traitor or patriot?
Author : Jason Matthews
Title : Red Sparrow
Published : 22/02/2018
Pages : 560
Genre : Spy Thriller
Publisher : Simon & Schuster UK
Dominika Egorov, a former prima ballerina, is sucked into the heart of Putin's Russia, the country she loved, as the twists and turns of a betrayal and counter-betrayal unravel. American Nate Nash, idealistic and ambitious, handles the double agent, codenamed MARBLE, considered one of CIA's biggest assets. He needs to keep his identity secret for as long as the mole can keep supplying golden information.
So when it comes to this book I have to be completely honest that I thought I would read it before the film came out. I had seen the trail come up online and only paid a little attention to it. When I saw it was in a sale for buy one get the second half-price I figured why not give it ago. When it comes to spy novels they aren't always my first choice but one in a while the hit the spot in a reading slump that little else can feel. When I was younger this was filled by the likes of James Bond, grand over the top spy stories that had little to do with real life and while I still find some pleasure in these types of book, at present I tend to find myself being pulled to authors such as John le Carre. So I was curious to see which category red sparrow would fall into.
This is a book of two halves, the story switching between C.I.A agent Nick Nash and Russian agent Dominika Egorov. Nick is all you would come to expect in an agent of the C.I.A. He is brave and intelligent and believes in his mission. A fearless defender of the American way he will do all he can to protect his country. He is on the other hand not stupid, and the longer he spends out in the fields the more world-wise he becomes. What may have started out black and white starts to turn into shades of grey for our hero? And as interesting as it is to follow his arc for me it was Dominika that kept me truly invested in this book. Now she does have her faults or rather the way in which she is written does. She is what you would come to expect from a man writing his fantasy femme fatale Russian spy. Tall beautiful any man would be luck t simply be in her presence. And if it had stopped there a cardboard person to sit opposite our hero, this book would have faded into the rest for me. The author has thank god given us a heroine you can get invested in. She wants to do the best she can at every trail that her country throws at her. While the others may see her as the perfect honey trap this is a woman who has much greater exceptions for her self. And she did to me feel like a more intelligent counterpart to nick that you would come to expect from modern spy novels.
For some reason that I have yet to figure out, I had failed to realize this book was set in the present day, I'm sure one day it will come to me. It does however at least give a nice departure from the cold war antics that you usually get. This book falls more into the Le Carre spy world, the events that take place are a little more grounded in reality and you could see certain parts of this playing out in real life. I would assume this in part is down to the author begin an ex C.I.A officer. A lot takes place through the course of the book and we are given sufficient twists and turns to keep the story interesting. It is at its heart a tale of cat and mouse, and as such the author did a great job keeping me on my toes for the whole book. If I was to find fault with this book it is only that it is a bit too rigid in its worldview. America must always be good and just and Russia is still the big bad wolf and their gates. The world, on the other hand, is not so clear-cut and notions of good and evil can depend on as little as which way the wind is blowing on any given day.
If you are looking for a good modern day spy thriller I feel this book will easily fill that hole. There are few real action scenes in here so for some it may feel a little slow at times. but the complex nature of the plot more than kept me happy and I look forward to the next installment.
So when it comes to this book I have to be completely honest that I thought I would read it before the film came out. I had seen the trail come up online and only paid a little attention to it. When I saw it was in a sale for buy one get the second half-price I figured why not give it ago. When it comes to spy novels they aren't always my first choice but one in a while the hit the spot in a reading slump that little else can feel. When I was younger this was filled by the likes of James Bond, grand over the top spy stories that had little to do with real life and while I still find some pleasure in these types of book, at present I tend to find myself being pulled to authors such as John le Carre. So I was curious to see which category red sparrow would fall into.
This is a book of two halves, the story switching between C.I.A agent Nick Nash and Russian agent Dominika Egorov. Nick is all you would come to expect in an agent of the C.I.A. He is brave and intelligent and believes in his mission. A fearless defender of the American way he will do all he can to protect his country. He is on the other hand not stupid, and the longer he spends out in the fields the more world-wise he becomes. What may have started out black and white starts to turn into shades of grey for our hero? And as interesting as it is to follow his arc for me it was Dominika that kept me truly invested in this book. Now she does have her faults or rather the way in which she is written does. She is what you would come to expect from a man writing his fantasy femme fatale Russian spy. Tall beautiful any man would be luck t simply be in her presence. And if it had stopped there a cardboard person to sit opposite our hero, this book would have faded into the rest for me. The author has thank god given us a heroine you can get invested in. She wants to do the best she can at every trail that her country throws at her. While the others may see her as the perfect honey trap this is a woman who has much greater exceptions for her self. And she did to me feel like a more intelligent counterpart to nick that you would come to expect from modern spy novels.
For some reason that I have yet to figure out, I had failed to realize this book was set in the present day, I'm sure one day it will come to me. It does however at least give a nice departure from the cold war antics that you usually get. This book falls more into the Le Carre spy world, the events that take place are a little more grounded in reality and you could see certain parts of this playing out in real life. I would assume this in part is down to the author begin an ex C.I.A officer. A lot takes place through the course of the book and we are given sufficient twists and turns to keep the story interesting. It is at its heart a tale of cat and mouse, and as such the author did a great job keeping me on my toes for the whole book. If I was to find fault with this book it is only that it is a bit too rigid in its worldview. America must always be good and just and Russia is still the big bad wolf and their gates. The world, on the other hand, is not so clear-cut and notions of good and evil can depend on as little as which way the wind is blowing on any given day.
If you are looking for a good modern day spy thriller I feel this book will easily fill that hole. There are few real action scenes in here so for some it may feel a little slow at times. but the complex nature of the plot more than kept me happy and I look forward to the next installment.
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