowledging the truth of that might be the only key to truly “moving on.”
A long story spanning the war years, with plenty of suspense, a little romance and heartbreak. Educational as well - the author clearly researched thoroughly. Satisfying and enjoyable, with a cute "comeuppance" at the end.
From the prologue: She seized her poles and edged her skis back onto the trail once again. Glancing over her shoulder, she pushed off down the mountain as if she were the Olympic skier she’d once hoped to be…and the devil was after her. Ultimately, it turned out—he was.
3 years earlier:
At an inch-and-a-half shy of six feet, she felt her usual sense of awkwardness at being nearly a head taller than the man about to interview her.
“I skied all last winter at Chamonix and Verbier in the Alps, training for an Olympic tryout.”
“Fortunately, in my case there’s no need for gainful employment,” realizing what an entitled twit she must seem to this man.
the last thing Viv wanted or intended was to sail home and live with her parents in Hickory, North Carolina, three miles from her stepfather Karl’s boring manufacturing plant.
Leave France for an empty, aimless life in Hickory, North Carolina, sharing a house with a stepfather she despised? No way!
She’d behaved as a spoiled, pampered, over-indulged American more often than she cared to admit.
Some perverse willfulness to meet the low expectations of others had gotten the upper hand over her long-buried desire to succeed
Fiddling while Rome burned—that’s what she’d done
the fourteen-foot windows offered a stunning view of Paris
The shock to French citizens and ex-pats alike finally registered when the Germans made swift work of the Maginot Line’s two-hundred-mile stretch of concrete fortifications on the border with Germany.
their ambulance unit’s recent journey to the battlefields that had very nearly met with complete disaster. All along the route back to Paris, swooping German aircraft had shot directly at their vehicles. What kind of savages behave like that?
“Targeting neutral entities like the Red Cross is part of the terror campaign Hitler relishes. I’m afraid I must alert you that the German pilots are making special efforts to fire on your vehicles. You must complete the task of removing the red symbols today.
“Can you believe how the French have simply given up even though the barbarians are about to breach the barricades?”
“Act Two of a German play the elder generation has already seen.”
as phalanxes of goose-stepping German soldiers surged down the Champs-Élysées in the warm spring air of June 14.
Viv found herself wondering if beautiful women like Pamela Bradford felt they were simply entitled to secure whatever they wanted from the opposite sex—be they gentlemen or scoundrels—simply by virtue of their good looks and sexual appeal?
But what an ignorant dope she’d been then, with no idea what it was like to be someone the German enemy could just dispose of at will.
“Of course Germany wouldn’t bomb you,” Viv snapped. “All that stolen gold in the Swiss vaults is the only thing that allows you to be neutral…it’s what keeps Hitler and his SS goons from calling the tune in Bern or Geneva.”
the words of a therapist she’d sought in a moment of teenage desperation came back to her now. That’s what narcissists do, Viv…they are incapable of thinking about anyone’s welfare above their own. To expect otherwise just gives birth to future resentments…
She was nearly thirty now, she thought. Practically an old maid by any standard. Would she ever marry? Have children of her own? A piercing foreboding made her wonder if all the good men like Marcel and this Swiss renegade would be in their graves before this terrible war finally ended.
On several occasions they observed French officials being as ruthless as their German counterparts grabbing Jewish escapees off trains, from the streets, out of their homes, and from their places of business.
“Think of it this way. There are only a handful of American women in this corps,” she reminded Viv, “so no matter how hard it gets, we’ve got to show the flag, right?”
“Yes, you hated it and you were afraid, but you did it anyway,” he said. “That’s the definition of courage, you know.”
“Have you heard that Coco Chanel has been living with a Nazi officer at the Ritz in Paris all this time?”
The leader of the Free French wants to be seen getting all the credit for liberating the country that surrendered itself to the Nazis.
de Gaulle had ordered all Allied secret agents to be forced out of France.
Isn’t it pretty pointless to wish for a better past?
“It is what it was,” she declared out loud. Acknowledging the truth of that might be the only key to truly “moving on.”
October 21, 2021
Excellent
I am so glad that someone has taken time to bring these stories to life. Very well written. It was an important piece of history that i knew nothing about until i read these books. I recommend it
I am so glad that someone has taken time to bring these stories to life. Very well written. It was an important piece of history that i knew nothing about until i read these books. I recommend it
December 22, 2021
wow Magnificent.
What a Novel. The characters and the Plot was fascinating and kept me reading constantly. It was well written and dynamic at how Viv learned so much a grew into an amazing woman who made a difference in Workd War 2.
What a Novel. The characters and the Plot was fascinating and kept me reading constantly. It was well written and dynamic at how Viv learned so much a grew into an amazing woman who made a difference in Workd War 2.
March 1, 2022
I have been impressed by the story. It requires slow reading because one has to absorb the intensity of emotions . It is like a voyage in time and confronts the reader with the ugliness of wars, the suffering and the everlasting grief on those that have survived.
July 11, 2022
Loved it & I have loved every single book Ciji Ware writes, she's awesome!! I look forward to her next book!!
June 8, 2024
Brilliant
It is synchronistic that I began this book on the 80th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy. Watching a population whose average age is 100 brought me to this book to think what if Viv was alive today? What would she look like? Who would she be? so I began a journey of discovery through this book. This is a book you do not want to put down. But if you do, you pick it up within minutes, because you have got to get to the good part. One is constantly pondering, Let’s see what happens next? I have read every one of this authors books and somehow this is the classic and that is saying a lot.
It is synchronistic that I began this book on the 80th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy. Watching a population whose average age is 100 brought me to this book to think what if Viv was alive today? What would she look like? Who would she be? so I began a journey of discovery through this book. This is a book you do not want to put down. But if you do, you pick it up within minutes, because you have got to get to the good part. One is constantly pondering, Let’s see what happens next? I have read every one of this authors books and somehow this is the classic and that is saying a lot.
January 8, 2024
Adventure, Suspense, & Romance,
Ciji Ware's second book in her American Spy Sisters series is as good, even better than the first book. This one takes place in France during WW2. It is filled with suspense & just enough romance to keep it interesting. The characters are well developed. The growth of the main character is extremely well done. I highly recommend A Spy Above the Clouds. I literally put this book down when I fell asleep reading it. So, be sure you block out enough time to read it without interuptions!
Ciji Ware's second book in her American Spy Sisters series is as good, even better than the first book. This one takes place in France during WW2. It is filled with suspense & just enough romance to keep it interesting. The characters are well developed. The growth of the main character is extremely well done. I highly recommend A Spy Above the Clouds. I literally put this book down when I fell asleep reading it. So, be sure you block out enough time to read it without interuptions!
September 29, 2024
So Enjoyable!
Yet another most excellent book by the talented Ciji Ware! I have not read a book of hers that I failed to thoroughly enjoy!
I am especially fond of the way Ms. Ware approached romances in her books- they become a part of her plot lines without overtaking the story. This was a strong book about the amazing work that female resistance fighters - as well as male resistants as well -did during WWII.
As I finished this book I was delighted to see that there is another book in this series…so my reading enjoyment continues!
Yet another most excellent book by the talented Ciji Ware! I have not read a book of hers that I failed to thoroughly enjoy!
I am especially fond of the way Ms. Ware approached romances in her books- they become a part of her plot lines without overtaking the story. This was a strong book about the amazing work that female resistance fighters - as well as male resistants as well -did during WWII.
As I finished this book I was delighted to see that there is another book in this series…so my reading enjoyment continues!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews