Red Traitor

'This is Robert Harris storytelling territory and is told with equal panache and authenticity. There could be no higher praise.' Daily Mail 
 
One the least known but most terrifying moments in modern history - when the fate of the world lay with a lone, nervous Soviet naval officer one hundred meters under the Caribbean sea - lies at the heart of this breathtaking new Cold War thriller from the author of the acclaimed Black Sun. 
 
The year is 1962, and KGB Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin is searching for ghosts: for evidence of the long-rumoured existence of an American spy embedded at the highest echelons of Soviet power. But it's while on this wild goose chase, a high-stakes espionage race against a rival State agency, that Vasin first hears whispers of an ominous top-secret undertaking: Operation Anadyr. 
 
 As tensions flare between Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy over Russian missiles hidden in Cuba, four Soviet submarines - each carrying tactical ballistic missiles armed with thermonuclear warheads - are ordered to make a covert run at the U.S. blockade in the Caribbean . . .

This is Robert Harris storytelling territory and is told with equal panache and authenticity. There could be no higher praise.

Tense, exciting and authentic. Every bit as good as Black Sun.

His feel for the period is a great pleasure to read. Russet October.

A superlative follow-up to Black Sun . . . With some particularly tense scenes set inside submarines that put Tom Clancy to shame in their claustrophobic realism, you have a humdinger of a Cold War thriller . . . Gripping and unmistakably authentic.

This dynamic thriller skilfully weaves its story around one of the 20th-century's most tense moments, the Cuban missile  crisis.

A standout thriller . . . the story races along and Matthews' superb scene-setting . . . feels completely authentic.

Superb . . . a real cold-war tale, much in the vein of a Tom Clancy, but with a degree of detail and conviction that grabs the reader and doesn't let go . . . if you like your thrillers realistic, accurate and impossible to put down, buy a copy today. You won't regret it.

Gripping . . . Cold War buffs will particularly enjoy the ride, though any reader who appreciates the finer points of espionage and foreign intrigue will also be well satisfied.

Matthews' excellent Cold War thriller . . . he writes knowledgeably about Moscow in Soviet times. the deadly rivalry between the KGB and GRU . . . the tension is real aboard the submarines . . . it's a terrific read.

Russian expert OWEN MATTHEWS is the author of two highly praised works of non-fiction, Stalin's Children and An Impeccable Spy, and two acclaimed historical thrillers, Black Sun and Red Traitor. As a war correspondent, he covered conflicts in Bosnia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq and Ukraine, and for ten years he was was Newsweek's Moscow bureau chief. He divides his time between Rome and Moscow.

Based on a true story, the critically acclaimed Soviet thriller

Black Sun

Based on a true story, this acclaimed, chillingly authentic, page-turner of a thriller brings Soviet Russia and the Cold War world to brilliant life and should rank alongside Martin Cruz-Smith's Gorky Park and Robert Harris' Archangel.

'Outstanding' SUNDAY TIMES 
 
'A stunning debut thriller . . . utterly terrifying . . . absolutely riveting' DAILY MAIL 
 
'Fascinating . . . fearsome' FREDERICK FORSYTH 
 
'Enthralling' FINANCIAL TIMES 
 
'Thrilling . . . compelling' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE 
 
1961. Hidden deep within central Soviet Russia is a place that doesn't appear on any map: a city called Arzamas-16. Here dedicated scientists and technicians are building the most powerful nuclear device the world will ever see - three thousand times more powerful than Hiroshima. 
 
But days before the bomb is to be tested, a young physicist is found dead. His body contains enough radioactive poison to kill thousands. The authorities believe it is suicide - they want the corpse disposed of, the incident filed and forgotten. But Moscow is alarmed by what's going on in this strange, isolated place. 
 
And so KGB major Alexander Vasin is sent to Arzamas to investigate. What he finds there is unlike anything he's experienced before. His wits will be tested against some of the Soviet Union's most brilliant minds - eccentrics, patriots and dissidents who, because their work is considered to be of such vital importance, have been granted the freedom to think and act, live and love as they wish. For in Arzamas, nothing can be allowed to get in the way of the project. Not even murder . . . 
 
Intricately researched, cunningly plotted and brilliantly told, Black Sun is a fast-paced and timely thriller set at the height - and in the heart - of Soviet power from the acclaimed author of An Impeccable Spy. 
 
What readers are saying: 
'Woven around real events, people and places, it's genuinely terrifying stuff' ***** 
 
'The twists and turns and intrigue kept me on tenterhooks' ***** 
 
'Brings alive one of the most fascinating periods of Soviet history' *****

A stunning debut thriller . . . ferocious, authentic and utterly terrifying . . . absolutely riveting.

There are some authors who have gone out into the world to observe the good, the bad and the ugly. Owen Matthews is such a novelist. Black Sun is fascinating and has fearsome authenticity.

An outstanding first novel . . . Matthews writes superbly.

One of the best thrillers of recent years . . . a glorious book, a tour-de-force. It drips with authenticity from every page  . . . a page-turning, thumping good read.

DAVID YOUNG, bestselling author of Stasi Child

Fact and fiction combine to keep the pages turning in this impressive debut thriller.

THE TIMES 'Best Historical Fiction of the Year'

A stunning debut. Matthews writes enviably well and knows Soviet Russia inside-out. Fantastic.

Enthralling . . . Black Sun propels Matthews straight into the first division of thriller writers.

This thrilling and suspenseful and original thriller of murder and power is a compelling voyage into the darkest secret city of the soviet nuclear project by an expert on all of Russian life.

The most exciting thriller or mystery story debut this year . . . a cold war whodunnit . . . an absolutely gripping novel by one who knows Russia well and evokes a horrifyingly convincing Soviet Union.

Brilliantly plotted and all the more satisfying because it is based on a true story . . . Something else, too: you get it that the Soviet Union in the sixties was a mess with all the wrong people holding the levers of power. And yet, inside the machine, there were humans too: sometimes noble, often seriously brilliant. Reading Black Sun is like stepping into a time machine and setting the dial for Soviet Russia, 1961.

A rattlingly good yarn . . . Matthews has the uncanny ability to transport the reader back in time to the Soviet Union of 1961 . . . a debut novel which deserves a wide readership.

A thoroughly dark and disturbing thriller.

Atmospheric . . . his evocation of the landscape and times is sharp, and the insights into the horrors of the Communist past chastening . . . a powerful and gripping piece of writing.

Based on real events . . . this story is set in a secret Soviet city in 1961. Featuring murder and betrayals, and a flawed but principled KGB man as its hero, it unfolds in the aftermath of Stalinism, amid the scars left by the purges, denunciations and Great Patriotic War. The author, a former Moscow correspondent, knows his terrain inside out.

'[Matthews] impressive first novel . . . the murder investigation is clever, the science neatly explained . . . and the descriptions . . . are revealing.

Matthews is an excellent storyteller . . . Black Sun is the kind of thriller you want to savour as you turn the pages, suspenseful and thought provoking.

[Frederick Forsyth's] endorsement of fellow journalist Matthews’ totally immersive debut for its “fearsome authenticity” raises the reader’s expectations, and Matthews delivers. To call the novel chilling is an understatement . . . Forsyth claims his wife told him to quit writing because he was too old to travel to dangerous places. Fortunately, there are brilliant new, informed tellers of tales following in his wake.

An impressive debut and it’s not a stretch to say that Matthews’ whole life led him to this book . . . [he] knows the landscape and the people, and his recreation of Cold War-era Russia and the inner workings of Soviet government and society are so good they seem effortless . . . deeply researched and filled with small details and brief scenes that give the setting a cold, clear life . . . the characters are also sharply drawn. A thriller like this lives or dies by its protagonist and Vasin is a breath of fresh air.

A page-turning police procedural . . . . Far beyond a murder mystery, the novel is a textured examination of truth, assumption, and deception. Rich street scenes and dialogue embed in the reader’s mind undercurrents of the paranoia of living in a totalitarian state where neighbour betrays neighbour, colleague denounces colleague, and police gather information to manipulate underlings and bury the secrets of political leaders.

Matthews is especially adept at limning the bureaucratic infighting and political double-dealing that permeate Soviet society . . . the depiction of the forces and behaviours animating Soviet life are compelling . . . well-constructed characters, and the persistence of history is a powerful tidal presence . . . this thriller provides many pleasures.

A terrific thriller, knowledgeably written, intricately plotted and the more chilling for being based on a true story.

'Outstanding' SUNDAY TIMES 
 
'A stunning debut thriller . . . utterly terrifying . . . absolutely riveting' DAILY MAIL 
 
'Fascinating . . . fearsome' FREDERICK FORSYTH 
 
'Enthralling' FINANCIAL TIMES 
 
'Thrilling . . . compelling' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE 
 
1961. Hidden deep within central Soviet Russia is a place that doesn't appear on any map: a city called Arzamas-16. Here dedicated scientists and technicians are building the most powerful nuclear device the world will ever see - three thousand times more powerful than Hiroshima. 
 
But days before the bomb is to be tested, a young physicist is found dead. His body contains enough radioactive poison to kill thousands. The authorities believe it is suicide - they want the corpse disposed of, the incident filed and forgotten. But Moscow is alarmed by what's going on in this strange, isolated place. 
 
And so KGB major Alexander Vasin is sent to Arzamas to investigate. What he finds there is unlike anything he's experienced before. His wits will be tested against some of the Soviet Union's most brilliant minds - eccentrics, patriots and dissidents who, because their work is considered to be of such vital importance, have been granted the freedom to think and act, live and love as they wish. For in Arzamas, nothing can be allowed to get in the way of the project. Not even murder . . . 
 
Intricately researched, cunningly plotted and brilliantly told, Black Sun is a fast-paced and timely thriller set at the height - and in the heart - of Soviet power from the acclaimed author of An Impeccable Spy. 
 
What readers are saying: 
'Woven around real events, people and places, it's genuinely terrifying stuff' ***** 
 
'The twists and turns and intrigue kept me on tenterhooks' ***** 
 
'Brings alive one of the most fascinating periods of Soviet history' *****

Owen Matthews

Matthews skilfully balances the exhilarating thrill of the chase with the conflict between duty, self-interest and justice in his hero's heart. A fine send off for a well-accomplished series.

Matthews' excellent Black Sun spy trilogy comes to an impressively tense conclusion in White Fox . . . First rate.

A white-knuckle ride through the grey paranoia of Cold War Soviet Russia, which Owen Matthews conjures up quite brilliantly.

Superlative . . . balances thrills with historical fact (and speculation) in equal measure and it races you along to its breath-taking conclusion.

Impressive . . . Matthews' knowledge of the USSR and the Cold War gives the novel the feeling of authenticity . . . a personal note at the end shows why Vasin's struggles are both so convincing and so affecting.

Brings to mind The 39 Steps . . . impressive plotting and historical detail.

Outstanding . . . [Matthews] writes with verve . . . Vasin is his finest creation.

One of the best of many western writers on Russia . . . a kind of Russian version of The Thirty-Nine Steps . . . such is the impact of the story as it progresses that we willingly suspend disbelief for the sake of an engrossing read.

The new novel from a master of the Cold War thriller . . . 
 
'This is Robert Harris storytelling territory' Daily Mail 
'Outstanding' Sunday Times 
'Tense, exciting and authentic' Charles Cumming, author of Judas 62 
'Stunning' The Times 
'Brilliantly plotted' John Sweeney, author of Killer in the Kremlin 
'A standout thriller' Financial Times 
 
1963. In a desolate Russian penal colony, a radio broadcasts news of the killing of 
President John F. Kennedy . . . 
 
Alexander Vasin's new posting as director of a brutal gulag camp is far from a promotion. This is where disgraced KGB officers are sent to disappear, quietly, and forgotten. 
 
But when a violent revolt breaks out, Vasin must decide: run or die. So he runs. With him goes a mysterious prisoner – an individual who might hold the key to an extraordinarily dangerous secret: the identity of who really ordered Kennedy’s assassination. 
 
Racing from bleak Siberian wastelands to the grey streets of Soviet Moscow, Vasin needs to stay one step ahead of the most ruthless intelligence organization in the world in order to keep the most wanted man in Russia alive. And with his loyalty, morality and patriotic duty tested to the limits, he will face the ultimate choice: fall in line, or die fighting the system . . . 
 
Weaving together a critical moment in history with the cut-throat machinations of Soviet politics, this tautly told, nail-bitingly atmospheric novel is a superb Cold War thriller.

Owen Matthews

Praise for White Fox

Matthews skilfully balances the exhilarating thrill of the chase with the conflict between duty, self-interest and justice in his hero's heart. A fine send off for a well-accomplished series.

Matthews' excellent Black Sun spy trilogy comes to an impressively tense conclusion in White Fox . . . First rate.

A white-knuckle ride through the grey paranoia of Cold War Soviet Russia, which Owen Matthews conjures up quite brilliantly.

Matthews skilfully balances the exhilarating thrill of the chase with the conflict between duty, self-interest and justice in his hero's heart. A fine send off for a well-accomplished series.

Matthews' excellent Black Sun spy trilogy comes to an impressively tense conclusion in White Fox . . . First rate.

A white-knuckle ride through the grey paranoia of Cold War Soviet Russia, which Owen Matthews conjures up quite brilliantly.

Matthews skilfully balances the exhilarating thrill of the chase with the conflict between duty, self-interest and justice in his hero's heart. A fine send off for a well-accomplished series.

Matthews' excellent Black Sun spy trilogy comes to an impressively tense conclusion in White Fox . . . First rate.

A white-knuckle ride through the grey paranoia of Cold War Soviet Russia, which Owen Matthews conjures up quite brilliantly.

Books by Owen Matthews

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