The Tourist: A Novel

Olen Steinhauer

Mar 2009 · Milo Weaver Book 1 · Sold by Minotaur Books

About this ebook

In The Tourist, Olen Steinhauer—twice nominated for the Edgar Award—tackles an intricate story of betrayal and manipulation, loyalty and risk, in an utterly compelling novel that is both thoroughly modern and yet also reminiscent of the espionage genre's most touted luminaries.

“Here’s the best spy novel I’ve ever read that wasn’t written by John le Carré.” —Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly

In Olen Steinhauer's explosive New York Times bestseller, Milo Weaver has tried to leave his old life of secrets and lies behind by giving up his job as a "tourist" for the CIA—an undercover agent with no home, no identity—and working a desk at the CIA's New York headquarters. But staying retired from the field becomes impossible when the arrest of a long-sought-after assassin sets off an investigation into one of Milo's oldest colleagues and friends. With new layers of intrigue being exposed in his old cases, he has no choice but to go back undercover and find out who's been pulling the strings once and for all.

*BONUS CONTENT: This edition of The Tourist includes a new introduction from the author and a discussion guide

Ratings and reviews

It's been quite a while since I've curled up with a spy novel, so maybe I'm out of the loop on the genre, but The Tourist left me somewhere in the fair to midland range. There's a lot of dialogue and the story is repetitive at times, plus there are several things that seem to rely on everyone, including Milo, being either oblivious or not very bright, both of which seem out of sorts with a spy novel. In the end, The Tourist left me wanting more - more action, more intrigue, more tension, just more. It isn't a bad story, but it isn't a particularly great one either.

One of the more gripping books that I have read. Difficult to put down, intricate spy drama that creates its own world and brings you into it, with all the anxiety and fear that goes with it.

A fair amount of intrigue, but a little leading for my tastes. OK for the beach.

About the author

Olen Steinhauer is the author of the bestselling Milo Weaver series, including The Nearest Exit, and a series of widely acclaimed Eastern European crime novels, which include The Bridge of Sighs, The Confession, 36 Yalta Boulevard, Liberation Movements, and Victory Square. He is a two-time Edgar Award finalist and has been shortlisted for the Anthony, the Macavity, the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, and the Barry awards. Raised in Virginia, Steinhauer lives with his family in Budapest, Hungary.