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Red Star Down

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Red Star Down

By: D. B. John
Narrated by: Jennifer J Kim, D. B. John
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE MOST TIMELY, PROPULSIVE SPY THRILLER OF THE YEAR, FOR FANS OF MOSCOW X, I AM PILGRIM and SLOW HORSES

An explosive conspiracy is on the verge of detonation.

A Korean man is poisoned in broad-daylight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

A Russian intelligence officer is assassinated in a Washington hotel.

And a real-estate mogul has just become the 45th President of the United States.

The world teeters on the brink and three individuals find themselves caught up in the cross hairs:

Jenna, a seasoned CIA officer, whose past missions refuse to stay buried.

Lyosha, a student in Moscow who confronts Vladimir Putin on live TV only to suffer the consequences.

And Eric, a North Korean spy in the heart of the White House who adores the man he is working to undermine: the President.

In a world of shifting allegiances and betrayal, RED STAR DOWN is a global and gripping thriller that explores the intricate web of politics, espionage, and deception during of one of the most turbulent periods in recent history.

'Extraordinary...smart, sophisticated, suspenseful - and important.' LEE CHILD on STAR OF THE NORTH

© D. B. John 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Espionage International Mystery & Crime Mystery Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Russia Exciting

Critic Reviews

A compelling and suspenseful thriller that kept me gripped throughout (AJAY CHOWDHURY)
A richly satisfying thriller on an epic scale, magnificently conceived and brilliantly executed (ANDREW TAYLOR)
Immensely enjoyable. A rich, epic thriller in the grand tradition ... This is exactly what a contemporary thriller should be: a gripping narrative with intriguing twists, vivid characters and well-drawn settings that is not merely very well researched about geopolitics but sheds new light on them too (JEREMY DUNS)
A delightfully audacious spy story… a lot of fun to read, not least for John’s insight that for the three autocratic leaders [Trump, Putin, Kim Jong Un] politics has become…more about dynasty than democracy
[A] superb doorstep of a book, that weaves real-life characters and events with fictional ones in a clever, believable spy thriller
[An] audacious geopolitical thriller
All stars
Most relevant
Relatively based on actual events, Red Star Down is based around the 18 months that followed Donald Trumps first tenure as President.

Readers follow the POVS of three consistent characters, and the occasional side character, in this harrowing, page turner.

Jenna - a bad ass CIA Officer with balls of steel.

Lyosha - a brave student of Moscow, who was bold enough to confront Putin on live tv, and pose a question that humiliated and incensed the Russian Leader to retaliate.

Eric - a North Korean Spy who has the ear of President Trump, needless to say, he's an extremely minacious individual to the American Nation.

Red Star Down is a fast paced, intercontinental-thriller, that immerses the reader into publicized global events, inevitable political intrigue, and converted knowledge of espionage that spans decades.

This book also highlights covert programs that Korea and Russia are conspiracized to have initiated as a means planting spies within the America.

I could not put this down!! I have never been so invested in educating myself about the worlds three most talked about political figures, Kim Jong-Un (and his equally as questionable sister, Kim Yo-Jong), Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
I read this not out of adoration and respect for said political figures but to transcibe for myself the sheer ignorance and audacity these figures hold for the Nations they represent.
I don't usually follow politics but the current situation in the world requires a lack of ignorance and a neccisity for knowledge to make informed decisions.

It saddens me to no end, to know that Nations are governed with fear, racism, and fascism, endorsed by individuals who care not for the people that voted said individuals into such places of authority, but for their own personal goal of totalitarianism, ultranationalism and the suppression of opposition.

The idea that "freedom of speech" is no longer encouraged in certain areas of the world, baffles me.
Living in Aotearoa, New Zealand, has taught me that freedom of speech, though a birth right, is not encouraged in many countries, especially from a female.
The politics in my country are not perfect by any means, but as a nation, the people of Aotearoa know how to stand together, united, when neccisity requires it.
We do it everytime the National Party tries to invalidate the Treaty of Waitangi.

I hope and pray that when the time comes, the citizens of countries lead by tyrannical politicians, stand together, united.

Together we stand, divided we fall.
~ Patrick Henry

Better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life
~ Bob Marley

Though provoking

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