Palace of Treason

Jason Matthews returns to the entangled lives of Nate Nash, CIA handler, and Dominika Egorova, his SVR agent Russian asset, in Palace of Treason (#524) after their stunning debut in the espionage novel Red Sparrow (See my post of 8/21/15.).  Mr. Matthews certainly ought to know the field, after his years serving in the CIA, so the descriptions and operations he describes feel all too real.

Palace of Treason deals with a particularly relevant topic.  Dominika has resurfaced in Moscow after a lengthy period not communicating with her CIA handlers after a messy prisoner swap on a lonely Estonian bridge.  She loves Russia, but not the men who run her, especially the Chief of the KR line of Russian Counterintelligence and coincidentally her boss, Zyuganov.  He's already tried several times to have her killed, but when she successfully turns an Iranian asset, she learns that he holds the secret to speeding up uranium enrichment for building a nuclear weapon. Egorova knows it's time to reactivate her channel to the CIA.  Her achievements have brought Dominika to Putin's attention, placing her in an ideal position to gather intel.  In the meantime, a highly-placed Ameican is turning sensitive and highly classified materials over to the Russians. Unless the Americans can identify their own mole before the Russians turn him over to an illegal handler, he or she will disappear.  It becomes a matter of life and death for Dominika when she discovers that the American spy is going to turn over the name of a mole working inside Russia.

It's riveting reading, but don't attempt this one without having read Red Sparrow first.  (Despite the recipes included at the end of each chapter, this book might not be suitable reading during meal time for those with sensitive stomachs!)  Best of all, Mr. Matthews has left the door open at the end of Palace of Treason for yet another appearance of  these spy craft practitioners.