The February/March selection for Cook the Books was Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews.  Simona from  briciole is hosting.  Please see the announcement post here .

About the book:

IN THE GRAND SPY-TALE TRADITION OF JOHN LE CARRÉ . . . comes this shocking thriller written with insider detail known only to a veteran CIA officer.

In present-day Russia, ruled by blue-eyed, unblinking President Vladimir Putin, Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the post-Soviet intelligence jungle. Ordered against her will to become a “Sparrow,” a trained seductress, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a young CIA officer who handles the Agency’s most important Russian mole.

Spies have long relied on the “honey trap,” whereby vulnerable men and women are intimately compromised. Dominika learns these techniques of “sexpionage” in Russia’s secret “Sparrow School,” hidden outside of Moscow. As the action careens between Russia, Finland, Greece, Italy, and the United States, Dominika and Nate soon collide in a duel of wills, tradecraft, and—inevitably—forbidden passion that threatens not just their lives but those of others as well. As secret allegiances are made and broken, Dominika and Nate’s game reaches a deadly crossroads. Soon one of them begins a dangerous double existence in a life-and-death operation that consumes intelligence agencies from Moscow to Washington, DC.

Page by page, veteran CIA officer Jason Matthews’s Red Sparrow delights and terrifies and fascinates, all while delivering an unforgettable cast, from a sadistic Spetsnaz “mechanic” who carries out Putin’s murderous schemes to the weary CIA Station Chief who resists Washington “cake-eaters” to MARBLE, the priceless Russian mole. Packed with insider detail and written with brio, this tour-de-force novel brims with Matthews’s life experience, including his knowledge of espionage, counterintelligence, surveillance tradecraft, spy recruitment, cyber-warfare, the Russian use of “spy dust,” and covert communications. Brilliantly composed and elegantly constructed, Red Sparrow is a masterful spy tale lifted from the dossiers of intelligence agencies on both sides of the Atlantic. Authentic, tense, and entertaining, this novel introduces Jason Matthews as a major new American talent.

What I thought…

With only sixty pages left in the novel, I decided to re-watch the film version of Red Sparrow (2018).  I’m not sure that helped or hindered my opinion of the book.

The book follows Dominika, a budding ballet student in Russia.  A Tonya Harding-like accident befalls her and her career is over before it even starts.   She’s taken advantage of by her uncle, a high ranking official.  Her father is dead, her mother needs a place to live, and Dominika is the sole bread winner.  She’s pressed into service.   Betrayal after betrayal befalls her but she gets stronger and stronger.  Dominika starts out walking a straight party line but she soon sees what is happening to herself and her country.

Enter Nate Nash, a brash young and handsome CIA agent.  He begins recruiting Dominika as she begins a surveillance on him.  A rocket scientist is not needed to see where this is heading.

If you’ve seen the film version, just know that the endings are totally different.   On another note, the film is much darker than the novel.   Gable, another CIA agent, adds some much needed humor to the mix in the book.

I know that Matthews was going for authenticity but all the acronyms got annoying to me as did some of the bureaucracy.  I do appreciate the wrap up in the book and that it is not the typical happy ending, leaving a lot for speculation.

The book also gave me pause as I was reading it at the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis.  Putin is a character in the book.

The Food

Matthews ends each chapter with a very terse recipe.  Some of these recipes are Russian traditional foods but I did not want to make a Russian dish.   I initially wanted to create a Ukraine recipe in solidarity.   But, Matthews includes many recipes in these chapters, everything from recipes from Rome and Finland to American foods.

I thought about shchi, a traditional dish that Dominika’s mother makes for her after she is released from brutal questioning (241).  Again, though, I didn’t want to highlight a Russian dish.

Pasta con le Sarde (256) was the meal that MARBLE shared with his new handler as he himself planned his own demise.  Not really a scene to celebrate, but the fennel, onions, pine nuts, raisins and anchovies sounded delicious.

MARBLE again cooks as he tries to bring Dominika into the plan.  He makes a simple rustic tomato sauce (319).

As Nate lunches with other CIA employees, there’s a simple salad dressing that just spoke to me.

Sophie’s Vinaigrette

Combine pureed garlic, dill weed, dried oregano, dried pepper flakes, Dijon mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan cheese with one part balsamic vinegar and three parts extra virgin kalamata olive oil and emulsify. (262)

After reading this book of espionage, set in Russia with Putin as a character, I just wanted to make something simple.