Author Jason Matthews
Series: The Red Sparrow Book 1
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: 2/20/2018
Format: Media Tie-in
Source: Purchased from Barnes and Noble
SUMMARY
In contemporary Russia, state intelligence officer Dominika Egorova has
been drafted to become a "Sparrow" -- a spy trained in the art of
seduction to siphon out 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.
MY REVIEW
I will be the first to say that books about Russian espionage are not
my first pick to read, that is usually my mom’s type of book. I will say the
reason I picked this book up was because of the previews for the movie version.
I just had to read the book before I see the movie, it is how I roll.
The beginning grabbed me right away, I was pulled into the lives of
Dominika and Nash. It was a more slow pace to start, which I liked because it
eased me into some very heavy reading. After the two meet the book really takes
off and I was taken on a roller coaster ride of emotions. There were moments in
the book that I was cheering them on and then the next I was raging against one
of them for being asinine. The many other characters beef up the story. The
author peppers a variety of evil and good men and woman throughout the
storyline that creates an almost dizzying affect for me. I couldn’t tell most
of the time who were the good guys and who were the bad guys! Which means I was
staying up late just to read one more page that turned into one more chapter!
As a bonus, at the end of each chapter was a little recipe for
something one of the characters ate. I did mark a few to try just because the
way the author described the savory meal made my mouth water.
The
author’s expertise is very prevalent in his writing. As I was reading, I
wondered if his career with the CIA was as exciting as Nash’s. This was definitely
not a book I would have picked up just out of the blue, but I am so glad I did.
The ending of this book is really just the beginning and left me craving to
read the next!
