Red Sparrow: A Novel

Jason Matthews

Jun 2013 · The Red Sparrow Trilogy Book 1 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

If John Le Carre books are the Cabernet Sauvignon of spy thrillers, Red Sparrow is the Gallo jug wine: it gets the job done, but there's no pleasure in it. The author has plenty of cred from his years in the CIA, but the writing seems more like a pitch for a movie (which obviously worked) and the characters have only enough depth to motivate them to make it to the next chapter. The recipes at the end of each chapter are a nice touch, though all the details of food throughout started to feel a bit forced, considering how pedestrian the rest of the writing is. I won't be continuing this trilogy.

Literally (no pun intended) one of the best books I've ever read! I think my husband was getting a bit jealous that I was paying more attention to this book than him, ha ha! Buying the next one right now 😊

Oh, and thanks to the author for some good recipes as well as the look inside espionage field work. Comparing Matthews' first effort to Le Carre's masterworks is fair. I can't wait for the rest of the trilogy. Write, Jason, write!

About the author

Jason Matthews was an officer of the CIA’s Operations Directorate. Over a thirty-three-year career he served in multiple overseas locations, spoke six foreign languages, and engaged in clandestine collection of national security intelligence, specializing in denied-area operations. Matthews conducted recruitment operations against Soviet–East European, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and Caribbean targets. As Chief in various CIA Stations, he collaborated with foreign partners in counterproliferation and counterterrorism operations. His first novel, Red Sparrow, won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was made into a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence. He continued the Red Sparrow trilogy with Palace of Treason and The Kremlin’s Candidate. Jason Matthews passed away in 2021.