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simnett 's review for:
Red Sparrow
by Jason Matthews
Concept good
Trade craft and some scenes great
Let down by the writing and execution, Far too much tell not show
e.g. One of the key characters was introduced, became someone's best friend, and was killed (which became a major motivating force) in less than 20 pages, which felt convenient/rushed/something
Needed a aggressive edit
One question that bugged me, and has not been commented on (very mild spoilers perhaps). When was the book set? I wonder if the author was drawing from his early career experiences and trying to bring them current.
A decade after a 2005 Act, so 2015. But could a 45 year-old in 2015 have been an important political player 10 years earlier?
Putin is in charge 2002+
Someone was 68 who played an important part in an operation that happened in 1955, so 2005 at the latest
There were more or less no cell phones/text messages/social media which puts it at 2005 or before (later in the book they crop up, but people are failing to coordinate, and politicians are not glued to their phones)
Grizzled veterans of the cold war abounded, no references to 9/11, and nothing significant about US wars in Iraq/Afghanistan, which puts it pre-Putin
Overall it had a late 90s/early 2000s feel with Putin and much later tech selectively layered in.
This might all be super picky, but several of the specific time references could have been edited out with no loss of plot, and in the end they served to confuse.
Trade craft and some scenes great
Let down by the writing and execution, Far too much tell not show
e.g. One of the key characters was introduced, became someone's best friend, and was killed (which became a major motivating force) in less than 20 pages, which felt convenient/rushed/something
Needed a aggressive edit
One question that bugged me, and has not been commented on (very mild spoilers perhaps). When was the book set? I wonder if the author was drawing from his early career experiences and trying to bring them current.
A decade after a 2005 Act, so 2015. But could a 45 year-old in 2015 have been an important political player 10 years earlier?
Putin is in charge 2002+
Someone was 68 who played an important part in an operation that happened in 1955, so 2005 at the latest
There were more or less no cell phones/text messages/social media which puts it at 2005 or before (later in the book they crop up, but people are failing to coordinate, and politicians are not glued to their phones)
Grizzled veterans of the cold war abounded, no references to 9/11, and nothing significant about US wars in Iraq/Afghanistan, which puts it pre-Putin
Overall it had a late 90s/early 2000s feel with Putin and much later tech selectively layered in.
This might all be super picky, but several of the specific time references could have been edited out with no loss of plot, and in the end they served to confuse.