Red Widow

A spy novel that takes its time in all the right ways. It’s not especially high-energy, but I never felt it drag—there’s always a sense of movement, whether in Lyndsey’s investigation or in the personal evolution of the characters. That character development, especially of the two lead women, is the real strength of the book. I normally love the spycraft, but this time I was really gripped by the relationships, and the tenuous trust that develops over the course of the novel. The climactic scene where Lyndsey opens up to Theresa about the results of her investigation is balanced on a pinhead of tension, and would never have worked if it hadn’t been built on such a well-developed foundation of character.

I hadn’t realized show more until now that Katsu actually has a background in intelligence, but you can feel it in the authenticity and detail of the setting and plot. This world is convincingly rendered, without ever getting bogged down in minutiae. show less

Lyndsey Duncan's ten-year-career in the CIA is on the line. After a promising start in the Russia Division—she handled a major asset who turned over valuable information to the U. S. government—she was given a post in Lebanon. Unfortunately, she broke the rules, and is now on administrative leave. In an unexpected reversal of fortune, her former boss, Eric Newman, the chief of the Russian Division at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, insists that he wants Lyndsey to conduct a vital internal investigation. She is known for her skill at spotting deception (her work in psychology earned her the nickname "the human lie detector"), and she is the perfect individual to uncover the identity of a possible mole. This unidentified show more perpetrator allegedly revealed the names of double agents operating in Russia.

"Red Widow" by Alma Katsu, is a compelling thriller that has an air of authenticity, and it is refreshingly devoid of some of the genre's most annoying clichés. There are no inane romantic angles; the acts of violence are realistic and integral to the plot; most of the characters are well-delineated; and the book focuses on a toxic culture that permeates intelligence circles. At times, members of the top brass cover up the mistakes and misdeeds of corrupt agents, while undermining the straight-arrows who perform their tasks dutifully.

The story involves the homicide of a Russian spy whom Lyndsey had grown to admire. She spends hours poring over records, conducting online searches, and picking the brains of those in the know in order to find out what happened. In addition, Lyndsay befriends Theresa Warner, a colleague known as the "widow," because her beloved husband, Frank, disappeared after he tried to extract an asset who had sacrificed a great deal to assist America. Katsu provides alternating points of view, including Lyndsay's, Theresa's, and those of a vicious thug who works for Russia's federal security service. "Red Widow" deglamorizes espionage, showing it to be a nerve-wracking undertaking. Spies require nerve, patience, an insight into human nature, and an ability to think outside the box. Enhancing the novel's impact is the author's decision not to wrap up her tale too neatly. This is appropriate, since moral ambiguity is at the center of this suspenseful, riveting, and timely work of fiction. show less

Alma Katsu typically writes horror novels, so imagine my surprise when I find out that her latest novel, Red Widow, is a spy thriller. Not only that but she used her 35 years as a spy/analyst in the CIA as fodder. With that type of experience, I had high hopes for this look at modern-day spycraft. Unfortunately, much like her last horror novel, I found Red Widow a bit of a slog.

I imagine that some of my disappointment with Red Widow stems from the fact that I pretty much guessed the plot a quarter of the way in. This meant that there was nothing about it that was a surprise, which is not exactly what you want when you are reading a spy novel. I mean, spying is all about keeping secrets and things not being what they seem. I don’t want show more the secrets too easy to discern.

Also, I find it rather frustrating that Russia remains the Big Bad Enemy in the spy world. I mean, sure, Putin is an evil man who essentially brought Russia back being ruled by a Tzar, but is he really the biggest threat the country faces? I struggle with this. Yes, there is some mention of China and cyber warfare in general, but the focus of Red Widow is strictly Russia and Russian double agents. It all feels more 1980s and not at all present day.

Plus the grey line between “right” and “wrong” is so very flexible depending on the situation and the people involved. One situation involving an agent may be morally reprehensible and forbidden by the powers that be, and yet the very same situation involving a different agent will see that agent receiving accolades for that same action. I get that the world of spying changes every minute of every day based on new information, but holy hell. At least pick a moral yardstick and consistently use it.

For what it is worth, Lyndsey is pretty tough as an agent. She has the thick skin necessary for working in a male-dominated workplace. Plus, she has the smarts to go toe-to-toe with any of her fellow analysts. She does a lot of hand-wringing about her previous assignment and how she left it, which is annoying. When she focuses on the task assigned to her, the story picks up speed and interest. Unfortunately, she spends as much time focused on the task as she does on her long-term situation.

Red Widow surprised me in the rather negative image of the CIA Ms. Katsu paints. She makes a point to emphasize the hypocrisy of its leaders, the ongoing silos in which the analysts continue to work, and the continuous power struggles among the analysts as they use their access to information to get ahead of their counterparts. She also mocks the CIA’s inability to play by its own rules. I wasn’t expecting this at all given her experience.

This is the fourth Katsu novel I have read, and I will admit to only liking two of them. The most recent of her novels left me disappointed because they were missing the magic of her previous novels. Red Widow takes it one step further by being predictable and tired in its rehashing of the Russia/US enmity that made up every spy novel from the 1970s and 80s…and 90s. Perhaps my expectations were too high for someone with thirty-plus years of experience working at the CIA herself, but Red Widow is not at all what I expected or wanted in a modern-day spycraft novel. show less

This is a cross between a legal thriller and an espionage thriller featuring two smart female spies. It takes the reader inside the CIA as two women try to catch a mole in the Headquarters. The book is basically in two parts. The first is the exposure and murder of spies working for the CIA when a high quality Russian double agent is murdered on an airplane inside the U.S. The second part is how the legal system works to thwart double agents and still protect their legal rights. I found this second part as fascinating as the first part. The inter-agency cooperation and which agency is responsible for which part of an investigation was of special interest. The blurb on the book compares it to the Smiley novels and they are right on show more target. This is not a shoot'em up bang bang James Bond type spy novel. It is much more cerebral and was great fun to read. It wasn't a cozy spy thriller either. There is plenty of tension to go around. If you like spy thrillers, this is a high-quality title in that genre. show less

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Another weekday morning at Langley. Men and women streamed across the parking lots—past the towering parabolic antennas, the Blackbird spy plane made into a monument—to converge on a set of doors placed into a wall so discreetly that they could be secret doors, known only to the initiated.

It was a cold morning. In raincoats and windbreakers, they moved with mindless determination, like ants following the scent of sugar, minds already on the coming day, chores left undone from the day before, a confrontation anticipated with a boss or coworker. Or they were brooding over what they'd just left behind, an argument at the breakfast table, the last thing a child said before show more running for the school bus. Not one of them was thinking about what it meant to cross the threshold of the most secretive building in America.

WHAT'S RED WIDOW ABOUT?
I'm going to cheat here and just copy the text from Katsu's website. It would be just too easy for me to slip on this one—either not describing it enough to be helpful to anyone or adding a sentence or two and ruining half the book. It's that carefully constructed.

An exhilarating spy thriller about two women CIA agents who become intertwined around a threat to the Russia Division–one that’s coming from inside the agency.

Lyndsey Duncan worries her career with the CIA might be over. After lines are crossed with another intelligence agent during her most recent assignment, she is sent home to Washington on administrative leave. So when a former colleague, now Chief of the Russia Division, recruits her for an internal investigation, she jumps at the chance to prove herself once more. Lyndsey was once a top handler in the Moscow Field Station, known as the “human lie detector” and praised for recruiting some of the most senior Russian officials. But now, three Russian assets have been discovered–including one of her own–and the CIA is convinced there’s a mole in the department. With years of work in question, and lives on the line, Lyndsey is thrown back into life at the agency, only this time tracing the steps of those closest to her.

Meanwhile, fellow agent Theresa Warner can’t avoid the spotlight. She is the infamous “Red Widow,” the wife of a former director killed in the field under mysterious circumstances. With her husband’s legacy shadowing her every move, Theresa is a fixture of the Russia Division, and as she and Lyndsey strike up an unusual friendship, her knowledge proves invaluable. But as Lyndsey uncovers a surprising connection to Theresa that could answer all of her questions, she exposes a terrifying web of secrets within the department, if only she is willing to unravel it…

HOW MUNDANE
One thing that really jumped out at me is Katsu's depiction of the CIA offices as not that different from what most of us experience M-F. There's the boss's assistant putting her nose into everything, monitoring both the work and the socializing between the staff. There's the overachiever going the extra miles; the old workaholic who to avoid retirement has taken the job no one wants; there's the lecherous creep being...well a lecherous creep; parents trying to juggle work and home; office romances; typical office politics; gossip/ and so on.

THE VALUE OF LIFE
Sure, in a very real sense, what these people do at work is just like what we all do but on the other end of the spectrum, the actual life and death repercussions of what happens there is easy to see.

The description above mentions four deaths—a director and three assets. Of those, two of them are given some emotional weight and importance. The others aren't really seen as that important and are pretty much forgotten about*. Yes, in the world of espionage people die. Yes, I have a tendency to read books with high body counts and rarely talk about it. This is not that kind of book, and in the non-fictional world, deaths matter. Particularly when they involve people who are put in the line of fire because of the American government's actions. The way those two deaths were dealt with in contrast to the other two really bothered me (in case I was being vague).

* Although one death is pretty horrific and gets a little space because of it.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT RED WIDOW?
I almost DNFed this a handful of times, and each time that happened, Katsu would do something to perk my interest a bit. The book managed to stay juuuuuuuuuuust interesting enough to keep me turning the pages without actually really enjoying the book.

I think I get why this is getting decent reviews—both professional and amateur. But I just can't talk myself into agreeing with them. Who knows? If I read this three months ago (or three months from now), it might have hit me differently, but this is the week I read this.

When I describe the thinking behind my star ratings, I describe 2 Stars as: "It's not bad per se, it's just not good." That pretty much sums this up. It's almost good, but it just misses the mark. show less

It's a bit slow to start & I considered giving it up at the 25% mark. It did pick up after that & was reasonably entertaining if you're looking for an espionage type book. If you miss Cold War spy thrillers, this might be of interest; it's set in the present day & deals with agents & assets in Putin's Russia. Lots of the characters were female & the author herself apparently had a long career working in intelligence, writing, "I always wanted to write a spy novel because I felt there were things about working in this field that people didn't understand, especially if what they did know came from popular movies, TV shows, and books. I am grateful for my career: as I've told many people, through it, I was able to do many things I would show more otherwise never have experienced. But it has its dark side, too, and it's that trade-off and the personal toll it can take that I wanted to capture in Red Widow." show less

Hats off to author Katsu for giving us mostly unpredictable and — more importantly — plausible plot twists. Reminded me of Michael Crichton at his finest. However, the ending of RED WIDOW rang a little hollow, but I enjoyed the book overall and will read future novels by her. (Full review with spoilers at https://johnnyostentatious.blogspot.com/2021/06/red-widow-by-alma-katsu.html)