Red Sparrow
A Novel
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4.3 • 1.2K Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Now a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton!
From the New York Times bestselling author and veteran CIA officer Jason Matthews comes the electrifying modern spy thriller Red Sparrow.
In contemporary Russia, state intelligence officer Dominika Egorova has been drafted to become a “Sparrow”—a spy trained in the art of seduction to elicit information from their marks. She’s been assigned to Nathaniel Nash, a CIA officer who handles the organization’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 valuable mole in Moscow.
For fans of John le Carré and Ian Fleming and featuring “high-level espionage, pulse-pounding danger, sex, double agents, and double crosses” (Nelson DeMille), Red Sparrow is a timely and electrifying thriller that is impossible to put down.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This grimly elegant spy novel is set in post-Soviet Russia, where, according to spooks on both sides, “the Cold War never ended.” Dominika Egorova’s patriotism for the Motherland is tested when she’s conscripted first as a spy and then into courtesan school. Her secret skill, synesthesia, lets her read people’s emotions, making her a worthy opponent to up-and-coming CIA agent Nate Nash. In addition to the flinty prose, memorable dialogue, and sharp character descriptions, we were transfixed by Red Sparrow’s authenticity—the CIA itself has applauded retired agent Jason Matthews’ depiction of statecraft in this fast-paced debut.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Matthews's exceptional first novel will please fans of classic spy fiction. In Moscow, CIA agent Nathaniel Nash is running the most valuable asset in the CIA's stable, a major general in the SVR, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. After Nate nearly blows his agent's cover, Nate's chief reassigns him to the CIA station in Helsinki. Meanwhile, SVR deputy director Ivan "Vanya" Egorov decides to use his beautiful 25-year-old niece, Dominika Egorova, as bait in a honey trap designed to kill a Russian mobster who has publicly feuded with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Dominika likes this assignment well enough to ask her uncle to send her to spy school, where she excels. Diagnosed as a synesthete as a girl, Dominika has an unusual gift: she perceives sounds as colors and can tell if someone is lying by the color of his or her aura. After training, she sets out to find the Russian traitor Nate was running. The author's 33-year career in the CIA allows him to showcase all the tradecraft and authenticity that readers in this genre demand. Recipes at the end of each chapter for a dish a character has eaten lend a homely culinary touch to the complex, high-stakes plot. 7-city author tour.
Customer Reviews
Awesome! Four and a half stars!
Have already red the sequel, which is even better. Great writing, great insight, great plot, great characters, great style! All of this in a genre that has, of late, become mediocre at best. A breath of fresh air! Harkins back to early Clancy, Ludlum and Higgins; with less disillusionment than Le Carre, but with much of the same character depth and plot intrigue.
Not good
Purchased based on its paid for advertising which does little to explain the fantasy plot. My mistake. Suggest you be wary of purchasing unless you are interested in a not real story with a women character with superwomen powers that was improperly advertised as spy reality. Could not stand reading so deleted before half way. Wasted $$.
Great Read!
Hard to put down.