Palace of Treason - Jason Matthews

Simon & Schuster, 2015.

 

Four Stars

 

Espionage thrillers are definitely not my favourite genre, and not something I would usually pick up. However, I was willing to suspend disbelief for Palace of Treason, mainly because the author, Jason Matthews, is a former CIA officer – thus I thought this novel might be mostly based on fact and not completely over the top with action scenes and explosions. Well, I was kind of right. Some of the scenes do seem to be thrown in just to meet the action quota, but for the most part, the characters and their reactions to their circumstances seemed believable.

 

This novel is actually a sequel to Matthews’ first one, Red Sparrow. It follows the same main characters as the original: Dominika Egorova, a Russian double agent, and her handler, Nathaniel Nash. I was at a disadvantage because I have not read the first book, but to be honest I don’t think it was necessary to read the prequel – Matthews did a great job of using flashbacks and other references to bring us up to speed on the events of the first novel without it feeling like a boring summary [Update: I found a copy of Red Sparrow at a local book sale, so I will edit this review after I have read it].

 

As I began this novel, I expected a fast-paced, action-packed ride. However, the writing was actually filled with lovely poetic descriptions that seemed somewhat out of place in the genre. The language also frequently crossed over into the verbose: for example, Nate’s family is “clannish, boorish, patriarchal, violently competitive, and invidious” (page 32). That is only one example of many like it, and while the vocabulary is impressive, I would rather see some real emotion instead of being told by a thesaurus how the characters feel.

 

The relationship between Nate and Dominika was well-written and fun to read. Their interactions were very natural, considering the unusual circumstances in which they found themselves. Other minor characters lightened the mood and put a human face on the CIA. However, just as I was getting into the Nate-Domi storyline, the novel abruptly shifts to multiple other points of view. I could see how these characters would fit into the plot later, but it still interrupted my enjoyment of the original story. These later additions to the story also felt more like caricatures, where the line between “good guys” and “bad guys” was perhaps too clearly drawn – the Russians were all scheming and evil, being compared to dwarves and toads, while the Americans were all “aw shucks” good old boys.

 

I did like the mystical aspects of the novel, such as Dominika’s ability to read auras and receive guidance from spirits – it was the perfect detail to take this novel from traditional spy novel into the realm of literary fiction. Another unusual element of the book were the recipes found at the end of each chapter – I wasn’t really sure how they related to the narrative (aside from the fact that the food was eaten in that chapter), although maybe that’s something I’m missing from the first book.

 

Overall, Palace of Treason makes me want to give spy thrillers a chance. The political perspectives on Putin and Russia’s role in the world were intriguing, and the characters’ actions seemed fairly believable and realistic – there was no James Bond extremism to be found here. With an ambiguous ending that leaves plenty of room for a sequel, I look forward to picking up Matthews’ next book.

 

I received this book for free through Simon & Schuster and Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review.