An American Spy

By: Olen Steinhauer

Narrated by: David Pittu

Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

In Olen Steinhauer’s best seller The Tourist, reluctant CIA agent Milo Weaver uncovered a conspiracy linking the Chinese government to the highest reaches of the American intelligence community, including his own Department of Tourism - the most clandestine department in the Company. The shocking blowback arrived in the Hammett Award-winning The Nearest Exit when the Department of Tourism was almost completely wiped out as the result of an even more insidious plot. 

Following on the heels of these two spectacular novels comes An American Spy, Olen Steinhauer’s most stunning thriller yet. With only a handful of “tourists” - CIA-trained assassins - left, Weaver would like to move on and use this as an opportunity to regain a normal life, a life focused on his family. His former boss in the CIA, Alan Drummond, can’t let it go. When Alan uses one of Milo’s compromised aliases to travel to London and then disappears, calling all kinds of attention to his actions, Milo can’t help but go in search of him. Worse still, it's beginning to look as if Tourism's enemies are gearing up for a final, fatal blow. 

With An American Spy, Olen Steinhauer, by far the best espionage writer in a generation, delivers a searing international thriller that will settle once and for all who is pulling the strings and who is being played.

©2012 Olen Steinhauer (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

“Olen Steinhauer’s Milo Weaver novels are must-reads for lovers of the genre.” (The Washington Post)

“Readers are irresistibly drawn into Weaver's dogged struggle to unravel a complicated game of cat and mouse.” (USA Today)

Very complicated

There are many, many characters in this book and the story is quite complicated. It helped to have re-read The Nearest Exit just before embarking on the "listen"; however, I still found the book quite difficult to follow as a listener. I expect that the book would be a very satisfying "read" because, when confused, I could have gone back to review previous chapters. This being said, I enjoy a good puzzle and An American Spy is one of these. Mr. Pittu is an excellent narrator, making this audiobook one of the best performances I have heard this year.

Excellent Addition to the Weaver series

What other book might you compare An American Spy to and why?

This is the third in the series and picks up right after

What about David Pittu’s performance did you like?

Mr. Pittu's accents are subtle enough to never get in the way of comprehension but still provide a good feel for the nationality of the characters. He never misses the humor or irony inherent in the text.

Any additional comments?

All three Weaver novels are timely, suspenseful and witty. They are not necessarily an

Worthwhile

This book is well written, has an excellent and consistently engaging plot and piles a few more layers of personality on the fictional portrait of Milo. While it does not, of course, have the behind-the-Wall Cold War ambiance of the author's books set in an unspecified Soviet Bloc country, the book brings its own lesser joys of time and place. The author's command of the China setting is not so masterly as is his knowledge of Soviet Bloc countries, perhaps expected inasmuch as he has not lived in China but has lived in a former Soviet Bloc nation.

The narrator is quite competent. My only complaint: the ending seemed to be tied up hastily with some all-too-convenient and not entirely satisfying twists.

Overall: certainly worthwhile. I just wish the author could find some means of defying chronology and writing a couple of more Soviet Bloc/1950's novels. But we must all move on, I suppose.

Excellent addition to the trilogy

If you could sum up An American Spy in three words, what would they be?

Fun exciting clever

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. Cliffhangers. Steinhauer knows how to keep the story moving.

What about David Pittu’s performance did you like?

Voices - does them all uniquely.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Most of it

Any additional comments?

No

Worthwhile

This book is well written, has an excellent and consistently engaging plot and piles a few more layers of personality on the fictional portrait of Milo. While it does not, of course, have the behind-the-Wall Cold War ambiance of the author's books set in an unspecified Soviet Bloc country, the book brings its own lesser joys of time and place. The author's command of the China setting is not so masterly as is his knowledge of Soviet Bloc countries, perhaps expected inasmuch as he has not lived in China but has lived in a former Soviet Bloc nation.

The narrator is quite competent. My only complaint: the ending seemed to be tied up hastily with some all-too-convenient and not entirely satisfying twists.

Overall: certainly worthwhile. I just wish the author could find some means of defying chronology and writing a couple of more Soviet Bloc/1950's novels. But we must all move on, I suppose.

A Textured Spy Novel

This is a multilayered story told from multiple points of view. There are no superagents-save perhaps a sexy black woman US Spy--rather everyone on all sides are vulnerable and flawed and under pressure from somewhere. In this respect it is a realistic story. It is a thinking persons spy novel. There are many plot twists and most of them are surprises. The reason it does not rate 5 stars is that it goes on a little too long.

I will be ready for the next one in the series!

I have consumed these three books in as many weeks...and so it was easy to keep the thread of the story throughout. After reading a couple of the other reviews, I thought it was going to be hard to keep the Chinese names straight but because of the excellent narrator, his pronunciation, and his magnificent voices/characters, it wasn't difficult...but I was glad others had indicated that you really had to be on the watch for that.

I will be looking for other books by this author and will stay tuned for the next Milo Weaver book...because I can't imagine Steinhauer won't continue with this troubled and interesting character.

good story

Would you consider the audio edition of An American Spy to be better than the print version?

irrelevant question audible, if you want a review stop looking for marketing info,
word 14m word 15

What did you like best about this story?

well crafted story line

Did David Pittu do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

yes, believable accents for the most part, could use a little work on the Italian

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

dumb question

Any additional comments?

can we please get back to a regular review set up, this discourages me from a helpful review to other listeners

Intense!

This book has not gone where I thought it would go at all. I'm here for it though!

Hard to follow

Perhaps it’s my unfamiliarity with Chinese names, but I could not follow this plot. I enjoyed the first one, but this was tedious.