Red Traitor

May 31, 2021
Told primarily from the Russian perspective, this gripping thriller from Matthews (Black Sun) focuses on the often overlooked role of Soviet submarines, all equipped with nuclear missiles, that were heading to Cuba in the days leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Like the other submarine commanders, Capt. Vasily Arkhipov received the go-ahead by the military to launch a nuke at the U.S. without Moscow’s approval if attacked. The order makes Arkhipov uneasy because he knows some other captains may have an itchy trigger finger. Meanwhile, back in Moscow, KGB Lt. Col. Alexander Vasin is so troubled by the leeway given to submarine captains that he’s trying to find a way to pass along word to American officials about the danger. Vasin attempts to persuade a colleague who’s a known American agent to tell his American contact about the Russian threat. Back in the Caribbean, the Russian submarines run low on power and are forced to surface and face a formidable American naval armada. An afterword reveals that Matthews, a journalist who has written widely on Russian affairs, drew closely on the historical record. 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. Agent: Toby Mundy, Toby Mundy Assoc.

June 1, 2021
A fictionalized account of the Cuban missile crisis from the Soviet perspective. Fresh from a triumphant case involving a Soviet nuclear superbomb, Alexander Vasin of the Special Cases directorate of the KGB is attempting to catch a high-level spy. Oleg Morozov of the GRU is believed to be passing secrets to the Americans, but all Vasin's efforts to uncover the traitor have so far yielded nothing. Vasin feels a particular urgency to succeed because his own boss, Gen. Orlov, is locked in mortal bureaucratic combat with Morozov's boss, Gen. Serov. As Vasin pursues his quarry, he uncovers evidence that the Politburo has authorized the shipment and installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba. In a separate plot development, a flotilla of four Soviet submarines, each one carrying a single nuclear torpedo in addition to its conventional torpedoes, is deployed toward Cuba. As Vasin uncovers more and more of this unsettling situation, he comes to believe that the American government needs to be informed, and he begins to try to use Morozov as a conduit. The discovery of the missiles in Cuba precipitates a diplomatic crisis, but cooler heads eventually prevail over the hawkish Soviet faction. The submarines, however, present another threat. Submerged and beyond communication, they do not require confirmatory orders to use their weapons, and when the U.S. "quarantine" corrals them, the possibility of a nuclear exchange looms. Matthews has done solid historical research--in many cases his characters bear the names of the actual participants--and the fictionalization is deft, but his need to represent all the moving parts detracts from the effect of the whole. Though the matter is momentous, less might have been more. A pretty good thriller in an informative historical setting.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 1, 2021
Matthews returns to the story of Alexander Vasin, a KGB major during the height of the Cold War (following Black Sun, 2019). Here Vasin finds himself caught in a power struggle between his superior and the head of the GRU, the KGB's rival security agency. With the Cuban Missile Crisis coming to a boil, Vasin is tracking a suspected GRU spy who may be feeding secret documents to the Americans. Working his sources, Vasin picks up hints that a submarine flotilla is nearing Cuba, with each ship secretly carrying nuclear-tipped torpedoes. Expertly jumping between Vasin's dilemma--his boss wants him to sit on the as-yet-unconfirmed submarine story, hoping it will blow up in the face of the GRU chief--and the equally fraught drama faced by the commander of the flotilla, Vasily Arkhipov, who is in a power struggle of his own. Arkhipov directs the flotilla, but the subs remain under the operational command of their captains. Unfortunately, Arkhipov's sub, out of radio contact and being tracked by American destroyers, is controlled by a hotheaded captain eager to deploy his secret weapon. Basing both his plotlines on actual events and real people, Matthews generates remarkable tension in this perfectly executed two-pronged thriller, with the submarine story proving especially dramatic, evoking both The Hunt for Red October and the high-tension cat-and-mouse game portrayed in the classic WWII submarine film The Enemy Below.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.