• Red Sparrow

  • A Novel
  • By: Jason Matthews
  • Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
  • Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (17,177 ratings)

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Red Sparrow  By  cover art

Red Sparrow

By: Jason Matthews
Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
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Publisher's summary

The start of a major career! A gripping, highly commercial espionage thriller written with the delicious insider detail and up-to-the-minute insight only known to a veteran CIA spook.

In today's Russia, dominated by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, state intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the cast-iron bureaucracy of post-Soviet intelligence. Drafted against her will to become a "Sparrow" - a trained seductress in the service, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a first-tour CIA officer who handles the CIA'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.

Seeking revenge against her soulless masters, Dominika begins a fatal double life, recruited by the CIA to ferret out a high-level traitor in Washington - hunt down a Russian illegal buried deep in the U.S. military and, against all odds, to return to Moscow as the new-generation penetration of Putin's intelligence service. Dominika and Nathaniel's impossible love affair and twisted spy game come to a deadly conclusion in the shocking climax of this electrifying, up-to-the minute spy thriller.

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©2013 Jason Matthews (P)2013 Simon & Schuster Audio

What listeners say about Red Sparrow

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    10,874
  • 4 Stars
    4,374
  • 3 Stars
    1,293
  • 2 Stars
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Performance
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    9,822
  • 4 Stars
    3,768
  • 3 Stars
    1,234
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    237

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

LeCarré with a side of Deighton

Terrific spy story. Clearly written by an insider thrilling and technical and characters you care about. Plus mouth watering recipes at the end of every chapter. Really.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Exceptional Read!

A page turner that I couldn't put down. Good from start to finish! Can't wait to read the next book!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Skip the movie - The audio book is terrific

First point to be aware of - this is the first book in a trilogy. Red Sparrow is 18 hours long, book two, Palace of Treason is 20 hours, and book three, The Kremlin's Candidate is nearly 18 hours long. Thus, it will take you two days and eight hours of constant listening to finish the set. No wonder Red Sparrow, the movie, got bad reviews. How do you get an 18 hour story into a couple hours? I do know someone who walked out of the theater.

Nevertheless...

This is a convoluted and fascinating spy tale. Dominica is the primary character but her training and later her torture seemed unnecessarily detailed (read gruesome.) The development of the large number of characters and especially the Russia names, while essential, could be confusing. This might be less of a problem in the hard copy (book.)

The story itself really pulled me in. The spy vs spy action felt realistic. Finishing each chapter with a recipe for the food in that chapter was a clever wrap up. However, being on audio, I would guess that zero percent of listeners consider trying the recipes.

The reader, Jeremy Bobb, was excellent. His masculine voice and variations in tone made the story comfortable to follow. I am glad to see that he also narrated the next two books in this trilogy.

I recommend Red Sparrow. Bear in mind it is for adults.

One oddity in listening to this book. Bbout halfway through the book, I had to start searching my HD8 (Kindle) for the book at the beginning of the day's listening. This has never happened before - it is not happening with "West Cork" nor with any of the many audio books I use. This may be a hardware issue, but I thought I'd bring it up.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Worth 18 hours of my life

Wanted to finish this before I saw the movie. The characters were well developed as were the various locals. I was initially distracted by the recipies, but then found myself waiting for them. Dominica’s reading of auras was a nice touch also.

Didn’t know till afterward that the author had been a CIA operative. Explains details and settings. Hope the movie is as good.

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Great!

Excellent overall, performance and story. Looking forward to see if movie does justice to book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Get Rid of the RECIPES!!!

Great story! Great narrator. But for an audiobook
We could do WITHOUT THE DARNED RECIPES!

If you're reading you can SKIP THEM.

Why is there Dill Weed in every recipe?

No wonder Nadh was puking all the time!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Not my normal type of books

This wasn't a book I would normally listen to, Upon purchasing it I had my doubts but it turned out to be a excellent story. the narrator did a great job keeping you in suspense and changing his tone to really capture the moments

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Many twists in this tale

Red Sparrow is a book that is enthralling and completely enjoyable. I even enjoyed the culinary insight.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great spy drama

it took me a chapter or more to get comfortable with the Russian names and words pronounced in English, but well worth the effort.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So much better than the movie!

Love the character, so much different in the terrible movie version. Love the voice used, just a great book on my long commute!

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