[1] He worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for three decades, where he met his wife, Suzanne, also a former CIA officer.
[3] Prior to becoming a novelist, Matthews spent 33 years working for the CIA.
[4] 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.
[6] 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.
[8] In 2015 and 2018, he published Palace of Treason and The Kremlin’s Candidate, which are the sequels to Red Sparrow.