3.5/5 stars.

No sophomore jinx here.

Better than the first book.

Honestly, I rarely give thriller/spy novels 5 stars. 5 stars are for books that are literary, classic and will stand the test of time. But Jason Matthews knows how to write a SUPER spy novel. You will NOT be disappointed, even if this genre isn't your usual go-to. Start with "Red Sparrow", because "Palace of Treason" is the 2nd in the series (and please, please, please let there be more!). This is no beachy read -- if you don't pay attention, you'll have no idea what's going on. Probably because of Matthews' history working for the CIA, it all rings true, too. Plus, there's a recipe at the end of every chapter, just like in "Red Sparrow!". I wish I hadn't read this book so I could start it again for the very first time.

Getting really good! Can't wait to read the third book. Still a bit simple, no double agent in sight, every short man is evil, Russians only spy to help their own country but not for the money, etc..

Nicely done. I'll for sure read #3 to finish out the trilogy.

Great vacation read. Double agents both Russian and American. Putin erotica. Like Tim Clancy, but literate.

Of the series, Palace of Treason by Jason Matthews is probably my least favorite of the trilogy. Dominika is now a captain and hates her superiors and the others she reports to. This makes her decision to become a double agent, also reporting to the US CIA, easy.

Throughout the book Dominika, and of course her secret lover, CIA Agent Nate, narrowly escape being discovered time and again. I think this is why I didn’t care much for the book. I felt like the near misses, and constant fear of being caught made the book a bit too anxiety inducing for me to enjoy.

I’ll be reading, and reviewing the final book of the series, but have to say I’m not looking forward to it as much as I’d hoped.

Took a long time to finish. The story itself is good, but the romance is unnappealing and the amount of objectification of women (no one can tell me the focus on their legs and breasts even in the middle of fight scenes is anything else) made it hard to finish.

The stakes are definitely higher in Palace of Treason! Despite the fact that Nate got shuffled off to Athens & Dominika went back to Moscow, the game got more intense as the plot wove details straight from CNN headlines. The overarching plot of Iranian uranium enrichment was made more relevant by including Vladimir Putin in the story - this was pretty ballsy on Matthews' part, and I liked it despite the stereotyped characterization.

Things I liked: The new character Hannah Archer who wasn't involved nearly enough but was still badass, the snippets of Farsi that were genuinely correct (everyone always learns the bad words first lol), serving up the fine details of CIA counterintelligence ops that I can never get enough of, Dominika's friendships with her CIA handlers, deaths deaths deaths, & Dominika serving up killer double agent realness.

Things I didn't like: The constant repetition of insignificant details that acted as filler - this book could've been 100 pages shorter, the casual sexism & the fact that Matthews just can't write women well (let alone sexual women sigh), the fact that Nate being the big spy man can't keep his dick in his pants for any reason, also related is the fact that every woman Nate comes across wants to do him (ofc (ugh)), & Matthews' penchant for making every 'villain' short. Just why??

At the 75% mark I was going to give this 2 stars, but the ending was fun so 3 stars it is. Also because Dominika is still great despite the author's shortcomings.