Red Traitor

A Novel

By: Owen Matthews

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

An electrifying new thriller set during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, seen from a bone-chilling vantage point: somewhere off the Florida coastline, trapped aboard the claustrophobic confines of an isolated Soviet submarine with open orders to fire its nuclear payload.

The year is 1962, and KGB Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin is chasing a white elephant: the long-rumored existence of an American spy embedded at the highest echelon of Soviet power. In a wild-goose chase that has Vasin engaged in high-stakes espionage against a rival State agency, he first hears whispers of an ominous top-secret undertaking: Operation Anadyr.

As tensions flare between Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy over Russian missiles hidden in Cuba, four Soviet submarines are ordered to make a covert run at the American blockade in the Caribbean - each sub carrying tactical ballistic missiles armed with thermonuclear warheads.

Critically acclaimed novelist Owen Matthews has crafted an incredibly taut thriller around one of the most treacherous moments in modern history, where the fate of the world rested on the itchy trigger finger of one lone Soviet naval officer, 100 meters under the sea, out of all contact with his commanders.

©2021 Owen Matthews (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

Named one of the Best Thrillers of 2021 by the Financial Times

“Told primarily from the Russian perspective, this gripping thriller from Matthews (Black Sun) focuses on the often overlooked role of Soviet submarines, all equipped with nuclear missiles, that were heading to Cuba in the days leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.... Cold War buffs will particularly enjoy the ride, though any reader who appreciates the finer points of espionage and foreign intrigue will also be well satisfied.” (Publisher's Weekly)

"[A] tense, claustrophobic tale of underwater woes, set at the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis." (CrimeReads, Most Anticipated Books of Summer)

“Basing both his plotlines on actual events and real people, Matthews generates remarkable tension in this perfectly executed two-pronged thriller, with the submarine story proving especially dramatic, evoking both The Hunt for Red October and the high-tension cat-and-mouse game portrayed in the classic WWII submarine film The Enemy Below.” (Booklist, starred review)

Very good

Surprisingly high quality for this genre. The author blends historical fact with fiction expertly and the character development is very well done.