Red Sparrow

By Jason Matthews

Book Overview

Now a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton In the tradition of John le Carr , the bestselling, impossible-to-put-down, espionage thriller that is "a primer in twenty-first century spying" ( The New York Times Book Review ), written with the insider detail that only a veteran CIA operative could know--and shortlisted for an Edgar Award. State intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the cast-iron bureaucracy of post-Soviet intelligence. Drafted against her will to become a "Sparrow," a trained seductress in the service, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a first-tour CIA officer who handles the CIA's most sensitive penetration of Russian intelligence. The two young intelligence officers, trained in their respective spy schools, collide in a charged atmosphere of tradecraft, deception, and, inevitably, a forbidden spiral of carnal attraction that threatens their careers and the security of America's most valuable mole in Moscow. Seeking revenge against her soulless masters, Dominika begins a fateful double life, recruited by the CIA to ferret out a high-level traitor in Washington; hunt down a Russian illegal buried deep in the US military and, against all odds, to return to Moscow as the new-generation penetration of Putin's intelligence service. Dominika and Nathaniel's impossible love affair and twisted spy game come to a deadly conclusion in the shocking climax of this electrifying, up-to-the minute spy thriller. Taking place in today's Russia, still ruled with an iron fist by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Red Sparrow displays author Jason Matthews's insider knowledge of espionage, counter-espionage, surveillance tradecraft, recruiting spies, interrogation, and intelligence gathering. As The Washington Post hails, this is a "sublime and sophisticated debut...a first-rate novel as noteworthy for its superior style as for its gripping depiction of a secretive world."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1476706131
• ISBN13: 9781476706139
• Release Date: December 2014
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Spectacular read!

This book was a slow burn but it was spectacular. Thrilling, deeply moving. I’d you like spies and suspense you will love it.

Couldn't get past the first few chapters

I couldn't get through the first few chapters. I felt like I was slogging through the words and needed to be an actual spy in order to understand or care about what was happening. It's rare that I don't finish a book.

Solid spy novel

Nate Nash is a young CIA agent running assets in Moscow, good at his job and highly motivated to get even better. When a chance encounter with the opposition, namely the Russian equivalent of the CIA (FSB for the most part but a few times referenced by other initials which was a little confusing) blows his cover and endangers his asset, he's pulled from the assignment. Pouting, he makes his way to Helsinki where he's given another chance. Meanwhile Dominika Egorov, niece of a high-ranking Russian intelligence officer, has seen her promising ballet career cut short after a physical attack by a jealous rival. Dominika is drafted into service by her uncle, and she makes a point to do well in her courses and assignments. Still, she soon finds herself forced to attend Sparrow school so that she can run honeypot traps - she's furious that they want to use her for her body when her mind is so sharp and her instincts so spot on. Now Nate and Dominika will test each other in every way, as one tries to pry information out of the other hoping for a break for their respective intelligent agencies and countries. This is a solid spy novel, where intelligence is more than just an initial in an acronym. Dominika is a natural for the work, and Nate underestimates her - as do many, at their own peril. Dominika is the real star of this novel, everyone else feels like an extra, with some being more likable than others. I really didn't find Nate to be her equal at all. Still, he was necessary for our insight into the American operation, while Dominika represented the idealistic Russian point of view and her uncle provided us with the more sinister Russian motives. The story was a slow and steady build up of spy operations for both countries. Focused on intelligence gathering, recruitment of assets, and establishing rock-solid covers, it reminded me very much of The Americans (a TV show) but on mostly foreign soil (from an American point of view, that is), albeit in a more modern world where Putin is firmly in charge and technology is rapidly evolving. The characters and storylines felt authentic, likely because the author has a CIA background. I was pretty invested in the outcome, and in Dominika's future, by the end. I could have done without the (view spoiler), but overall I enjoyed it and look forward to book 2. I was never quite clear on why each chapter ended with a recipe, but I thought it was a pretty fun gimmick and a lot of the recipes sound delicious.