Everybody Wants to Rule the World A Novel
Everybody Wants to Rule the World A Novel by Ace Atkins is a comedic thriller published by HarperCollins Publishers on December 2, 2025. This 368-page book is set in 1985 and follows fourteen-year-old Peter Bennett, who suspects that his mother’s new boyfriend, Gary, is a KGB agent. With a mysterious background and a penchant for danger, Gary’s presence raises alarms for Peter, who is more focused on BMX bikes and MTV than espionage. As Peter navigates the complexities of adolescence, he finds himself embroiled in a web of intrigue involving spies and murder.
Readers will encounter a blend of humor and suspense as Peter teams up with a washed-up writer and a drag performer to uncover the truth behind the murder of a lab employee. The narrative also features Sylvia Weaver, a young FBI agent investigating the same lab, who uncovers a network of Russian spies in Atlanta. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the Cold War, with the impending nuclear summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev adding to the tension. This edition presents a unique mix of crime, mystery, and entertainment, appealing to fans of genre fiction and those interested in the interplay of humor and suspense.
Official synopsis Publisher
Elmore Leonard meets Robert Ludlum in a rollicking comedic thriller set in 1985 from acclaimed author Ace Atkins, in which a suburban teen suspects his mom’s new boyfriend is the ultimate bad guy–a KGB agent.
It’s 1985, what will soon become known as “The Year of the Spy,” and fourteen-year-old Peter Bennett is convinced his mom’s new boyfriend is a Russian agent. “Gary” isn’t in the phone book, has an unidentifiable European accent, and keeps a gun in the glove box of his convertible Porsche. Peter thinks Gary only wants to get close to his mom because she works at Scientific Atlanta, a lab with big government contracts. But who is going to believe him? He’s just a kid into BMX and MTV.
But after another woman who works at the lab is killed, Peter recruits an unlikely pair of allies–a has-been pulp writer and muckraker named Dennis Hotchner and his drag performer buddy and heavy, Jackie Demure. Both soon become the target of an unhinged Russian hitman (Is it Gary? Maybe!) with a serious Phil Collins obsession.
Meanwhile, Sylvia Weaver, a young, Black FBI agent, investigates Scientific Atlanta in the wake of the employee’s murder and discovers a nest of Russian spies in the Southern “city too busy to hate.” Little does she know her investigation is being thwarted by a seriously compromised colleague in Washington, D.C., who is in league with a lovesick, hypochondriac KGB defector who is playing both sides of the Cold War to his benefit.
As Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev prepare for a historic nuclear summit in Geneva, what happens in Atlanta might change the course of the Cold War, the twentieth century, and Peter Bennett’s freshman year of high school.
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