Book
Red sparrow : a novel
Record details
- ISBN: 1501171577
- ISBN: 9781501171574
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Physical Description:
434 pages ; 21 cm.
print - Edition: Scribner trade paperback edition.
- Publisher: New York : Scribner, 2018.
Content descriptions
| Awards Note: | Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, 2014. Winner of the Thriller Award for Best First Novel, 2014. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | United States. -- Central Intelligence Agency -- Officials and employees -- Fiction Women spies -- Fiction Intelligence service -- Soviet Union -- Fiction Edgar Award |
| Genre: | Suspense fiction. Mystery fiction. Spy stories. First novel. Thrillers (Fiction). |
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Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at South Central Regional Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Other Formats and Editions
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altona Library | F Mat v.1 (Text) | 35864002878534 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2013 April #1
*Starred Review* Many spy novelists, including Ian Fleming and John le Carré, actually worked as intelligence agents. Add to that list Jason Matthews, whose 33 years as a CIA field operative enriches his first novel with startling verisimilitude, from griping about meddling, deskbound bureaucrats at Langley to the flat statement that Russia's SVR, successor to the KGB, sees the Cold War as alive and well, and that in Putin's Russia, "nothing has changed since Stalin." Perhaps this is novelistic license, but it feels genuine. That sense of authenticity, along with vividly drawn characters, much detail about tradecraft, and an appropriately convoluted plot that centers on moles in both the SVR and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence make this a compelling and propulsive tale of spy-versus-spy. Matthews' characters are variously fascinating, eccentric, and truly odious, including a beautiful Russian woman with the gift of synesthesia, forced into "sparrow school" to learn espionage through seduction; a brilliant and flamboyantly odd head of CIA counterintelligence; a "poisonous" dwarf whose reveries always return to torture and murder during Russia's Afghanistan debacle; and many more. Locales including Moscow, Helsinki, Rome, and Athens seem knowingly evoked, and each brief chapter concludes with a recipe for some food a character has just eaten. Red Sparrow is greater than the sum of its fine parts. Espionage aficionados will love this one. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2013 March #1
Matthews' first novel, a globe-trotting spy thriller, features enough action to satisfy even the most demanding of adrenaline junkies. CIA field operative Nate Nash acts as the control officer for an invaluable Russian asset placed high up in Putin's administration. Nate chose to become a career spy despite pressure from his well-connected attorney father and two brothers to knuckle down and join the family business. Now, instead of filing briefs and golfing on weekends, he's playing tag with top-notch Russian intelligence teams out to expose Nate's source, known by the code name MARBLE. Meanwhile, another Russian, a beautiful ballerina named Dominika, raised by parents disenchanted with Russian politics but smart enough to realize that such an attitude could prove deadly to their only child, has been forced out of ballet school following an incident of sabotage. While contemplating her grim future, Dominika is approached by her loathsome uncle and top Soviet intelligence official, Vanya Egorov, to seduce an oligarch bothersome to the current administration. When a soulless killer becomes involved in the assignment, Dominika realizes she must quickly adhere to the party line in order to survive and asks her uncle to help her join the intelligence service, which he does. Soon, Dominika and Nate are set on a collision course, and the stage is set for a cat-and-mouse game that bounces from Moscow to Helsinki to Rome to Athens, a deadly assassin at their heels. The inclusion of a recipe at each chapter's end (for foods including chicken Kiev and kebabs), along with the not-so-subtle mentions of food wedged into the storyline, is unnecessary. This book is good and doesn't need the gimmicks. The author's CIA background and the smart dialogue make this an entertaining tale for spy-novel enthusiasts. Copyright Kirkus 2013 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews Newsletter
Debut author Matthews proves himself a capable narrativist in this Euro-centric spy vs.spy tale of tradecraft. Engaging, intelligent, and interesting, the novel depicts both sides of present day dance of United States and Russian politics with spooky alacrity. After a ruckus involving a high-level Russian "asset" (spy), unlikely CIA agent Nate Nash is almost fired and lands at Finland station. There he goes mano a womano against Dominika, a former ballerina SVR agent trained as a lastochki (or "sparrow"). These agents are trained to seduce and "elicit information during conversation." This fascinating woman is a "â¦synestheteâa person who perceives sounds, or letters, or numbers as colors," and is fiercely determined to use her considerable smarts to prove herself more than a mere honey trap. The two waltz around Helsinki, Rome, and Athens trying to outwit, seduce, and recruit each other all the while gleaning intelligence. Villains populate throughout, like Dominika's rival Zyuganov, "a creature that was not content unless he had prey," and Matthews's genuine ear for dialog helps make clear the sometimes murky motivations of the clandestine organizations. The main characters' authentic humanity helps alleviate the lack of emotion in the intelligence game, even for the biggest payoffs. VERDICT An excellent read with a continuously propulsive plot; Mathews' 33-year career in the CIA informs this with asskickingly real espionage details. Those craving LeCarre style, cloak-and-dagger, cat-and-mouse realism will enjoy this and clamor for more ASAP. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2013 March #1
The malicious injuring of a ballerina starts a train wreck that ends in the unmasking of highly placed moles in the United States and Russia. The dancer is inveigled into service as an agent but must first attend a graphically described "Sparrow School" where recruits are taught the art of sexual seduction. Her target is an American agent whose defeat obsesses Russian leader Vladimir Putin himself. The author, a veteran CIA field agent, liberally salts his thriller with realistic tradecraft, horrific villainy, and stunning plot twists as the opponents vie for control. VERDICT An intense descent into a vortex of carnal passion, career brutality, and smart tradecraft, this thriller evokes the great Cold War era of espionage and adds startling touches such as recipes and a main character with synesthesia. Readers of bloodthirsty spy and suspense will welcome this debut from a writer who supersizes his spies. [See Prepub Alert, 11/12/12.]âBarbara Conaty, Falls Church, VA
[Page 72]. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2013 February #3
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. Agent: Sloan Harris, International Creative Management. (May)
[Page ]. Copyright 2013 PWxyz LLC
