Jason Matthews (1951 – April 28, 2021) was an American author of espionage novels and former CIA officer, best known for the Red Sparrow spy novel trilogy.
Jason was married to Suzanne, also a former officer. [1] He died April 28, 2021 at the age of 69 from corticobasal degeneration.[2]
Prior to becoming a novelist, Matthews spent 33 years working for the CIA.[3] While in the CIA he was officially a diplomat, in Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, but his real job was recruiting and then managing foreign agents.[4]
In 2014, his first novel, Red Sparrow (2013), won an Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American author.[5] Writer and critic Art Taylor praised it in The Washington Post, writing that it "isn't just a fast-paced thriller—it's a first-rate novel as noteworthy for its superior style as for its gripping depiction of a secretive world."[6] It was adapted into a movie of the same name starring Jennifer Lawrence.[7]
In 2015 and 2018, he published Palace of Treason and The Kremlin’s Candidate, which are the sequels to Red Sparrow.