Olen Steinhauer

I read and enjoyed the three books by Olen Steinhauer featuring Milo Weaver and the quirky "Department of Tourism", relishing the nuances that the author introduced into the classic espionage yarns; the complexity of the characters and the unpredictability of the plots

What in those novels were assets became liabilities for me in this book, and in my quest for a reason, all I can conclude is that it's Steinhauer's decision to adopt an equally quirky structure that made the difference. Instead show more of following the story through the eyes of one or two characters, as was the case with Milo Weaver in the case of the "Tourist" novels, this stand-alone book recounts events from the perspective of several very different individuals: Sophie Kohl, who sees her diplomat husband murdered before her eyes in a Budapest restaurant in the opening pages; John, a contractor loosely affiliated with the CIA whose mission into Libya during the collapse of the Qadaffi regime goes badly awry; Stan; Sophie's erstwhile lover, a Cairo-based spook, and Omar, an Egyptian intelligence officer with scruples and loyalties of his own trying to find his way in the earliest days of post Mubarak Egypt. These narrative lines overlap and sometimes repeat and revisit events -- and then occasionally we're back in 1991, in the earliest days of the Kohl marriage, so that Steinhauer can tell/show the reader just how and why certain events transpired as they did.

In fact, Steinhauer was so busy being clever with the plot and structure that he forgot to make his characters engaging and I actually found myself getting bored. Yes, the setting is atmospheric -- but not NEARLY as much as the excellent mystery novels by Sudanese novelist Parker Bilal, set in Cairo of 1999-2002. Yes, there are chilling and eerie vignettes, but that's not enough to sustain an atmosphere of menace throughout an entire book. It's great to create a "maze of intrigue", as the NYT's Janet Maslin describes it, but only if you actually happen to engage with the characters navigating that maze as convincing individuals. I simply couldn't. They were constructs, as was the overly elaborate plot and structure. This was stuck halfway between LeCarre, with his richly imagined world, and more pedestrian genre novels. I could admire Steinhauer's intellect and skill but, admiration aside, a story that should have gripped and fascinated me left me cold. The one person in it to whom I connected as a character was Fouada, Omar's wife, with her instinct to mother the spies and waifs and strays whom her husband brings home for her to tend. The other characters were so busy making points on the author's behalf they couldn't take the time to be real. So 4.3 stars for technical merit; 3 stars for emotional impact: 3.4 stars overall. Unscientific, but hey, that's what the reading experience is all about. show less

I never would have heard about this book, let alone read it it hadn't been suggested as a January book read from Criminal Element. I thoroughly enjoyed it and now want to read the other books in series. Milo Weaver is a "tourist". In Company-speak (CIA), that means he's an itinerant assassin and spy throughout Europe and the Eastern Bloc. When we first meet him we see Weaver, playing a legend by the name of Charles Alexander, and even though he's in the middle of a very dangerous job for the show more Company, he is hopped up on amphetamines and contemplating suicide. Being a tourist is not easy. It's not only dangerous, but lonely and exhausting. Milo is a reluctant spy from the beginning, but he is so good at his job that he keeps being put on different assignments. Finally, in 2001, he is very seriously wounded in Vienna, and he also meets the love of his life, who when he first meets her, is in labour on a Viennese street. Milo manages to recover from his injuries, and he moves back to a desk job with the Company after he marries Tina. That lasts for about six years, and then he is pulled into another job that threatens all he holds dear and puts him in grave danger. The rest of the book is all about Milo trying to piece together who in the Company is in league with the Chinese and why. His task threatens his marriage and child, and even though Milo is reluctant to be drawn back in, he must find out who has behind all the intrigue and who has been pulling his strings since he began with the company? This is a surprisingly literate spy thriller, and the reluctant protagonist makes the book very believable. I couldn't put it down. Thanks again to Criminal Element for piquing my interest in this series. show less

Initially, I thought The Middleman was going to be a letdown. However, as it progresses, Steinhauer shows once again why he consistently punches above his weight class. I just hope he drops another gem on us soon. It’s our loss when we have to wait for the king of spy shit, yep very technical term, to pen another one.

If you are looking fora thrill a minute adventure tale, this probably ain't the book for you. But if you are looking for a global thriller that'll make you think deeper about the world around you, The Last Tourist might be just the ticket.

In today's world, information is power. Once inclusively a commodity of nations, what if the private sector began to amass its own networks of information and used them to bypass the limits of the world's governing bodies. What if they shaped the world to show more their needs instead of those of sovereign nations? It's an interesting proposition and one that Steinhauer explores in his latest.

The protagonists in this tale are not cut from the cloth of Bourne and Bond, but rather ordinary men and women trying to hold on to their integrity and follow their moral compass in a world that continues to devalue both. They possess no superpowers and often fall short while trying to control the ill intentions of those that wish to profit from the plights of the less fortunate.

At times, things bog down a bit and the writing gets a little stilted, but stick with this one and you'll be up late at night thinking about the implications for more than one night. The Last Tourist is not only a timely and relevant case study but also an interesting case study of the challenges the future holds for the world. show less