IN THE GRAND SPY-TALE TRADITION OF JOHN LE CARRÉ… comes this shocking thriller written with insider detail known only to a veteran CIA officer.
In present-day Russia, ruled by blue-eyed, unblinking President Vladimir Putin, Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the post-Soviet intelligence jungle. Ordered against her will to become a “Sparrow,” a trained … “Sparrow,” a trained seductress, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a young CIA officer who handles the Agency’s most important Russian mole.
Spies have long relied on the “honey trap,” whereby vulnerable men and women are intimately compromised. Dominika learns these techniques of “sexpionage” in Russia’s secret “Sparrow School,” hidden outside of Moscow. As the action careens between Russia, Finland, Greece, Italy, and the United States, Dominika and Nate soon collide in a duel of wills, tradecraft, and — inevitably — forbidden passion that threatens not just their lives but those of others as well. As secret allegiances are made and broken, Dominika and Nate’s game reaches a deadly crossroads. Soon one of them begins a dangerous double existence in a life-and-death operation that consumes intelligence agencies from Moscow to Washington, DC.
Page by page, veteran CIA officer Jason Matthews’s Red Sparrow delights and terrifies and fascinates, all while delivering an unforgettable cast, from a sadistic Spetsnaz “mechanic” who carries out Putin’s murderous schemes to the weary CIA Station Chief who resists Washington “cake-eaters” to MARBLE, the priceless Russian mole. Packed with insider detail and written with brio, this tour-de-force novel brims with Matthews’s life experience, including his knowledge of espionage, counterintelligence, surveillance tradecraft, spy recruitment, cyber-warfare, the Russian use of “spy dust,” and covert communications. Brilliantly composed and elegantly constructed, Red Sparrow is a masterful spy tale lifted from the dossiers of intelligence agencies on both sides of the Atlantic. Authentic, tense, and entertaining, this novel introduces Jason Matthews as a major new American talent.
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Red Sparrow was definitely a fun spy thriller. To me the middle section of the novel was too slow but they pick up the pace to lead toward a satisfying end. I would recommend this for fans of modern spy novels.
Book is fictional but based on true Russian activities.
This is the first of a trilogy the two that follow will not disappoint
I got this Audio book from the library. Drags in places
This goes for the rest of the trilogy as well.
Just a book that you cannot put down until you find out the ending.
Wonderful spy novel with authoritative technical and organizational information.
A real eye opener on the workings of US and Russian spying…all the more due to the author’s personal background I read it in 2 days and immediately ordered the sequel. The twists and turns keep the reader in suspense. Hope to see if the film does it justice.
As the author is new to me – I find the book super entertaining and a page turner. The plot is plausible, contemporary, well presented. Too bad it kept me up reading all night. I’m glad to learn it’s a trilogy and am reading the second book currently.
Unlike the movie, the novel gives insights into the protagonist’s motivations and the art of tradecraft. The writing does suffer from incessant point of view switches, laundry lists of physical descriptions and minute details of what characters are wearing and stops the narrative many times to fill in background of even relatively minor …
Very good read, good writing, good plot
The story line is great, but beware there is a lot of explicit sexual content. The next two books in the trilogy were better.
A wonderfully written adult book. You will be hooked to read the entire trilogy.
Like watching a James Bond movie. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Great suspense, great characters and great writing. Definitely 5 stars. Can’t wait to read the other two in the trilogy!
This book was a fascinating look into the world of Russian and American spies as it was written by a former CIA agent. I was so intrigued I read the rest of the series, one right after the other.
If you like spy thrillers this one is for you. I’m looking forward to reading the next installment.
This is a great spy novel. The characters are believable and the author really knows about clandestine operations.
You will not be able to put this book down until you’ve read all 4 volumes!!
Best time I have had reading a book since Little Drummer Girl. So much going on, the story moves quickly from site to site, city to city. Fast paced story and the characters are compelling.
Taunt, stomach twisting spy novel of a Russian female double agent and her American contacts. Memorable characters written by an ex CIA author. Frightening in the aspect of the Russians willing to plan, and wait years developing their spy traps. You’ll wonder what the story is behind each of those stars on the CIA. wall. My new female fiction …
A spy thriller written by an author who has been there and done that. If you get the audio book, even better. Jeremy Bobb does a wonderful job narrating a compelling story about 2 spies–one American, the other Russian–caught inside their country’s intel bureaucracy.