The Red Sparrow Trilogy by Jason Matthews
Now a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton!
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 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 Sparrowdelights 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.
RED SPARROW TRAILER ONE
RED SPARROW TRAILER TWO
First Chapter Synopsis
It’s no secret that Jason Matthew’s Red Sparrow trilogy is becoming a blockbuster movie starring Jennifer Lawrence. That’s how I heard about Matthews’ work actually. It movie debuts this Friday, March 2nd, but I’m going to read the book first. Read the first chapter last night and loved it. It delivers everything you’d hope for in a first chapter of a spy thriller. The “good” guys, bad guys, handling of of classified material, and a good chase.
Nathaniel Nash, a young CIA operative secretly meets with a russian mole codenamed “MARBLE” at an undisclosed location. They have their set 7 minute conversation and exchange classified material. However, Nathaniel notices something different in his confided mole this time. Someone’s on his tail and they can’t risk getting caught together. They seem to escape, or do they? Definitely whets your appetite for the remainder of the book, so I can’t wait to devour this one.
Jason Matthews is a retired officer of the CIA’s Operations Directorate. Over a thirty-three-year career he served in multiple overseas locations 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. He lives in Southern California.
Red Sparrow Trilogy
