The Tourist

A Novel

By: Olen Steinhauer

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

In the vein of John le Carré and Graham Greene, this contemporary international thriller follows Milo Weaver as he is drawn into a conspiracy that links riots in the Sudan, an assassin committing suicide, and an old friend who's been accused of selling secrets to the Chinese. Once the CIA and Homeland Security are after him, the only way for him to survive is to return, headfirst, into Tourism.

©2009 Olen Steinhauer (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Weaver] is the perfect hero for such a richly nuanced tale." ( Booklist)
"Superbly accomplished at both plotting and characterization....highly recommended." ( Library Journal)

Interesting, intriguing

I love to listen to books while driving. This is one of the best I have listened to. Made me want to go out and just drive around the block to finish it!

Good story, fair narration

The story succeeds most when it focuses on the character of the broken spy. The narration is fine for the straight text and Milo Weaver's voice, although the tough-guy affect becomes tiring. All other voices are overly weakened, detracting from the story. Other male characters are spoken in high pitched, vague tones. The female character readings are the most off-putting. Two women characters are arguably the two strongest characters in the book. They are read, though, with a strange falsetto vagueness and a breathy weakness that conjures dependence and vacillation rather than decisiveness and mental acuity. The reading seems inconsistent with their characters.

Very Good Post-9/11 spy novel

Great spy thriller. It is set up for a new book at the end. It is in the vain of the best of the Bourne books (I only read the originals not the new ones). I listened to this as an audiobook and the narration was very good.

Interesting plot . . . twists. Thumbs up!

At first, it was difficult to get used to the word inflections and cadence of the narrator. I started to regret the purchase and darn near stopped listening, but once I was able to accept the narrator's style(took about an hour)the book became the spy thriller it was reviewed to be. Once I got used to the narrator, I couldn't stop listening to seee what would happen next. Seems to me that the author has set Milo up for a great series; can't wait for book II. Bottom line is this: Great story, average storyteller/narrator - but still makes for an above-average listening experience. I would recommend it.

Loved IT

I loved this book. The narrator was a little weak on some of the voices, but the plot and story were excellent. Definitely on par with Le'Carre

slow development

Good story. slow development. Struggled to finish. It seemed very familiar. A cross between Jericho Quinn and The interns handbook.

Smart

I like the thoroughness and precision of his writing without being boring or using gunfights and explosives to fill dead space - a superior spy novel while being more involved in detecting and following clues - brilliant when compared to the tiring shootemups - thanks.

If you like complexity this is for you

This is a very complex story, that in the end is self consistent and satifying. The early 1/3 of the books was somewhat difficult to follow. Every person and event plays an important part in the final 2/3 of the story. I was at times confused by the time line jumps from flash backs to current times. It is a 5 star listen. the narrator does and excellent job with accents, foreign language pronoucinations, and male/female voicings. it is a long listen, so you cant be in a hurry to get to the end. It is well worth the investment of time and attention. in the end there are few surprises as the clues were there all along, but it was difficult to not be mislled by the holes in the partial information the listener has at any one point in the book. This is, i believe, how actual facs come to light in real life. I recommend to one and all that enjoy spy craft. mystery, and suspence.

Written around 2004-5

Good story with twists that kept it from being predictable but could have used a bit of editing to make it smoother. Narrator was good, especially with foreign voices but horrible as Tina.
Still, I recommend.

Complex, like life itself.

As an audio book, listened to while driving, the complexity of this plot line became difficult to follow at times. But a good story.