Jason Matthews (1) (1951–2021)
Author of Red Sparrow
For other authors named Jason Matthews, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Jason Matthews is an American author, speaker, and publishing coach. He was born in 1951 and is based in California. He retired from the CIA after serving for over thirty-three years, working in the CIA's Operations Directorate. He is the author of the political thriller series, Red Sparrow Trilogy show more which includes the books Red Sparrow, Palace of Treason, and The Kremlin's Candidate. He also wrote a short story that is included in the book, Cipher Sisters. He won the 2014 Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author for Red Sparrow. In March 2018, the feature film of Red Sparrow will be released. Jason Matthews died at his home on April 28, 2021. He was 69. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Jason Matthews
Associated Works
Strangers on a Bridge: The Case of Colonel Abel and Francis Gary Powers (1964) — Foreword — 292 copies, 5 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1951-09-17
- Date of death
- 2021-04-28
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- Intelligence Officer
- Organizations
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Short biography
- Jason Matthews was a retired officer of the CIA’s Operations Directorate. Over a 33-year career he served in multiple overseas locations and engaged in clandestine collection of national security intelligence, specializing in denied-area operations. Matthews conducted recruitment operations against Soviet–East European, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and Caribbean targets. As Chief in various CIA Stations, he collaborated with foreign partners in counterproliferation and counterterrorism operations.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Hartford, Connecticut, USA
- Place of death
- Rancho Mirage, California, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
"Red Sparrow" may not be a great work of literature, but as a debut spy novel, it's extremely impressive. It's a new century and things are the same — the United States is Russia's main enemy, and they are still hours, but the players are a mix of late Gen-X recruits and old-time Soviet bureaucratic survivors and Cold War old-timers. In some ways, the game of spies involves more and sophisticated technology, but Matthews, who apparently spent thirty years with the CIA, includes a whole lot show more here about tradecraft, human surveillance, and good old fashioned instinct.
In the middle of this is a spectacular newcomer, Domenika, a former aspiring ballerina who comes from a family of spies but whose aptitude for the family business is so uncanny that she's able to sense, rather than observe, the things that good operatives are taught to look out for. To many, this might put "Red Sparrow halfway into the realm of the superhero narrative, but I wondered if this wasn't a specific reference to Vladimir Nabokov and his family, who talks about possessing a similar, very real neurological condition in "Speak Memory." All of this may annoy readers who like their spy stories dry, factual, and scientific, but I'm pleased to tell you that Matthews is enough of a writer to carry off this gambit most of the time: his prose, though occasionally purple, if you'll forgive a pun, is a pleasure to read, and strikes a good balance between artistry and sheer speed.
The other big questions concern Domenika's body and her heart, which is to say, the human factor. In my limited experience, this is always tricky, unpredictable terrain in spy novels, but I admired that the author dealt with it two different ways. "Red Sparrow" isn't just about agencies and information, it also deals specifically with Domenika's body, and her heart. The former is an asset of uncommon beauty and precision that is put at the service of the Russian state. In some books, this aspect of her character would be included merely for the titielation of the book's male readership, to say nothing of her specialized training in seduction techniques. I'm not going to say that I wasn't titelated myself, but Matthews also makes clear that Domenika's not without agency or control here: she's a trained dancer, after all, and she's also try to see whether her body can be anything more than a weapon. She's not a warm-and-cuddly type, but this is, in its own, blood-soaked way, a story about emotional growth. Her sexual debut, if that's what we're going to call it, is horrifying in every sense, but Matthews takes a big risk when he posits that Domenika's sexual self is one of the things that gives her a certain measure of personal independance, even character. And there's romance involved, yes: Domenika's American target is as charming, handsome, and good-hearted as they come. Once in a while, it genuinely cheering to see these two highly-trained operators test their emotional boundaries with each other.
Lastly, "Red Sparrow" deals with the problem of loyalty and betrayal in unexpectedly sensitive ways. The book deals with life in the intelligence services as a lifelong commitment and as sort of a lifelong sentence, too. Those who decide to go over to the other side risk their lives and will never really know peace again. After a while, it seems that every significant character in "Red Sparrow" lives in their own pressure chamber, whose settings are continuously ratcheted up or down, depending on the choices they've made or the place they happen to be. The fact that danger seems to be ambient can make this one a particularly delicious reading experience. I'm buying the next one as soon as I can find a budget copy. Recommended to fans of the genre. show less
In the middle of this is a spectacular newcomer, Domenika, a former aspiring ballerina who comes from a family of spies but whose aptitude for the family business is so uncanny that she's able to sense, rather than observe, the things that good operatives are taught to look out for. To many, this might put "Red Sparrow halfway into the realm of the superhero narrative, but I wondered if this wasn't a specific reference to Vladimir Nabokov and his family, who talks about possessing a similar, very real neurological condition in "Speak Memory." All of this may annoy readers who like their spy stories dry, factual, and scientific, but I'm pleased to tell you that Matthews is enough of a writer to carry off this gambit most of the time: his prose, though occasionally purple, if you'll forgive a pun, is a pleasure to read, and strikes a good balance between artistry and sheer speed.
The other big questions concern Domenika's body and her heart, which is to say, the human factor. In my limited experience, this is always tricky, unpredictable terrain in spy novels, but I admired that the author dealt with it two different ways. "Red Sparrow" isn't just about agencies and information, it also deals specifically with Domenika's body, and her heart. The former is an asset of uncommon beauty and precision that is put at the service of the Russian state. In some books, this aspect of her character would be included merely for the titielation of the book's male readership, to say nothing of her specialized training in seduction techniques. I'm not going to say that I wasn't titelated myself, but Matthews also makes clear that Domenika's not without agency or control here: she's a trained dancer, after all, and she's also try to see whether her body can be anything more than a weapon. She's not a warm-and-cuddly type, but this is, in its own, blood-soaked way, a story about emotional growth. Her sexual debut, if that's what we're going to call it, is horrifying in every sense, but Matthews takes a big risk when he posits that Domenika's sexual self is one of the things that gives her a certain measure of personal independance, even character. And there's romance involved, yes: Domenika's American target is as charming, handsome, and good-hearted as they come. Once in a while, it genuinely cheering to see these two highly-trained operators test their emotional boundaries with each other.
Lastly, "Red Sparrow" deals with the problem of loyalty and betrayal in unexpectedly sensitive ways. The book deals with life in the intelligence services as a lifelong commitment and as sort of a lifelong sentence, too. Those who decide to go over to the other side risk their lives and will never really know peace again. After a while, it seems that every significant character in "Red Sparrow" lives in their own pressure chamber, whose settings are continuously ratcheted up or down, depending on the choices they've made or the place they happen to be. The fact that danger seems to be ambient can make this one a particularly delicious reading experience. I'm buying the next one as soon as I can find a budget copy. Recommended to fans of the genre. show less
Just finished the 3rd in Jason Matthews’ “Red Sparrow” series, “The Kremlin’s Candidate,” about the trials and travails of Dominika Egorova, Russian spy extraordinaire, and Nate Nash of the CIA. I have to admit it from the start: my favourite feature of these novels is the salty language of the spys and spymasters. I am a husband, father, employer, and owner of retail stores and by mandate I have to be a very polite person from morning to night. One of my guilty pleasures, and show more one I counsel my daughter against, is using bad words, and especially bad words in the service of humour. Matthews has me covered. I don’t think I have heard nearly as many inventive uses for male private parts as he disgorges in his spy series. So he keeps me laughing throughout. The humour doesn’t hide the sadism in the characters, especially in his most evil villains. The stories are gory, sexist, and technical. I’ve heard Matthews interviewed about the stories but strangely the interviewers did not take him up on the recipes that punctuate the ends of the chapters. Sometimes the recipes are for great dishes, sometimes just canapés, and sometimes downright disgusting, such as the boiled cabbage one might find in Moscow Airport on a late, foggy evening. Maybe there’s a precedent for them, but I haven’t seen one. It did make me think for a bit on the life of a covert agent travelling around the world and having to acclimatize him/herself to local cuisine. You either have to have a strong stomach, or a penchant for cooking your own food. Having lived in London in the 1970’s I can tell you that survival meant avoiding English cooking for Chinese, Italian, and mostly Indian cooking. Times have changed a little over there. I live in Toronto where you have the opportunity to experiment with a hundred different cuisines and go back to your own when you’ve blundered. But for a spy working in officially “denied service” areas, you may not have a choice. It’s kebabs over a fire or nothing. show less
Communist precepts all but forgotten, Putin’s Russia is ruled by greed and cruelty. “A Paris suit, London shoes, and undoubtedly, stained undershorts.” In this second book in Jason Matthew’s series, the CIA is still running Dominica Egorova of the SVR. She sees Putin and his sycophants as “usurpers of Russian patrimony,” destroying her nation with their corruption. It’s one reason she works for the Americans. Another is revenge. Another is her love for her CIA handler, Nate show more Nash. Matthews’ expertise in surveillance, counter-surveillance, and the handling of sources shows on every page. An intricately plotted and dynamic story. I’m looking forward to the next one, and judging by the recipes at the end of each chapter, if Matthews writes a cookbook I’ll buy that too. show less
Jason Matthews is something of a novelty in that he actually worked for the CIA for over 30 years before writing Red Sparrow and its two sequels. His experience creates a deeply authentic world within the novel, which follows the unbelievably beautiful and intelligent Domenika Egorova as she becomes a spy for the Russian Federation. Domenika is pure male fantasy: a classically trained ballerina, highly educated, she is sent to "Sparrow School" for instruction in sexpionage. As expected, the show more experience is pretty harrowing and degrading. For a bit of balance she also gets to go to the actual proper spy training academy.
I spent the first two-thirds of this book getting really pissed off at the way a white, male, middle-aged ex-spook created this paragon and exploited her. Then Matthews' story took off in a way that made me forget how annoyed I'd been and I just enjoyed the ride. After all, there are so many stories out there about impossibly beautiful, intelligent and resourceful men having ripping adventures and getting one up on the bad guys. About bloody time we got a fabulous female spy. Domenika is a critical thinker, brilliant in a crisis, has drive, ambition and a temper to boot. She's also crazy gorgeous. Who wouldn't want to be just like her? So read and enjoy, rest assured your feminist principles will only take a slight knock. show less
I spent the first two-thirds of this book getting really pissed off at the way a white, male, middle-aged ex-spook created this paragon and exploited her. Then Matthews' story took off in a way that made me forget how annoyed I'd been and I just enjoyed the ride. After all, there are so many stories out there about impossibly beautiful, intelligent and resourceful men having ripping adventures and getting one up on the bad guys. About bloody time we got a fabulous female spy. Domenika is a critical thinker, brilliant in a crisis, has drive, ambition and a temper to boot. She's also crazy gorgeous. Who wouldn't want to be just like her? So read and enjoy, rest assured your feminist principles will only take a slight knock. show less
Lists
Edgar Award (1)
Awards
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- Rating
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