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.