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.
-
Creators
-
Series
-
Publisher
-
Awards
-
Release date
June 4, 2013 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781476706146
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781476706146
- File size: 6054 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
Publisher's Weekly
Starred review from February 18, 2013
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. -
Library Journal
March 1, 2013
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.]--Barbara Conaty, Falls Church, VA
Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
-
Loading
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.