Palace Of Treason- A surprisingly entertaining sequel

Author: Jason Mathews
Genre: Thriller, Espionage
Series: Red Sparrow Trilogy

Red Sparrow was a disappointment for me, and I had high expectations from it. It failed to impress me at almost every level. It was still a decent thriller but definitely could have been better. For details, you can check my review for Red Sparrow here.
How Red Sparrow was set up at the climax, was the only reason I wanted to continue with this series. It seemed whatever happened in the first part was just the preparation for something much grander. And, I am happy to say my intuitions were correct. Palace of Treason (PoT) is a much better book than Red Sparrow.

Dominika Egorova is now a captain in SVR. She’s the CIA’s most valuable penetration in Russian Intelligence since MARBLE. After unprecedented success at a very young age, she has caught everyone’s attention. It includes Zyuganov, the new deputy director of SVR, who sees her as a direct threat to her position, and the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dominika is helping the CIA to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program. Amidst all this, there is a mole in CIA named TRITON, who can expose the identity of Dominika.

In Red Sparrow, there were a couple of things that clicked with me: dynamics between Nash and Dominika, and Jason’s meticulous detailing of inner workings of SVR and CIA. PoT carries over these two positives from the previous book and builds upon it. The relationship and constant quarrels between Nash and Dominika are intact and still entertaining. This time Jason doesn’t let his expositions halt the pace of the story. His explications were still informative and went along with the story. The story in this book is more layered, yet predictable. But unlike its predecessor, it doesn’t try to be over-smart with the twists. It knows there won’t be any shocking twists, so it entertains you with the pace. And, yes it is bloody fast-paced and heart-pounding. One major issue with Red Sparrow was that Dominika was never in charge of the situation; she remained a puppet throughout the book. But in PoT, we see Domi in action. She takes risks, makes plans, manipulates her subjects, and comes out victorious in a couple of duels.

There are still a few negatives. I am still not on board with Dominika’s synesthesia(seeing colors around people). It doesn’t seem to play a significant role in the story. And, now along with synesthesia, she also has schizophrenia (she sees dead people). I am not sure what Jason wants to achieve by showing that Dominika has these mental conditions. Also, we see multiple people betraying their countries. The problem is, all these people follow a particular template. Russians become mole when they don’t trust their government and have suffered a personal loss. Americans change sides when they are greedy and contemptuous. I’d love to see a Russian, who doesn’t trust his/her government but yet sides with his/her country over betraying her.

Still Palace of Treason is a definitive improvement upon its predecessor, and though it’s not a perfect thriller, it is an enthralling and action-packed book. And, once again at the climax, there is enough promise for the next installment.