Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews

Published by Scribner on June 4, 2013

"Two agents, both witting of the other, a single handler, the whole case directed by a mad scientist of a CI chief, two mole hunts -- and the added necessity of having to decide where to eat dinner." That sentence, appearing about three-quarters of the way into Red Sparrow, stands as a quick-and-dirty summary of an absorbing plot.

Red Sparrow begins with a traditional, but well executed, surveillance/chase scene. CIA agent Nathaniel Nash meets with a highly placed asset in Moscow, code named MARBLE, and manages to elude the FSB agents who stumble upon the meeting site. Vanya Egorov, First Deputy Director of the SVR, knows Nash met with someone, but doesn't know the traitor's identity. Nash has protected his asset but has blown his own cover.

After Nash is reassigned to Helsinki, the story shifts to Dominika Egorova, Vanya's niece, a determined woman who sees the colors that surround people. A detailed backstory explains how this oddly-wired woman became an SVR operative. It eventually becomes Dominika's mission (and Vanya's obsession) to trap Nash, to learn from him the identity of his Russian asset. Much of the initial fun in Red Sparrow derives from the chance to follow two intelligent intelligence officers as they try to recruit each other. The story eventually introduces a highly placed spy in the American government, the counterpart to MARBLE, but Nash and Dominika always remain the story's focus. About halfway through the novel, a conventional plot takes the sharp turn that separates jaw-dropping stories from those that are merely good.

A good spy novel needs moments of tension. Jason Matthews excels at those. He builds anticipation that instills serious teeth-gnashing as he places key characters in precarious positions. He makes palpable the anxiety endured by double agents who risk being unmasked. The last quarter of the novel is particularly intense. The plot thread concerning Dominika's relationship with Nash could have become trite (the stuff of trashy movies), but Matthews makes the emotions real while keeping the story fresh.

A good spy novel also needs good tradecraft, and the descriptions of tradecraft in Red Sparrow are exceptional. Spy novels often describe the schools in which the techniques of field work are taught, but I've never encountered such a thorough description of training in seduction, the clinical lessons imparted at Russia's Sparrow School. Although they detail the objectification and humiliation of women, the scenes are written with sensitivity and compassion.

The convincing portrayal of Dominika's roiling emotions, her evolving contempt for her masters, and Nash's evolution from a nakedly career-driven spy to a grounded human being make the lead characters in Red Sparrow memorable. Even minor characters are given full biographies. In fact, if Red Sparrow has a weakness, it is that so many characters are developed in so much depth that the novel is longer than it needs to be. Fortunately, it never drags, and that weakness disappears before the novel's second half.

Dominika's ability to see colored auras emanating from people is a little whacky for my taste, but that's the novel's only other misstep. Like real people, the characters spend some of their time eating. Their meals are described in mouth-watering prose. Rather incongruously, each chapter is followed by a recipe for some dish that is mentioned in the text. A chapter that ends with a dramatic death, for instance, jumps to a recipe for shrimp salad. The recipes are an odd addition to a spy novel, but people who have more culinary skill than I do might find them useful. In any event, they don't detract from one of the most impressive debut espionage novels I've encountered.

RECOMMENDED

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

Published by Hogarth on May 7, 2013

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is a haunting novel of exquisite prose and striking images, of big themes built upon small, poignant moments. Every character, no matter how minor, rings true. Rarely has a debut novel so impressed me with its power and beauty.

Sonja Rabina is a trauma surgeon who left London and returned to her home in Volchansk in 1996. She is the hospital's last remaining physician when Akhmed shows up in 2004 with eight-year-old Havaa, who was hiding in the woods as Russian soldiers took her Chechen father away and burned her house to the ground. Akhmed, an incompetent doctor from Havaa's village, agrees to stay on at the hospital if Sonja will allow Havaa to remain. The two physicians are a study in contrasts: Sonja is skillful but lacks empathy for her patients (and for Havaa); Akhmed has empathy for all but no skill (except for drawing, which he much prefers to medicine). Neither would willingly trade places with the other.

The story looks back over a ten year period to reveal how the novel's key players arrived at their present circumstances. Anthony Marra creates sympathy for, and assures the reader's understanding of, each character. There are no true villains here, only people who are forced by circumstances to do things they regret. Characters are steeped in their region's misery: Dokka, Havaa's father, whose ten fingers were the price of resistance before he disappeared for the final time; Khassan Geshilov, the historian whose "history of a nation that had destroyed history and nationhood" reached fifteen million words and was forever in need of revision; Khassan's son Ramzan, an informant for the Russians who is feared and reviled by all, but who once (unknown to all) was a tragic hero; Akhmed's bedridden wife, Ula, whose descriptions of her day are mistaken for hallucinations; Sonja's sister Natasha, who twice pays an unconscionable price for her freedom. Although the characters endure atrocities and disappearances and lives of deprivation, they carry on, often guarding secrets, not just from the state, but from those closest to them.

The characters form a microcosm of Chechnya during a harsh and brutal time.  The novel provides a fascinating, condensed look at Chechnya in evolution over a ten year period, as well as the tension between Chechens and the ethnic Russians who were forcibly relocated to Chechnya, but the information is so seamlessly integrated into the story that it never feels like a history lesson.  Some chapters are so intensely moving they're difficult to read, but the trauma of Chechen life is tempered by the reminder that "the nervous system doesn't exist exclusively to feel pain."  Love and tenderness coexist with torture and death.

The maturity and sophistication of Marra's storytelling is astonishing. Among the novel's many symbols, my favorite is ice, symbolic of both survival and disappearance, "a melting into the past, not an erasure but a conversion in form, from presence to memory." Another is static from the radio, formless sound that can be shaped (like memories, or certain people) into whatever we desire.

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena explores diverse themes, all timeless and universal: the cycles of life (babies are born to replace the dead as new wars flare up to kill the living); the importance and difficulty of family; books and art as instruments of bonding and as vaults for the preservation of memories; the nature of betrayal (of family, friends, and lovers) and what it does to the soul; the protective power of hope, kindness, and generosity. Although the novel's time frame is 1994 to 2004, with a particular focus on the last four days of that period, every now and then Marra gives us a peek at what will come later, reminding us of the story's most important theme, one that is echoed in the book's title: people suffer, death is inevitable, but every day, new lives begin and existing lives begin anew. Life goes on.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Death of the Demon by Anne Holt

First published in Norway in 1995; published in translation by Scribner on June 18, 2013

Anne Holt creates an ominous atmosphere in Death of the Demon ... or maybe the Scandinavian setting is enough to do that. Title notwithstanding, Death of the Demon is a fairly traditional murder mystery, not a tale of the supernatural, although several characters are possessed by demons of their own design.

Twelve-year-old Olav, confined to an institutional foster home in Oslo, is consumed by hatred. Foul-mouthed and ill-tempered, Olav is a chubby boy whose ravenous appetite is rarely satisfied. His mother cannot begin to control him. On the same night the foster home's director is stabbed to death, Olav disappears. Chief Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen investigates, assisted by Detective Billie T.  With Olav, the other foster kids, troubled staff members, and the director's husband and boyfriend to consider, there's no shortage of suspects in this whodunit.

From time to time, Olav's mother provides a first-person account of the difficult life she had raising the little terror and the unwillingness of social services agencies to help, until they finally showed up to take him away. The degree to which Olav's mother is responsible for Olav's misbehavior is unclear (she has a hands-off approach to parenting), but social workers and teachers are eager to blame her instead of reproaching themselves for failing to give her the assistance she persistently requested. Those passages are probably meant to add human interest while serving as an indictment of Norway's social services agencies, but (other than the very last one) they're a bit too obvious to add anything meaningful to the story.

Characterization is above-average for a whodunit. Hanne, who is more comfortable being an investigator than an administrator, has some regret over her decision to accept her promotion to Chief Inspector. Discord between Hanne and her domestic partner adds spice to the story without becoming melodramatic. Holt gives Hanne and Billie T. a workplace friendship without relying on the clichés that often accompany relationships of that nature. I can't say that any of the characters are particularly deep, but neither are they shallow.

The ultimate test of a whodunit is whether the "reveal" is surprising and whether the story is engaging. Death of the Demon gets a better-than-passing grade on both prongs of the test. Holt has a talent for misdirection, as evidenced by a final twist that gives the story an extra spark while imparting new meaning to the book's title.

RECOMMENDED

The Abomination by Jonathan Holt

Published by Harper on June 18, 2013

In the grand tradition of thrillers that depend upon conspiracy theories, The Abomination serves up a Machiavellian plot involving NATO, the death of Aldo Moro, the Bosnian War, the Mafia, a private army, arms manufacturers, human traffickers, a corrupt Italian prosecutor, and two offshoots of the Catholic Church. Three storylines develop alongside each other, and for the first quarter of The Abomination, I was wondering how they could possibly tie together.

Kat Tapo has recently been promoted to the position of homicide detective for the Carabinieri (military police) in Venice. Her first murder investigation involves a female corpse wearing the robes of a Catholic priest. Tattoos on her body and similar marks at the crime scene -- an island that is shunned for fear of the evil spirits that purportedly haunt it -- might or might not be related to the occult. A second murder, apparently related, occurs in the hotel room that the two victims shared. Kat's attempt to investigate is obstructed at every turn.

Second Lieutenant Holly Boland has been posted to Italy, where she spent much of her childhood. In her role as an American military intelligence officer, she's asked to respond to a request for information about the relationship between the U.S. military and a Croatian commander who was responsible for atrocities committed during the Bosnian War. Her attempt to gather the requested information is obstructed at every turn.

Daniele Barbo is an antisocial computer whiz who maintains a website called Carnivia. It's sort of a social networking site combined with an Italian version of Second Life set in Venice. Because Carnivia safeguards the anonymity of its users, it is valued as a clandestine meeting place. The Italian government wants to put Barbo in prison because he won't allow the government to access Carnivia's encrypted data. Someone is attempting to break the encryption, and Barbo's efforts to discover the source of the attacks on Carnivia's coding are obstructed at every turn.

The interplay of the three storylines produces a plot that is shrewd, intricate, and mostly believable. The murder investigation leads to false trails, cover-ups, and more deaths. Tense relationships between Venetians and Americans, stemming from the American military's problematic presence in Italy, add credibility to the story. Kat and Holly, two women proving themselves in nontraditional occupations, are constructed with satisfying depth. Jonathan Holt seasons the story with convincing references to Venetian culture and attitudes.

This isn't the touristy Venice of gondola rides and museums (although both play a role in the story). Holt's Venice is seedy and crime-ridden. Although Holt pays tribute to the city's fantastic architecture, he gives close attention to the flooded basements and moldy walls that are hidden from visitors. Fetid waters become symbolic of the crime that seeps through the city.

The Abomination is an appealing novel, but it has its flaws. While the story is well-told, the pace is occasionally slowed by unnecessary detail. The theme (violence against women) is important but Holt indulges in a few too many preachy moments. Occasional scenes are over-the-top (no matter how well connected a conspirator might be, shooting a Hellfire missile into Italy will raise some eyebrows) but most of the story is believable. There's a bit of soap opera in one of Kat's relationships. It isn't overdone but it adds little value to a story that has plenty of human interest without the addition of a predictable affair. The novel's conclusion is underwhelming given the scope of the conspiracy that needs to be unraveled, although the ending contains enough ambiguity to whet my interest in the next installment of this trilogy. Imperfections aside, the novel's action scenes are both riveting and realistic, the story is consistently attention-grabbing, and the atmospheric setting is worth a return visit. I look forward to seeing the trio of key characters in action again.

RECOMMENDED

Eléctrico W by Hervé Le Tellier

First published in French in 2011; published in translation by Other Press on June 18, 2013

The events described in Eléctrico W take place in Lisbon over the course of nine days. Antonio Flores is a photographer living in Paris, but during his childhood in Lisbon, he raced every day to catch a funicular tram called the Eléctrico W. One morning he missed the tram but met a girl called Duck, who eventually became his lover. Their romance ended with a forced separation after Duck's father discovered she was pregnant.

Antonio tells the story of Duck to Vincent Balmer, a journalist with whom Antonio has joined forces to cover the trial of Pinheiro, the "Mad Killer of Lisbon." Vincent, the novel's narrator, has an old flame of his own, a woman he loved despite her refusal to give herself to him. Of Irene he confesses: "the memory of her terrifies me because it's everywhere in me, ready to spring up as soon as I'm alone, when all it really is is regret." Vincent is chagrined when Antonio reveals that Irene was Antonio's lover before Antonio left Paris, and is even more discomfited by the news that Irene will be visiting Antonio in Lisbon.

Motivated by a combination of jealousy and confusion, Vincent embarks on a search for the long-lost Duck. Vincent's wanderings gives Hervé Le Tellier the opportunity to paint caricatures of Lisbon's colorful residents, including a surprising woman named Manuela Freire. Vincent believes he has bad luck with women, but perhaps (as Manuela suggests) his problem is his inability to recognize and seize the moment when a woman is giving him a chance. Vincent's interaction with the novel's female characters, as well as Antonio's momentary obsession with a young woman named Aurora, allows Le Tellier to explore various aspects of love and desire.

The perfect understatement of each plot thread adds to the novel's realism. The reader eventually learns that there is more to the story of Duck.  That story's completion gives Eléctrico W its final dramatic edge.

Le Tellier's elegant, atmospheric prose makes this a novel to savor. Le Tellier makes frequent reference to poets, both real and fictional, and there is a poetic sensibility to his phrasing and choice of words. One poem that Le Tellier quotes is, like Eléctrico W, about "lying and illusion and sincerity."  During the nine days, Vincent idly translates the fragmentary stories written by a (fabricated) poet who has appeared as a character in some of Le Tellier's other work. Le Tellier seems to be suggesting -- through the translated vignettes, Vincent's coverage of Pinhiero, and the character of Manuela -- that the line between fiction and reality is murky at best. Vincent is drawn, he tells us, to "unfashionable authors, the ones who failed to produce a major famous work by which they'll be remembered." Eléctrico W deserves a better fate than the forgotten books that appeal to Vincent. I wouldn't classify it as a major work, but if every good novel "is good in its own way" (as Vincent opines), Eléctrico W is good in many ways.

RECOMMENDED