Literary Birthday – 17 September – Jason Matthews
Jason Matthews was born on 17 September 1951 and died on 28 April 2021.
Jason Matthews Quotes
- Choosing the genre was easy: I lived the life for my entire professional career. I thought it would be interesting to celebrate the world of intelligence and espionage using the fascinating accounts over the decades of agents, traitors, mole hunts, illegals, clandestine operations, and the different intelligence services.
- The really authentic spy yarns have been written by people who have actually experienced this world. For me, John le Carré is the gold standard: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is possibly the most perfect spy story ever written.
- For all his flamboyance, I think Ian Fleming is a master spy storyteller because he also knew the life. Fleming’s From Russia with Love is one of the most accurate accounts of an exfiltration operation that’s ever been written.
- There are lots of great thriller writers out there, but they mostly write about counterterrorism and catching the briefcase nuke. I wanted to write a classic, old spy yarn with the Russians as the main opponents.
- I thought it would be interesting and evocative to make the main character the heroine. I had read a little bit about the famous Sparrow Schools in the 60s and the 70s in the Soviet Union.
- Let me continue the Sisyphean task of expanding your vocabulary. One feels empathy when one has been there; sympathy when one has not. (Palace of Treason)
- I’ve always loved Russian humour. It’s a shame there’s so little of it. (Red Sparrow)
Source for quotes 1-3: Publishers Weekly and 4-5: Military.com
Jason Matthews was an American author of espionage novels and a former CIA officer. During his career, he served as Chief at several CIA stations, working with foreign partners on counterproliferation and counterterrorism operations. His first novel, Red Sparrow, drew on his experience in the intelligence world. It introduced CIA operative Nathaniel Nash and Russian double agent Dominika Egorova, whose dangerous relationship drives the story. The novel won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence. Matthews continued the story in Palace of Treason and The Kremlin’s Candidate, completing the Red Sparrow trilogy.
Source for photograph: The real Book Spy
by Amanda Patterson
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