NEW YORK (AP) — Jason Matthews, an award-winning spy novelist who drew upon his long career in espionage and his admiration for John le Carre among others in crafting his popular “Red Sparrow” thrillers, has died. His publisher, Scribner, says Matthews died Wednesday from a neurodegenerative disease. Matthews worked 33 years in the CIA’s highly secretive Operations Directorate before retiring a decade ago and following the path of le Carre, Charles McCarry and others in fictionalizing their time in intelligence. “Red Sparrow,” published in 2013, was a neo-Cold War tale that won an Edgar for best debut American thriller and was adapted into a film starring Jennifer Lawrence. Matthews was 69.
