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mpodguski 's review for:
Red Sparrow
by Jason Matthews
I've read a lot of spy novels, political thrillers, and action novels in my day (spanning a number of different authors and approaches, including Clancy, Flynn, and Silva, to name a few), but this book easily bests all of them and stands alone as probably the best "modern" spy/thriller novels I've ever read. Matthews's dedication and ability to accurately—and artfully—capture the tedious tradecraft and bureaucracy that characterize modern intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination is spot-on. Other former intelligence professionals have attempted to provide a glimpse into their world, but Matthews has excelled at showing just how complex, confusing, and fraught this world of vaults, mirrors, and masks really is. His personal mastery of the trade is reflected in the actions, thinking, and assessments of his characters, and his acknowledgements sections reflects a veritable "who's who" of intelligence professionals. At first, the recipes at the end of each chapter threw me for a little bit of a loop, but I quickly learned to love them (and highlight them; they're all getting added to the recipe box to try later). And in the end, the recipes—like every other detail and element of the story—accurately captured and gave me a palpable feel for the story, the world it lives in, and the people who make it.