Jason Matthews first book, Red Sparrow was an incredibly gifted entrance into the spy thriller genre! Palace of Treason, his second in this series about Captain Dominika Egorova of the SVR and her CIA handler Nate Nash, builds on this promise giving us a taut, fast paced, authentic narrative that keeps you turning the pages until the very end.

Despite her near exposure as a double agent, Dominika has now returned to Russia with glowing reviews on her efforts to infiltrate the West and is promoted to a new job within the SVR.  Her new boss, Col. Alexei Zyuganov, jealous of her acclaim and her promotion, is constantly trying to find ways to under mine her or trip her up in order to get rid of her. Paranoid and sadistic, Zyuganov, makes life pretty miserable for Dominika and makes it especially hard for her to meet with her lover and handler, Nate Nash.  Always careful, Dominika is able to elude a a counter intelligence ambush and survives an Iranian assassination attempt which adds to her cache as an agent and brings her to the attention of Putin himself.

Meanwhile Nate Nash is suffering from his inability to do more to help Dominika, and their relationship which is no longer strictly professional could become the cause of Dominika exposure as a spy.  So when an SVR mole discovers Dominika’s name on a restricted list of sources, the threatened exposure is a death sentence and Nash must do all in his power to save not only his source but his lover’s life.

Matthews, who is a retired spy himself, imbues his story with authentic details that add to the realism of the plots and characters.  He continues to develop his main characters, allowing them to grow and change based on their experiences.  His supporting characters are well developed and realistic although Zyuganov teetered on the edge of becoming a caricature. Matthews’ trademark recipes of local cuisine. that he scatters throughout the book, are just one more reason to enjoy his books to the fullest!

Brenda’s Rating: *** 1/2 (3 1/2 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian and Ken

Book Study Worthy: Might be fun to share the recipes and talk about it!

Read in ebook format.