Red Star Down
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  • Published: 24 August 2025
  • ISBN: 9781787301801
  • Imprint: Harvill Secker
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 672
  • RRP: $49.99

Red Star Down

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
22 Jul 2025
EBook
24 Jul 2025
Audiobook
24 Jul 2025
Hardback
24 Aug 2025
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A propulsive and timely international thriller, which follows three individuals caught in the cross hairs of a global conspiracy, for fans of David McCloskey and Terry Hayes

A propulsive, timely spy thriller from the critically acclaimed author of STAR OF THE NORTH

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 crosshairs:

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 one of the most turbulent periods in recent history.
  • Published: 24 August 2025
  • ISBN: 9781787301801
  • Imprint: Harvill Secker
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 672
  • RRP: $49.99
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About the author

D. B. John

D. B. John has lived in South Korea and is one of the few Westerners to have visited North Korea. He co-authored The Girl With Seven Names, Hyeonseo Lee’s New York Times bestselling memoir about her escape from North Korea.

portrait photo of D. B. John

Also by D. B. John

Star of the North
See all

Praise for Red Star Down

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

The Times

[A] superb doorstep of a book, that weaves real-life characters and events with fictional ones in a clever, believable spy thriller

The Sun