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Palace of Treason by Jason Matthews

Thriller

Palace of Treason

by Jason Matthews

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Quick take

The closest thing written recently to the best work of John LeCarre. And for good reason — the author is a retired CIA guy.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, 400

    400+ pages

  • Illustrated icon, Action_packed

    Action-packed

  • Illustrated icon, International

    International

  • Illustrated icon, Second_in_Series

    Second in series

Why I love it

As I look back, I realize that it's possible my obsession with espionage novels began in childhood, when I first discovered Harriet the Spy and Nancy Drew. At the time, I don't think most girls dreamed of having lives of adventure — cowboys, astronauts, river boat captains — those were not female fantasies. But using intelligence and curiosity to solve mysteries, hiding inside dumbwaiters and recording stealth observations in a journal, piling into a convertible with pals to go and investigate a spate of burglaries — now THAT was interesting.

Cut to 2015, and it seems I did put that career goal of becoming a double agent on hold. But I still get a vicarious thrill from reading spy fiction, especially when the star is a woman. Enter Captain Dominika Egorova of the Russian Intelligence Service, who's now secretly working for the other side (i.e., our side). She's the heroine of Jason Matthews' Palace of Treason, a book I inhaled in an afternoon. It's the closest thing written recently to the best work of John LeCarre. And for good reason — the author is a retired CIA guy. I guess they didn't make him sign one of those "do not disclose" forms.

I don't go in for most "genre" books, but I am always on the hunt for a suspenseful, well-written mystery/thriller, especially when geopolitics is involved. This book is fast-paced but grounded in what's really going on in the world. And I love the fact that protagonist Dominika is smart, fearless, athletic — she's heroic!

I didn't read the author's previous book Red Sparrow, but that's next up for me. When I find a writer I can count on, I hang on for dear life. So I hope you'll check out this fabulous new novel. I'm hoping there will be one every year from here on out.

Member ratings (93)

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View all
The Boyfriend
The Last One at the Wedding
Sleep Tight
First Lie Wins
House of Glass
Middle of the Night
Listen for the Lie
A Talent for Murder
Beautiful Ugly
Someone in the Attic
One Perfect Couple
Like Mother, Like Daughter
Kill for Me, Kill for You
Bad Tourists
Murder Road
Daughter of Mine
The Fury
The Other Mothers
When I’m Dead
The Soulmate
What Lies in the Woods
She Started It
The Only One Left
Dark Corners
Blacktop Wasteland
All the Dangerous Things
The Only Survivors
The Broken Girls
The Family Game
The Push
We Were Never Here
Things We Do in the Dark
The Golden Couple
The Stranger Upstairs
Gone Tonight
Too Good to Be True
The Last Word
You Are Not Alone
Rock Paper Scissors
Not a Happy Family
A Flicker in the Dark
Reckless Girls
The House Across the Lake
The Last Thing He Told Me
The Maidens
Everything We Didn't Say
The Paris Apartment
You're Invited
The Last Party
Dark Places
Pieces of Her
The Wife Between Us
Sharp Objects
None of This Is True
The Silent Patient
The Other Woman
Necessary People
The Family Upstairs
The Night Swim
Girl A
The Hunting Wives
Just Another Missing Person
First Born
The Lies I Tell
Breathless