The Kremlin's Candidate

The Red Sparrow Trilogy, Book 3

By: Jason Matthews

Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb

Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Russian counterintelligence chief Colonel Dominika Egorova has been a recruited asset of the CIA, stealing Kremlin secrets for her CIA handler, Nate Nash, for over seven years. In the dazzling finale to the Red Sparrow Trilogy - which will be published right before the release of Red Sparrow, a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton - their forbidden and tumultuous love affair continues, mortally dangerous for them both but irresistible.

In Washington, a newly installed US administration is selecting its cabinet members. Dominika hears a whisper of a closely held Kremlin operation to place a mole inside a high intelligence position. But it's worse than that: One of the three candidates under consideration has been a paid Russian spy for a decade, selling precious US secrets. If the Kremlin's candidate for the position is confirmed, the Russians will have access to all the names of assets spying for CIA in Moscow, including Dominika's. But which of the three individuals is the mole?

Dominika's report triggers a desperate mole hunt before she's exposed and arrested. Resisting all suggestions to defect and save herself, Dominika recklessly immerses herself in the palace intrigues of the Kremlin, searching for the mole's name, and stealing as many of President Putin's secrets for her CIA handlers before her time runs out - even as Putin's dangerous interest in her grows. The treasure trove of her intelligence reporting sends Nate Nash and colleagues on desperate missions to Sevastopol, Istanbul, Khartoum, and Hong Kong.

With a plot ripped from tomorrow's headlines, The Kremlin's Candidate is a riveting story if you've never listened to Jason Matthews and a thrilling conclusion to the trilogy begun with Red Sparrow and Palace of Treason, which The New York Times Book Review called "a primer in 21st-century spying...terrifically good".

©2017 Jason Matthews (P)2017 S&S Audio

Who cries at the end of an espionage thriller??...

The tears flowed down my cheeks at the conclusion of this superb trilogy. This unexpected emotional reaction was a first for me. I avoid romance novels for this very reason, preferring fast paced, action packed thrillers and espionage. Titles which keep my attention for the duration DO NOT normally EVER make me cry at the end but this one did. To prevent "spoilage" for others, I won't elaborate on that aspect, except to say I would add a 6th star to my review if possible.
As a stand alone book, I feel this third and final installment was not quite as "good" as the previous two. However, as a final part of the trilogy, it succeeds to conclude each thread of the story.
As a whole, this Trilogy is packed with fact alongside fiction, which makes for the best stories. Fast paced, edge of your seat writing, with enough twists and turns to keep even the most ADD afflicted attentions'. (if it'll keep my ADD short attention span, it'll keep almost anyone's, laugh laugh)

End of the story?

After a rather slow start, the book develops into a gripping and fitting completion of the trilogy. Although the books can stand alone, I recommend that the three books be read in sequence -- together they represent some of the best fifty hours of listening I've experienced in the last five years.

great trilogy...

great trilogy! don't judge a book by the movie. each book gets better as the story unfolds.

The Best Yet

Fantastic. This is by far the best book in this series. Realistic, intelligent and action packed. I haven't read a better series.

Do not believe any negative reviews.

Having read (listened to) Red Sparrow and Palace of Treason, which I rated both five stars, I eagerly downloaded The Kremlin's Candidate.

As is my custom I read many of the mixed reviews of this the final time of the trilogy. Braced for possible disappointment I began what to my delight was quite assuredly the best in the series. I listened until 0230 hrs & finished upon wakening this morning.

Good ending to the series...

I believe this is not what most expected for a ending. I really enjoyed this series. The other two books were better, but this was my least favorite of the three.

Solid read by Bobb

Omg, this book.

It's killing me how good it is! I would give it. 10 stars if I could. Genius.

Fitting ending to the series

Good story overall, though a bit too unnecessarily graphic at the end. There was no other end possible (but could have been less violent) and it hints at the various shades of cruelty and lack of real appreciation for the work done in both countries, agents are dispensable for the greater good that gets lost in career hunting and politics. The way in which they are terminated differs in the book between the two countries, but the end is in sight. Some of the stories brusquely and unsatisfyingly stopped at the end but nail biting nevertheless. The performance was good, but the reading in Russian was painful and some of the basic words pronunciation was pretty bad, like the name of the country, Russia in Russian. It’s today one Google search away.

GOOD SPY BOOK

If you read the first book, the first chapters of the second book in these series are boring because of the explanation of the story and the characters in the first book. After a little while the second book start and is excellent. The end of the book is sad because you get use to the characters and is sad to lose any one of them, but that is life in the spy world.

Coulda been better... but it wasn’t bad.

Out of the three books, this was my least favorite... it was okay... too much recapping things towards the beginning.... I just think it coulda been better... the first two books were great, I just feel like this one didn’t quite live up to them. Anyway, it wasn’t bad. I still gave it four stars, which maybe it doesn’t quite deserve, but compared to most other books of the genre it’s probably four stars. If you listened to the first two, you pretty much have to listen to this one... that’s how I look at it. That narrator is great.