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The Cairo Affair #1
The Cairo Affair
From the author of New York Times bestseller The Tourist...
Sophie Kohl is living her worst nightmare. Minutes after she confesses to her husband, a mid-level diplomat at the American embassy in Hungary, that she had an affair while they were in Cairo, he is shot in the head and killed.
Stan Bertolli, a Cairo-based CIA agent, has fielded his share of midnight calls. But his heart skips a beat when he hears the voice of the only woman he ever truly loved, calling to ask why her husband has been assassinated.
Omar Halawi has worked in Egyptian intelligence for years, and he knows how to play the game. Foreign agents pass him occasional information, he returns the favor, and everyone's happy. But the murder of a diplomat in Hungary has ripples all the way to Cairo, and Omar must follow the fall-out wherever it leads.
American analyst Jibril Aziz knows more about Stumbler, a covert operation rejected by the CIA, than anyone. So when it appears someone else has obtained a copy of the blueprints, Jibril alone knows the danger it represents.
As these players converge in Cairo in the New York Times bestseller, The Cairo Affair , Olen Steinhauer's masterful manipulations slowly unveil a portrait of a marriage, a jigsaw puzzle of loyalty and betrayal, against a dangerous world of political games where allegiances are never clear and outcomes are never guaranteed.
Sophie Kohl is living her worst nightmare. Minutes after she confesses to her husband, a mid-level diplomat at the American embassy in Hungary, that she had an affair while they were in Cairo, he is shot in the head and killed.
Stan Bertolli, a Cairo-based CIA agent, has fielded his share of midnight calls. But his heart skips a beat when he hears the voice of the only woman he ever truly loved, calling to ask why her husband has been assassinated.
Omar Halawi has worked in Egyptian intelligence for years, and he knows how to play the game. Foreign agents pass him occasional information, he returns the favor, and everyone's happy. But the murder of a diplomat in Hungary has ripples all the way to Cairo, and Omar must follow the fall-out wherever it leads.
American analyst Jibril Aziz knows more about Stumbler, a covert operation rejected by the CIA, than anyone. So when it appears someone else has obtained a copy of the blueprints, Jibril alone knows the danger it represents.
As these players converge in Cairo in the New York Times bestseller, The Cairo Affair , Olen Steinhauer's masterful manipulations slowly unveil a portrait of a marriage, a jigsaw puzzle of loyalty and betrayal, against a dangerous world of political games where allegiances are never clear and outcomes are never guaranteed.
417 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 18, 2014
324 people are currently reading
3921 people want to read
About the author
Olen Steinhauer
31 books1,230 followersOlen Steinhauer grew up in Virginia, and has since lived in Georgia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Massachusetts, and New York. Outside the US, he's lived in Croatia (when it was called Yugoslavia), the Czech Republic and Italy. He also spent a year in Romania on a Fulbright grant, an experience that helped inspire his first five books. He now lives in Hungary with his wife and daughter.
He has published stories and poetry in various literary journals over the years. His first novel, The Bridge of Sighs (2003), the start of a five-book sequence chronicling Cold War Eastern Europe, one book per decade, was nominated for five awards.
The second book of the series, The Confession, garnered significant critical acclaim, and 36 Yalta Boulevard (The Vienna Assignment in the UK), made three year-end best-of lists. Liberation Movements (The Istanbul Variations in the UK), was listed for four best-of lists and was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel of the year. The final novel in the series, Victory Square, published in 2007, was a New York Times editor's choice.
With The Tourist, he has left the Cold War behind, beginning a trilogy of spy tales focused on international deception in the post 9/11 world. Happily, George Clooney's Smoke House Films has picked up the rights, with Mr. Clooney scheduled to star.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/olenst...
He has published stories and poetry in various literary journals over the years. His first novel, The Bridge of Sighs (2003), the start of a five-book sequence chronicling Cold War Eastern Europe, one book per decade, was nominated for five awards.
The second book of the series, The Confession, garnered significant critical acclaim, and 36 Yalta Boulevard (The Vienna Assignment in the UK), made three year-end best-of lists. Liberation Movements (The Istanbul Variations in the UK), was listed for four best-of lists and was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel of the year. The final novel in the series, Victory Square, published in 2007, was a New York Times editor's choice.
With The Tourist, he has left the Cold War behind, beginning a trilogy of spy tales focused on international deception in the post 9/11 world. Happily, George Clooney's Smoke House Films has picked up the rights, with Mr. Clooney scheduled to star.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/olenst...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 677 reviews
May 25, 2016
“God in His infinite wisdom Did not make me very wise— So when my actions are stupid They hardly take God by surprise”
― Olen Steinhauer, The Cairo Affair
I love great genre fiction. Steinhauer represents some of the very best of modern espionage literature. While he hasn't yet reached the level of le Carré, he is now reaching towards the top shelf of literary spy fiction with peers like le Carré, Littell, Furst, etc.
The Cairo Affair is an important bookmark in espionage fiction. In this 21st Century, post 9-11 world, Steinhauer (along with le Carré) is the go-to fiction writer to understand the nuances of private-contract espionage, post-Soviet global realignments, and the moral failings of a waning American empire (all with a non-US-centric outlook on espionage and foreign policy). The Cairo Affair highlights the fact that the CIA is slowly losing its place as the gravitational center of the spy universe (at least in fiction) and seems to have lost its principled, idealistic foundations as well.
This isn't nearly a perfect spy novel. There are flaws and imperfections through out. What I appreciate about it is Steinhauer isn't looking to land an easy jump. He is jumping into complicated territory and I'll grade him a bit easier knowing he is gravitating towards the more difficult and nuanced stories. Give him time and he is going to inherit the crown.
― Olen Steinhauer, The Cairo Affair
I love great genre fiction. Steinhauer represents some of the very best of modern espionage literature. While he hasn't yet reached the level of le Carré, he is now reaching towards the top shelf of literary spy fiction with peers like le Carré, Littell, Furst, etc.
The Cairo Affair is an important bookmark in espionage fiction. In this 21st Century, post 9-11 world, Steinhauer (along with le Carré) is the go-to fiction writer to understand the nuances of private-contract espionage, post-Soviet global realignments, and the moral failings of a waning American empire (all with a non-US-centric outlook on espionage and foreign policy). The Cairo Affair highlights the fact that the CIA is slowly losing its place as the gravitational center of the spy universe (at least in fiction) and seems to have lost its principled, idealistic foundations as well.
This isn't nearly a perfect spy novel. There are flaws and imperfections through out. What I appreciate about it is Steinhauer isn't looking to land an easy jump. He is jumping into complicated territory and I'll grade him a bit easier knowing he is gravitating towards the more difficult and nuanced stories. Give him time and he is going to inherit the crown.
July 20, 2016
Messalina, a la Emma Bovary, Steps into Espionage Thriller
I don't read many espionage novels, but saw a promo for this one, read the description and thought I'd take a chance. Ten pages in and I was hooked. Steinhauer makes the reading experience pleasurable with good dialogue, an intriguing subtext and setting and a suspenseful storyline involving the spycraft in Cairo and a plot in Libya to overthrow Gaddafi.
I felt toward the main character Sophie about the same as I did toward Madame Bovary, at least for most of the book, in that they had similar character defects; the latter's were much worse. The ending here was brighter than was Emma B's.
I enjoyed the heck out of this book.
I don't read many espionage novels, but saw a promo for this one, read the description and thought I'd take a chance. Ten pages in and I was hooked. Steinhauer makes the reading experience pleasurable with good dialogue, an intriguing subtext and setting and a suspenseful storyline involving the spycraft in Cairo and a plot in Libya to overthrow Gaddafi.
I felt toward the main character Sophie about the same as I did toward Madame Bovary, at least for most of the book, in that they had similar character defects; the latter's were much worse. The ending here was brighter than was Emma B's.
I enjoyed the heck out of this book.
December 29, 2013
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I honestly didn't like this book. While it seemed like a book I would enjoy, a thriller based on serious world issues, I found myself constantly confused and bored with the story.
The story begins with a bang (literally) as Sophie, while sitting in a restaurant, confesses to her husband about the affair she had while in Cairo. The husband is then shot while still in the restaurant almost directly after the admission. Now- the tumultuous writing suited this section of the book as it fit well with the emotions the wife was feeling during this time period, but the writing had been confusing even before this scene occurred.
The storyline flops back and forth between perspectives in a way that is confusing and annoying to keep up with. I normally don't have any difficulty keeping track of different perspectives or changing time periods within a story, but I found that with this book I really struggled to keep up.
The information in this book is also really confusing. If you want to really understand what is going on in this book, you're going to need a thorough understanding of what is going on in Libya and with other current events. If you're like me and have only just glanced at the news and absorbed a little bit of what's been happening, you're going to be constantly scratching your head in confusion throughout this book.
I also found the ending really disappointing. I absolutely hate it when the ending of the book seems like the author just ran out of steam and ended the story, or as if there are a few pages missing. The ending to this story felt exactly that way. The only thing I am hoping is that there will be a sequel (even though I won't read it) and that is why the author ended the book the way that he did.
Overall, I found myself very disappointed in this book. It was confusing and difficult to read, taking away any enjoyment I might have gotten out of the book.
I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley.
I honestly didn't like this book. While it seemed like a book I would enjoy, a thriller based on serious world issues, I found myself constantly confused and bored with the story.
The story begins with a bang (literally) as Sophie, while sitting in a restaurant, confesses to her husband about the affair she had while in Cairo. The husband is then shot while still in the restaurant almost directly after the admission. Now- the tumultuous writing suited this section of the book as it fit well with the emotions the wife was feeling during this time period, but the writing had been confusing even before this scene occurred.
The storyline flops back and forth between perspectives in a way that is confusing and annoying to keep up with. I normally don't have any difficulty keeping track of different perspectives or changing time periods within a story, but I found that with this book I really struggled to keep up.
The information in this book is also really confusing. If you want to really understand what is going on in this book, you're going to need a thorough understanding of what is going on in Libya and with other current events. If you're like me and have only just glanced at the news and absorbed a little bit of what's been happening, you're going to be constantly scratching your head in confusion throughout this book.
I also found the ending really disappointing. I absolutely hate it when the ending of the book seems like the author just ran out of steam and ended the story, or as if there are a few pages missing. The ending to this story felt exactly that way. The only thing I am hoping is that there will be a sequel (even though I won't read it) and that is why the author ended the book the way that he did.
Overall, I found myself very disappointed in this book. It was confusing and difficult to read, taking away any enjoyment I might have gotten out of the book.
I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley.
December 19, 2024
This was good!
July 8, 2023
Pretty good but I lost track a few times with the plot and characters.
January 14, 2016
You have to have mad internal strength to write an authentic loser. Someone who's derailed so often in life that loss has become a force of habit. That kind of failure is never easy to contemplate, and certainly a state of being no one wants to thoroughly plumb. It's completely counter-intuitive. Resistance is so pronounced on this front that you'll find an author hedging his bets; attempting to draw distinctions that serve to distance this character from his own personality and catalogue of mistakes. The man will get dumber. The woman will get weak. The edges will soften and slip into Everyman territory - and that's fine if you want to write Everyman, but Everyman isn't a loser. Everyman's luck will go south, no doubt, but in a little while it's going to turn north again and things are eventually going to balance out. A loser is a hard and fast skidmark to death. To write such a character well requires communing with that part of yourself it's most difficult to be honest about and natural to be ashamed of. You've got to get in touch with the loser you were on that one monumentally humiliating day, during that one crushingly catastrophic month, throughout that whole unholy godforsaken year. Own that, and then invest it in a character you're fully aware you're going to wind up caring about...knowing all the while the profoundly epic nature of the fail you'll deliver as his due. Mad internal strength. Not many writers have it.
Steinhauer's main characters have lost. Whether it's the dishonorably discharged, divorced ex-Marine now working as a contractor for the American embassy, the CIA agent who's misplaced something he's mistaken for his heart in an affair he can't control, the Egyptian Intelligence officer hobbled by age, apathy and disdain, or the catalyst of the crisis that will eventually unite them all - the diplomat's wife, untethered by anything that might remotely resemble a soul. It's fertile ground, filled with failure, set against the backdrop of Middle Eastern revolution and the violent eruption of regime change. And while it is a complicated work, while it is authentic to a point, The Cairo Affair is missing a vital intensity at its core. For me, at least, it got sidetracked by its own ambivalence, and then stumbled into that Everyman territory and tangled itself up in attempts at redemption; the setting aright of the befouled course. A tangle it chose to stick with, unfortunately.
It's a fair book, with good plotting and solid character studies - from an author whom I suspect grew to care too deeply about his creations to allow them to be true to themselves.
Steinhauer's main characters have lost. Whether it's the dishonorably discharged, divorced ex-Marine now working as a contractor for the American embassy, the CIA agent who's misplaced something he's mistaken for his heart in an affair he can't control, the Egyptian Intelligence officer hobbled by age, apathy and disdain, or the catalyst of the crisis that will eventually unite them all - the diplomat's wife, untethered by anything that might remotely resemble a soul. It's fertile ground, filled with failure, set against the backdrop of Middle Eastern revolution and the violent eruption of regime change. And while it is a complicated work, while it is authentic to a point, The Cairo Affair is missing a vital intensity at its core. For me, at least, it got sidetracked by its own ambivalence, and then stumbled into that Everyman territory and tangled itself up in attempts at redemption; the setting aright of the befouled course. A tangle it chose to stick with, unfortunately.
It's a fair book, with good plotting and solid character studies - from an author whom I suspect grew to care too deeply about his creations to allow them to be true to themselves.
September 15, 2015
Spy novels have dramatically changed from the old formula when the chief antagonist was almost always a ruthless Soviet KGB agent and the battleground somewhere in the hidden lairs and trenches of Eastern Europe.
The Cairo Affair is reminiscent of the Cold War espionage novels by John le Carré and Len Deighton, instead establishing a more modern setting of Northern Africa and the political gamesmanship of the Muslim world. This is a complex story, involving realistic characters and many, many questions to be answered. There is no clear winner among the players. Not a single character could be considered a hero or villain in the strictest sense, and whatever victory achieved by any of them exacts such a heavy toll on the players that it could be said there was no victory at all. The writing was very good, and using the perspectives of several different characters for the same events did take some getting used to. There is a complex layering of the storyline that should keep the reader guessing to the very end.
Olen Steinhauer’s use of the onset of the events leading to the Arab Spring in Libya and Egypt as the backdrop, as well as flashbacks set in civil war-torn Yugoslavia of the early 1990s, was brilliant. It’s an eminently engaging story, but definitely not a thriller or mindless romp. As one would expect in spy novel, there are many betrayals, and the lines between friend and foe are incredibly murky. Ultimately, it is a novel about the domino effect of betrayals and the ever-widening circle of deceit over a span of over twenty years.
Olen Steinhauer must be considered a major talent in the genre. I’ll continue to read whatever he writes.
The Cairo Affair is reminiscent of the Cold War espionage novels by John le Carré and Len Deighton, instead establishing a more modern setting of Northern Africa and the political gamesmanship of the Muslim world. This is a complex story, involving realistic characters and many, many questions to be answered. There is no clear winner among the players. Not a single character could be considered a hero or villain in the strictest sense, and whatever victory achieved by any of them exacts such a heavy toll on the players that it could be said there was no victory at all. The writing was very good, and using the perspectives of several different characters for the same events did take some getting used to. There is a complex layering of the storyline that should keep the reader guessing to the very end.
Olen Steinhauer’s use of the onset of the events leading to the Arab Spring in Libya and Egypt as the backdrop, as well as flashbacks set in civil war-torn Yugoslavia of the early 1990s, was brilliant. It’s an eminently engaging story, but definitely not a thriller or mindless romp. As one would expect in spy novel, there are many betrayals, and the lines between friend and foe are incredibly murky. Ultimately, it is a novel about the domino effect of betrayals and the ever-widening circle of deceit over a span of over twenty years.
Olen Steinhauer must be considered a major talent in the genre. I’ll continue to read whatever he writes.
July 20, 2015
This is more of a 3.5 star rating. This book was selected for the upcoming season of my only in-person book club, and I probably would not have read it otherwise.
It was a quick read that I knocked out in a few hours, and there are a few things that made it enjoyable - rather than use James Bond era or post-WWII era as the setting for a novel of espionage, Steinhauer uses a combination of the former Yugoslavia in the early 90s and Budapest/Cairo immediately following the "Arab Spring." The differences between cultures and approaches seemed realistic and I liked the currency of it.
What I didn't care as much for is that almost everything was completely obvious. One big reveal later in the novel was something I figured out very early on. This isn't helped by how the author tells the story by weaving sections of the book between some of the characters. What ends up happening is one person will reveal some things in their narrative and then the next person's section backtracks with no surprises. It might have been smarter to alternate between PoVs more often, every chapter rather than larger sections. This would have cut back on redundancies. I'm also not sure the primary female characters were as shocking as they were supposed to be.
It was a quick read that I knocked out in a few hours, and there are a few things that made it enjoyable - rather than use James Bond era or post-WWII era as the setting for a novel of espionage, Steinhauer uses a combination of the former Yugoslavia in the early 90s and Budapest/Cairo immediately following the "Arab Spring." The differences between cultures and approaches seemed realistic and I liked the currency of it.
What I didn't care as much for is that almost everything was completely obvious. One big reveal later in the novel was something I figured out very early on. This isn't helped by how the author tells the story by weaving sections of the book between some of the characters. What ends up happening is one person will reveal some things in their narrative and then the next person's section backtracks with no surprises. It might have been smarter to alternate between PoVs more often, every chapter rather than larger sections. This would have cut back on redundancies. I'm also not sure the primary female characters were as shocking as they were supposed to be.
April 6, 2017
“In only three days, five politically active Libyan exiles vanished from the face of the earth” in different countries around the globe. Thus opens The Cairo Affair, a complex, multilayered spy novel featuring a young American couple, Sophie and Emmett Kohl — a mid-ranked diplomat and his wife of twenty years, a housewife, recently relocated from Cairo to Budapest. Somehow, the Kohls are connected to the disappearance of those five Libyans. Therein lies the tale.
With consummate skill, Olen Steinhauer relates the tale of Sophie and Emmett through a mind-bending series of chapters, alternating from the point of view of one of the principal characters to another: Sophie and four men, all intelligence agents, who play major roles in her slowly growing understanding of how her life and that of her husband are linked to the Libyans. It’s a masterful display of plotting, not always fully unpredictable but nonetheless surprising to the very end. The action moves from Cairo to Budapest to Germany and the Libyan desert.
This is spy fiction at its best.
The Cairo Affair is the ninth of Olen Steinhauer’s ten spy novels. He began his career with a brilliant five-book cycle of thrillers set in a fictional Eastern European country that artfully portrayed a society under Communism, with one novel for each of the five decades starting with the 1940s. (You can find reviews of all five on this blog.) Later, he wrote a trilogy of best-selling stories featuring Milo Weaver of the CIA, which top reviewers ranked with John Le Carre’s classic spy novels as the best in the genre.
With consummate skill, Olen Steinhauer relates the tale of Sophie and Emmett through a mind-bending series of chapters, alternating from the point of view of one of the principal characters to another: Sophie and four men, all intelligence agents, who play major roles in her slowly growing understanding of how her life and that of her husband are linked to the Libyans. It’s a masterful display of plotting, not always fully unpredictable but nonetheless surprising to the very end. The action moves from Cairo to Budapest to Germany and the Libyan desert.
This is spy fiction at its best.
The Cairo Affair is the ninth of Olen Steinhauer’s ten spy novels. He began his career with a brilliant five-book cycle of thrillers set in a fictional Eastern European country that artfully portrayed a society under Communism, with one novel for each of the five decades starting with the 1940s. (You can find reviews of all five on this blog.) Later, he wrote a trilogy of best-selling stories featuring Milo Weaver of the CIA, which top reviewers ranked with John Le Carre’s classic spy novels as the best in the genre.
April 15, 2016
Sure, I'll watch Bond movies, but spy genre really isn't my thing. And yet the scarcity of the available interesting audiobook selections at the library made me choose this one and it turned out to be surprisingly good. Mind you, I still don't care for spy thrillers and their serpentine webs of deceit, there is just entirely too many characters with entirely too many agendas and schemes and ultimately nothing really gets resolved, only the players are rotated, but...this was good. Mainly owning to Steinhauser's writing. He does a terrific job of interweaving multiple narratives and points of view so that reader (or listener) gets a coherent multifaceted perspective on the events, he's very comfortable placing his characters into various moral hues of gray instead of the rigid inflexibility of black and white and all these morally ambiguous individuals are very well developed, interesting and engaging in their own right. There is, of course, a genre requisite international setting, from Europe (particularly) pre/early war Yugoslavia to recent North Africa (particularly Libya and Egypt). It did take a while to get into, but once in, it maintains interest thoroughly and the audiobook reader did a really great job, particularly with differentiating voices. Haven't listened to him before, but I'm very impressed. Glad I took a chance on it, it was definitely worth the time, very entertaining. Recommended.
June 15, 2020
This espionage novel shows that personal relationships can be as fraught with lies and betrayals as international relations. The story is told from multiple points of view, and in both the current time and the past. From the flashbacks, the reader knows there is a terrible past event that drives much of the current plot. We don’t get to the description of that event until near the end of the book, but as the flashback story goes on, the tension ratchets up and up.
Filled with twists and turns, this is another impressive Olen Steinhauer novel that I recommend to all espionage readers.
Side point: Given the current times, I was struck by one comment: that a critical mass of people in the streets can change a country. The comment was made about the Arab Spring, but it resonated for me about the US today, and that’s not something I thought would apply here—or would need to.
Filled with twists and turns, this is another impressive Olen Steinhauer novel that I recommend to all espionage readers.
Side point: Given the current times, I was struck by one comment: that a critical mass of people in the streets can change a country. The comment was made about the Arab Spring, but it resonated for me about the US today, and that’s not something I thought would apply here—or would need to.
March 30, 2014
'Nothing is ever what it seems' -- hold onto that mantra; it will serve you well as a reminder while traveling through the pages of this globe spinning political conspiracy that will have you feeling like you are navigating in the modern political panorama through a house of distorted mirrors. A smart, complex story of espionage that relies not on the thriller aspects, but rather on the knowledge of what we don't know, the intricacies of a tangled web of spy vs. spy.
The novel spans 20 tumultuous years, 1991-2011: Muammar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak, the Arab Spring, civil wars, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yugoslavia... and leaked political cables via WikiLeaks. The historical significance of those years is powerful when compressed and reflected on, and I suggest reading carefully the *Collection Strategies* that precede chapter 1. The story jumps back and forth through the years, and employs different points of view, which helps once you chalk up any *contradictions* to point of view and not actual contradictions. The cast of characters is daunting at times, some critics suggest superfluous. I didn't find that the case. Steinhauer keeps a sharp forward focus on a twisting plot of foggy alliances and surprising betrayals; the characters' weaknesses and strengths are revealed subtly, dangerously.
I admit to stumbling with reckoning a bored, blonde, manicured, middle-aged, lady-that-lunches, being recruited to work in such a deadly theater. (Who knew the days of the obvious iron bowler-hatted, or metal-toothed-giant no good-niks would give way to....basically...me.) Maybe a case of the perfect front? Nothing is ever what it seems.
About all you can be sure of with The Cairo Affair is that it comes together into a good, slick read, and may possibly leave some of you trying to quiet some uncomfortable thoughts -- beyond which Steinhauer novel to read next.
The novel spans 20 tumultuous years, 1991-2011: Muammar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak, the Arab Spring, civil wars, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yugoslavia... and leaked political cables via WikiLeaks. The historical significance of those years is powerful when compressed and reflected on, and I suggest reading carefully the *Collection Strategies* that precede chapter 1. The story jumps back and forth through the years, and employs different points of view, which helps once you chalk up any *contradictions* to point of view and not actual contradictions. The cast of characters is daunting at times, some critics suggest superfluous. I didn't find that the case. Steinhauer keeps a sharp forward focus on a twisting plot of foggy alliances and surprising betrayals; the characters' weaknesses and strengths are revealed subtly, dangerously.
I admit to stumbling with reckoning a bored, blonde, manicured, middle-aged, lady-that-lunches, being recruited to work in such a deadly theater. (Who knew the days of the obvious iron bowler-hatted, or metal-toothed-giant no good-niks would give way to....basically...me.) Maybe a case of the perfect front? Nothing is ever what it seems.
About all you can be sure of with The Cairo Affair is that it comes together into a good, slick read, and may possibly leave some of you trying to quiet some uncomfortable thoughts -- beyond which Steinhauer novel to read next.
July 24, 2022
A Tale of Betrayal
The Cairo Affair is a fictionalized behind the scenes look at the machinations of the recent Arab Spring; the story told through a wide and varied set of characters, many of them members of the international intelligence community – read spies. As in the author’s previous books the sense/description of place – including sights, sounds and smells - is excellent. Less so is character development – many of the secondary and tertiary players here blending together, (begging the question of why so many.) And the narrative shifts repeatedly between these characters, sliding back and forth in time and place, which may cause confusion. This reader found it more as a “gimmick” or even a crutch, prolonging the story by simply reliving scene after scene through a different POV.
The constant comparison here is with LeCarre, which I believe is to mean “cerebral”, and to give credit where credit is due, this isn’t a mindless romp, (and to lend further credence to the comparison, an “amateur” dives into the murky depths of the espionage world after a harrowing event.) But the one sharp constant note here and the driving force behind the plot of The Cairo Affair is betrayal – lots and lots of betrayal. (This “friend or foe” is a prevalent theme in the Steinhauer books I have read, with characters/protagonists constantly looking over their shoulders.)
So unfortunately the end result is not only a muddled, but a very predictable and repetitive story-line. The steam long gone by the book’s disappointing fizzle of a conclusion, and proof positive of Occam’s razor.
The Cairo Affair is a fictionalized behind the scenes look at the machinations of the recent Arab Spring; the story told through a wide and varied set of characters, many of them members of the international intelligence community – read spies. As in the author’s previous books the sense/description of place – including sights, sounds and smells - is excellent. Less so is character development – many of the secondary and tertiary players here blending together, (begging the question of why so many.) And the narrative shifts repeatedly between these characters, sliding back and forth in time and place, which may cause confusion. This reader found it more as a “gimmick” or even a crutch, prolonging the story by simply reliving scene after scene through a different POV.
The constant comparison here is with LeCarre, which I believe is to mean “cerebral”, and to give credit where credit is due, this isn’t a mindless romp, (and to lend further credence to the comparison, an “amateur” dives into the murky depths of the espionage world after a harrowing event.) But the one sharp constant note here and the driving force behind the plot of The Cairo Affair is betrayal – lots and lots of betrayal. (This “friend or foe” is a prevalent theme in the Steinhauer books I have read, with characters/protagonists constantly looking over their shoulders.)
So unfortunately the end result is not only a muddled, but a very predictable and repetitive story-line. The steam long gone by the book’s disappointing fizzle of a conclusion, and proof positive of Occam’s razor.
December 19, 2014
I have been a fan of espionage fiction for a long time, and Olen Steinhauer is one of my favorite authors in this genre.
The Cairo Affair starts during the activities of the Arab Spring, in February 2011. Sophie Kohl's husband Emmett is currently working at the American embassy in Hungary, but his previous assignment was in Cairo. Both of them have friends still in Cairo, and when Emmett is killed, Sophie seeks the reasons for his death there. Along her journey to discover the truth, we visit the couple in the early years of their marriage. Along the way, three other characters get pulled into the quest: Stan Bertolli, a CIA agent in Cairo; Omar Halawi, who works in Egyptian intelligence; and John Calhoun, a contractor working for CIA agents in Cairo.
I was very pleased with this novel. I loved the structure, with the point of view changing several times throughout the story, and the story moving back and forth in time. Some readers find this narrative style disorienting, but I thrive on that kind of story. As usual, Steinhauer's characterization is very good, although in an espionage novel, the author cannot tell us too much about the characters without spoiling the story. The characters are the focus of this story, showing how their jobs and their chosen way of life is affecting them. Once again, this is a spy novel with the emphasis on the problem of trust. In the world of politics and espionage, who can you trust? Your family? Your coworkers?
I received my copy of this novel from the publisher, via NetGalley.
The Cairo Affair starts during the activities of the Arab Spring, in February 2011. Sophie Kohl's husband Emmett is currently working at the American embassy in Hungary, but his previous assignment was in Cairo. Both of them have friends still in Cairo, and when Emmett is killed, Sophie seeks the reasons for his death there. Along her journey to discover the truth, we visit the couple in the early years of their marriage. Along the way, three other characters get pulled into the quest: Stan Bertolli, a CIA agent in Cairo; Omar Halawi, who works in Egyptian intelligence; and John Calhoun, a contractor working for CIA agents in Cairo.
I was very pleased with this novel. I loved the structure, with the point of view changing several times throughout the story, and the story moving back and forth in time. Some readers find this narrative style disorienting, but I thrive on that kind of story. As usual, Steinhauer's characterization is very good, although in an espionage novel, the author cannot tell us too much about the characters without spoiling the story. The characters are the focus of this story, showing how their jobs and their chosen way of life is affecting them. Once again, this is a spy novel with the emphasis on the problem of trust. In the world of politics and espionage, who can you trust? Your family? Your coworkers?
I received my copy of this novel from the publisher, via NetGalley.
August 28, 2021
I did enjoy this book, mainly because of the suspense. About half the characters though, I don't think I would have liked much in real life, with the exceptions being Jibril Aziz, Omar Halawi, Emmett Kohl, and Andras Kiraly-- they seemed to be basically decent people. Sophie Kohl I did not particularly care for-- she seemed never to be able to make up her mind about anything, or make a solid decision for herself-- always needing someone to lead her in how she should think. Even though I was left guessing until the end, and the outcome was kind of a surprise, I still have a couple of questions....
Did Sophie go on to be a heavily medicated person to deal with the trauma and her past, or did she reinvent herself, and start over in a new life? And the last scene with John Calhoun thinking to himself "It doesn't matter what I know, what matters is what they think I know" and Rasheed walking in-- was that implying that he was going to die to remove another possible witness?
Did Sophie go on to be a heavily medicated person to deal with the trauma and her past, or did she reinvent herself, and start over in a new life? And the last scene with John Calhoun thinking to himself "It doesn't matter what I know, what matters is what they think I know" and Rasheed walking in-- was that implying that he was going to die to remove another possible witness?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2014
REVIEW THE CAIRO AFFAIR
Sophie Kohl, wife of Emmett, a diplomat at the American Embassy in Budapest, is horrified to see her husband shot in front of her. She flees to Cairo to her ex-lover, Stan Bertolli, a CIA agent and becomes embroiled in a world of espionage and double dealing.
Jibril Aziz, a US analyst in possession of a list of names of Libyans willing to start an uprising, has met with Emmett shortly before his death. He is desperate the list does not fall into the wrong hands. There is a covert plot (STUMBLER) in the pipeline in which the CIA wish to take credit for the Arab Spring and a regime change..
From start to finish, this book is packed with action, written by a man who knows the world of espionage. Thoroughly recommended for lovers of thrillers.
Sophie Kohl, wife of Emmett, a diplomat at the American Embassy in Budapest, is horrified to see her husband shot in front of her. She flees to Cairo to her ex-lover, Stan Bertolli, a CIA agent and becomes embroiled in a world of espionage and double dealing.
Jibril Aziz, a US analyst in possession of a list of names of Libyans willing to start an uprising, has met with Emmett shortly before his death. He is desperate the list does not fall into the wrong hands. There is a covert plot (STUMBLER) in the pipeline in which the CIA wish to take credit for the Arab Spring and a regime change..
From start to finish, this book is packed with action, written by a man who knows the world of espionage. Thoroughly recommended for lovers of thrillers.
March 3, 2023
I liked this book a lot. It's a sort of goulash with elements from Budapest, Serbia, Northeastern Libya, and especially Cairo. The whole pot (I almost wrote "plot") is heavily seasoned by Langley, Va. Of course the whole stew is a puzzle, but the pieces ultimately fit together well.
This plot is reminiscent of LeCarre's best. The characters are not quite so good, but still promising. The environments are intriguing. The action is a little more cerebral than physical. Steinhauer's on the way to becoming my new favorite spy novel author. I expect great things from him.
This plot is reminiscent of LeCarre's best. The characters are not quite so good, but still promising. The environments are intriguing. The action is a little more cerebral than physical. Steinhauer's on the way to becoming my new favorite spy novel author. I expect great things from him.
April 6, 2014
I was disappointed with “Cairo Affair” though it had lots of great parts it also lagged in many sections. The topic and setting is something that appeals to me…undercover intelligence in exotic settings. Most of the action as you can tell from the title takes place in Cairo but those events have a profound impact on the politics mostly of the Baltic area and have their roots in the past both the Baltic’s and in the past of a young married couple. Emmett and Sophie are in love and have been for twenty plus years. They’re also idealists.
Shifting principles and changing world events are one of the main themes in “Cairo”. Unfortunately so are shifting loyalties and that’s where the main conflict arises with deadly results. As always in undercover work who to trust is always in debate and if you choose incorrectly there are consequences. Even those who don’t spy for a living can become collateral damage…families can be in as much jeopardy as the spy. The problem with “Cairo Affair” is that the chase scenes go on for too long and the suspense is drawn out for forever, the crosses and double crosses are too elaborate.
Thank you to the publishers for providing an advance readers copy.
Shifting principles and changing world events are one of the main themes in “Cairo”. Unfortunately so are shifting loyalties and that’s where the main conflict arises with deadly results. As always in undercover work who to trust is always in debate and if you choose incorrectly there are consequences. Even those who don’t spy for a living can become collateral damage…families can be in as much jeopardy as the spy. The problem with “Cairo Affair” is that the chase scenes go on for too long and the suspense is drawn out for forever, the crosses and double crosses are too elaborate.
Thank you to the publishers for providing an advance readers copy.
October 22, 2021
Interesting
November 8, 2017
A twisty spy story that involves the CIA in Libya, Hungary, Cairo, and Yugoslavia. A decent audio book.
September 21, 2017
I read another book by the same author—All the Old Knives—and really enjoyed that one. This books is a little disappointing. Like so many others, the author is trying too hard to have too many twists in plots. The result is a very confusing story with no strong characters.
Similar to many modern books, such as the Gone Girl, this one has multiple narrators alternatively telling their stories.
A diplomat’s wife was telling her husband about an affair she had with her husband’s colleague. Right after that, the diplomat was shot by a professional killer. What a coincidence! The wife then went on a journey to prove to herself that her husband’s death was not related to her love affair. In the middle, there was a bunch of international espionage, deception and murder. I, like the main female character (the wife), was getting more and more confused about how events relate to each other. It does not help since the main characters seem to constantly change personalities. One minute, the wife loves her husband. Another minute, she got a lover. Then she suddenly changed from super brave to being scared of everything. The Egyptian old man, a main supporting character, also changed from a faithful employee to a deceiving subordinate rather suddenly.
Still, I enjoyed the book. Some of the details about living in a foreign country are very precise. There are a lot of subtle humor that you will appreciate if you ever lived in a foreign country.
Similar to many modern books, such as the Gone Girl, this one has multiple narrators alternatively telling their stories.
A diplomat’s wife was telling her husband about an affair she had with her husband’s colleague. Right after that, the diplomat was shot by a professional killer. What a coincidence! The wife then went on a journey to prove to herself that her husband’s death was not related to her love affair. In the middle, there was a bunch of international espionage, deception and murder. I, like the main female character (the wife), was getting more and more confused about how events relate to each other. It does not help since the main characters seem to constantly change personalities. One minute, the wife loves her husband. Another minute, she got a lover. Then she suddenly changed from super brave to being scared of everything. The Egyptian old man, a main supporting character, also changed from a faithful employee to a deceiving subordinate rather suddenly.
Still, I enjoyed the book. Some of the details about living in a foreign country are very precise. There are a lot of subtle humor that you will appreciate if you ever lived in a foreign country.
May 12, 2014
With current global affairs as its backdrop, the book delves into the intrigues of the world of spies and intelligence and moves from Cairo to Budapest and back to Cairo with flashbacks to 20 years ago when Sophie Kohl and her then boyfriend Emmett traveled in Europe during the breakup of Yugoslavia. Now married to Emmett who is a diplomat in the U.S. embassy stationed in Budapest, Sophie is confronted by Emmett about her clandestine affair when they were based in Cairo. Minutes later Emmett is shot by an assassin right before Sophie’s eyes. Thus begins the hunt for Emmett’s killer and Sophie’s quest to understand why and by whom. Steinhauer weaves the storyline between several characters and places, between spy agencies across several countries and the covert operation Stumbler that becomes key to the storyline as the quest to unravel the tangled web is told through the main characters – each one providing additional facts and clarity from their perspective. An entertaining spy novel that provides some insight into the current state of affairs in the middle east and the relationship of various intelligence agencies as they vie with each other to gather information in a complex geopolitical environment.
January 11, 2015
This book, my first by this author, recalled the early ruminative spy pieces by John LeCarre, which drew me in with in-depth character studies. Following the trajectory of the main character, Sophie, is worth the price of admission, so to speak. Egyptian, Hungarian, Serb and American spooks play a game of national secrets and double agents that should engage any spy fan, all of this presented with a backdrop of the Arab spring taking place in northern Africa, the fall of Tunisian and Egyptian despots, the imminent fall of Gaddafi.
I was bothered by the narrative quirk of presenting a character and then killing them off just when I was getting to relate to them. Maybe that's a pet peeve. Anyway, I guess the idea was to have all the spook-y characters orbit around the central character of Sophie, and like on the slow train to Manchuria, some would die and some would survive though scarred.
A good first read, ideal for a Saturday no-commitments afternoon, with a pitcher-full of iced tea on hand to help perk up the dry spots.
I was bothered by the narrative quirk of presenting a character and then killing them off just when I was getting to relate to them. Maybe that's a pet peeve. Anyway, I guess the idea was to have all the spook-y characters orbit around the central character of Sophie, and like on the slow train to Manchuria, some would die and some would survive though scarred.
A good first read, ideal for a Saturday no-commitments afternoon, with a pitcher-full of iced tea on hand to help perk up the dry spots.
April 19, 2022
Genre - Spy
Hook/Structure - 4 stars: Kidnapping, sex, murder in about 25 pages. Fast read. The author doesn't rely on chase scenes or explosions but instead a solid story.
Operative - 4 stars: Sophie Kohl is fascinating: her character arc is at the center of the novel. And she isn't even a spy...or is she?
Mission - 3: Who is selling secrets to who? Standard.
Atmosphere - 2: Cairo and Budapest are amazing cities in real life. But not here. Disappointing. And for me the mid-east politics were confusing.
Conclusion - 4: BIG finish after satisfying twists. Then a final 2-page coda adds another layer.
SUMMARY - 3.4 stars. Overall, satisfying read.
Hook/Structure - 4 stars: Kidnapping, sex, murder in about 25 pages. Fast read. The author doesn't rely on chase scenes or explosions but instead a solid story.
Operative - 4 stars: Sophie Kohl is fascinating: her character arc is at the center of the novel. And she isn't even a spy...or is she?
Mission - 3: Who is selling secrets to who? Standard.
Atmosphere - 2: Cairo and Budapest are amazing cities in real life. But not here. Disappointing. And for me the mid-east politics were confusing.
Conclusion - 4: BIG finish after satisfying twists. Then a final 2-page coda adds another layer.
SUMMARY - 3.4 stars. Overall, satisfying read.
May 8, 2014
As a teen and into my twenties, I devoured novels of the cold war, espionage, world tensions...but as the cold war receded, so did the fascination with the underworld spies, both by readers and writers. The Cairo Affair drops you right in the middle of modern day tensions; post-Arab Spring Egypt, conflict in the Balkans, America's role in world power, as well as the motivations, dreams, and flaws of all the key characters in this modern day espionage novel.
November 28, 2019
Diawali dgn cerita suami istri Kohl, dimana Sophie menyaksikan suaminya, Emmet ditembak langsung di depan hidungnya.
Kemudian ada Jibril Aziz, yg menitipkan Stumbler, rencana rahasianya utk diberikan pd John, dgn wanti-wanti hrs dibakar jika dia mati. Dan Jibril memang mati.
Apa korelasinya? Dgn setting Budapest, Libya dan Cairo, saya disajikan cerita yg RIBET seperti benang kusut. Karakter-karakter tokohnya yg kurang hidup membuat sptnya satu sama lain gak ada bedanya.
Jadi yg saya tangkap juga sepotong-sepotong, karena plotnya juga maju-mundur, tahun 1991 dan masa kini. Sophie berselingkuh dgn Stan Bertolli dan mengakuinya pd suaminya sblm di-dor oleh org yg gak dikenal. Kemudian ada Zora, wanita yg memeras pasangan Kohl ini utk mengerjakan tugas-tugas yg diberikannya sbg bayaran ganti rahasia mereka. Dan inilah yg melibatkan Jibril dan Umar yg ternyata Stumbler adalah rencana rahasi utk mengkudeta Khadaffi.
Ketegangan di novel ini kurang terbangun juga, yg ada ceritanya muter-muter kemana-mana. Ibaratnya mau pergi ke Depok dari Jatinegara, bukannya langsung ke selatan tapi muter dulu ke Senen, Kampung Bandan, Tanah Abang, Manggarai baru ke Depok. Alias buang-buang waktu aja baca buku ini.
Kemudian ada Jibril Aziz, yg menitipkan Stumbler, rencana rahasianya utk diberikan pd John, dgn wanti-wanti hrs dibakar jika dia mati. Dan Jibril memang mati.
Apa korelasinya? Dgn setting Budapest, Libya dan Cairo, saya disajikan cerita yg RIBET seperti benang kusut. Karakter-karakter tokohnya yg kurang hidup membuat sptnya satu sama lain gak ada bedanya.
Jadi yg saya tangkap juga sepotong-sepotong, karena plotnya juga maju-mundur, tahun 1991 dan masa kini. Sophie berselingkuh dgn Stan Bertolli dan mengakuinya pd suaminya sblm di-dor oleh org yg gak dikenal. Kemudian ada Zora, wanita yg memeras pasangan Kohl ini utk mengerjakan tugas-tugas yg diberikannya sbg bayaran ganti rahasia mereka. Dan inilah yg melibatkan Jibril dan Umar yg ternyata Stumbler adalah rencana rahasi utk mengkudeta Khadaffi.
Ketegangan di novel ini kurang terbangun juga, yg ada ceritanya muter-muter kemana-mana. Ibaratnya mau pergi ke Depok dari Jatinegara, bukannya langsung ke selatan tapi muter dulu ke Senen, Kampung Bandan, Tanah Abang, Manggarai baru ke Depok. Alias buang-buang waktu aja baca buku ini.
July 27, 2022
well i read about half and i got bored. even i wanted to know what behind the murder but when you do not like much the writing and neither the main character i decided to say goodbye.
February 21, 2014
When a New York Times bestselling author Olen Steinhauer comes out with a new book, it’s bound to get a lot of attention. This highly touted author of critically acclaimed Milo Weaver trilogy, is known to bring an intriguing plotline packed with political and personal betrayals. It’s an espionage novel at its best. Who can forget the first in the series: The Tourist, now a major motion picture starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.
“Not since John le Carré has a writer so vividly evoked the multilayered, multifaceted, deeply paranoid world of espionage,” describes The New York Times. As Booklist stated, “It has become de rigeur to compare Steinhauer to le Carré, but it’s nearly time to pass the torch: for the next generation, it’s Steinhauer who will become the standard by which others are measured."
In his new book, The Cairo Affair, Olen Steinhauer promises to deliver on the hype. An American diplomat is shot in the head outside a French restaurant Chez Daniel in Hungary while having dinner with his wife. She had just confessed to him about her affair while they were living in Cairo.
Torn by guilt and obsessed with trying to find out “why” her husband was killed, Sophie Kohl reaches out to her ex-lover Stan Bertolli, a CIA agent in Cairo. As he tries to uncover the cover-ups, Stan is faced with his own dilemma of who to trust, and how much of the political games and deception he can confide in Sophie.
Omar Halawi has worked in the Egyptian intelligence for years, and he knows how to play the game. Jibril Aziz, a native Libyan but who now works as a US Analyst is trying to connect all the dots.
What unfolds is a dangerous, highly additive adrenaline rush story that takes you through current world events in spiraling plots guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seats till the end of the book.
Olen Steinhauer is talented. By including major political upheavals that intricately weave in the clever story of emotionally rich characters, he manages to bring The Cairo affair close to our hearts. Whether he’s using WikiLeaks classified informative to uncover US diplomatic secrets, or tying the story to post-Mubarak Cairo and Libya in the thrust of the Arab Spring, Steinhauer’s commitment to the details are incomparable.
If you love espionage novels, this is one that’ll be a page-turner.
4.5/5 Sukasa Stars
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Published by Minotaur Books and distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books.
Review by @ShilpaRaikar for @SukasaReads (a division of @SukasaStyle)
“Not since John le Carré has a writer so vividly evoked the multilayered, multifaceted, deeply paranoid world of espionage,” describes The New York Times. As Booklist stated, “It has become de rigeur to compare Steinhauer to le Carré, but it’s nearly time to pass the torch: for the next generation, it’s Steinhauer who will become the standard by which others are measured."
In his new book, The Cairo Affair, Olen Steinhauer promises to deliver on the hype. An American diplomat is shot in the head outside a French restaurant Chez Daniel in Hungary while having dinner with his wife. She had just confessed to him about her affair while they were living in Cairo.
Torn by guilt and obsessed with trying to find out “why” her husband was killed, Sophie Kohl reaches out to her ex-lover Stan Bertolli, a CIA agent in Cairo. As he tries to uncover the cover-ups, Stan is faced with his own dilemma of who to trust, and how much of the political games and deception he can confide in Sophie.
Omar Halawi has worked in the Egyptian intelligence for years, and he knows how to play the game. Jibril Aziz, a native Libyan but who now works as a US Analyst is trying to connect all the dots.
What unfolds is a dangerous, highly additive adrenaline rush story that takes you through current world events in spiraling plots guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seats till the end of the book.
Olen Steinhauer is talented. By including major political upheavals that intricately weave in the clever story of emotionally rich characters, he manages to bring The Cairo affair close to our hearts. Whether he’s using WikiLeaks classified informative to uncover US diplomatic secrets, or tying the story to post-Mubarak Cairo and Libya in the thrust of the Arab Spring, Steinhauer’s commitment to the details are incomparable.
If you love espionage novels, this is one that’ll be a page-turner.
4.5/5 Sukasa Stars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by Minotaur Books and distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books.
Review by @ShilpaRaikar for @SukasaReads (a division of @SukasaStyle)
November 2, 2018
What if whatever haunts you is not because of what you think but because of some obscure reason lost in the past - what if you are in danger because of what someone else thinks you know.
This is the corner-stone of this novel.
All the characters have done something bad (some something outright terrible) in the past and they are now chased down [and quite the few killed] because somebody has a feeling that they know too much (or maybe everything). Because of this it is decided to eliminate them just to be on the safe side.
Sophie, main character is wannabe Mata Hari - she enjoys living on the edge but very soon this takes its toll. She might seem to be an over-dramatic at times but what exactly one is to expect from situated person that wants more but settles on the role of the happy wife.
From all the characters she is most probably the most "damaged" one. But her guilt and loss pushes her forward while trying to solve the mystery and without her, total amateur in the spy-games, professionals would stop stirring the hornet's nest way earlier and leave the things lie down.
John, US agent, maybe best epitomizes the survivalist approach to intelligence activities - know nothing, hear nothing and play outright dumb in order to live through yet another day. Because if you become curious very soon the shadows will strike (like it happened to majority of characters in this novel) so better leave it to people who are at least payed to be nosy and are not expendable.
If above sounds like total opposite to what intelligence gathering is supposed to be you are right but in the world where you know secrets about others and you think other's actions are because of your secrets or actions in the past who can you actually believe to be "on the side of the Angels"?
Excellent, very paranoid novel, written in beautiful style that will make you devour 500+ pages in couple of hours. Could it be done in fewer number of pages - definitely could, but this page surplus does not diminish the story in any way.
Highly recommended.
This is the corner-stone of this novel.
All the characters have done something bad (some something outright terrible) in the past and they are now chased down [and quite the few killed] because somebody has a feeling that they know too much (or maybe everything). Because of this it is decided to eliminate them just to be on the safe side.
Sophie, main character is wannabe Mata Hari - she enjoys living on the edge but very soon this takes its toll. She might seem to be an over-dramatic at times but what exactly one is to expect from situated person that wants more but settles on the role of the happy wife.
From all the characters she is most probably the most "damaged" one. But her guilt and loss pushes her forward while trying to solve the mystery and without her, total amateur in the spy-games, professionals would stop stirring the hornet's nest way earlier and leave the things lie down.
John, US agent, maybe best epitomizes the survivalist approach to intelligence activities - know nothing, hear nothing and play outright dumb in order to live through yet another day. Because if you become curious very soon the shadows will strike (like it happened to majority of characters in this novel) so better leave it to people who are at least payed to be nosy and are not expendable.
If above sounds like total opposite to what intelligence gathering is supposed to be you are right but in the world where you know secrets about others and you think other's actions are because of your secrets or actions in the past who can you actually believe to be "on the side of the Angels"?
Excellent, very paranoid novel, written in beautiful style that will make you devour 500+ pages in couple of hours. Could it be done in fewer number of pages - definitely could, but this page surplus does not diminish the story in any way.
Highly recommended.
March 14, 2014
I won this book as part of Goodread's First Reads program in exchange for my honest review.
In honor of college basketball's March Madness, I thought I would try to find the team this book matches up with. After much research (read: mind wandering while falling asleep last night) that team would be Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a not-so flashy, master of execution, sum is better than the individual parts kind of team. They don't get the top recruits, the players largely don't go on to the NBA, but they consistently win year in and year out. If you look at Wisconsin piece by piece, they don't look that great, but taken as a whole they work wonderfully. I think that pretty much sums up this book. The individual parts of the book (the plot, the characters) don't really work by themselves, but taken as a whole they work together to create a very enjoyable read.
It's an edge-of-your-seat thriller that doesn't really have much for you to be on edge about. The underlying conspiracy doesn't really seem all that interesting. And the after reading it, I'm still not exactly sure why the catalyst of the story even needed to happen in the first place. But happens it does, and the people that are drawn into the plot are pretty flat and interchangeable. And the main character, we have zero reason to like her and every reason to hate her right from the start, and my opinion of her dropped as the story rolled along. But despite all of that, I found myself not wanting to put the book down as I was drawn into the story. If Steinhauer comes up with a story that has more substance, the next book he writes could very well be compared to the Dukes and Michigan States of the basketball world.
I gave this book 3 stars, a well written thriller that is held back by the thin plot and flat characters.
In honor of college basketball's March Madness, I thought I would try to find the team this book matches up with. After much research (read: mind wandering while falling asleep last night) that team would be Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a not-so flashy, master of execution, sum is better than the individual parts kind of team. They don't get the top recruits, the players largely don't go on to the NBA, but they consistently win year in and year out. If you look at Wisconsin piece by piece, they don't look that great, but taken as a whole they work wonderfully. I think that pretty much sums up this book. The individual parts of the book (the plot, the characters) don't really work by themselves, but taken as a whole they work together to create a very enjoyable read.
It's an edge-of-your-seat thriller that doesn't really have much for you to be on edge about. The underlying conspiracy doesn't really seem all that interesting. And the after reading it, I'm still not exactly sure why the catalyst of the story even needed to happen in the first place. But happens it does, and the people that are drawn into the plot are pretty flat and interchangeable. And the main character, we have zero reason to like her and every reason to hate her right from the start, and my opinion of her dropped as the story rolled along. But despite all of that, I found myself not wanting to put the book down as I was drawn into the story. If Steinhauer comes up with a story that has more substance, the next book he writes could very well be compared to the Dukes and Michigan States of the basketball world.
I gave this book 3 stars, a well written thriller that is held back by the thin plot and flat characters.
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