All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer

by Carol1 Comment
I listened to the audio version of All the Old Knives, which I think may have been a mistake. The plot is interesting: former lovers, Celia a former spy, Henry still in the game, meet for dinner. Henry's goal is to put to rest once and for all a case from years ago that involved a plane hijacking, or at least that's what he tells us his goal is- he doesn't tell Celia that when she agrees to meet him. Of course, she has her own reasons for coming to the restaurant. The story takes place during this one meal, but we go back and forth in time to the hijacking. the book alternates between Henry and Celia's viewpoints, with a different narrator for each. Most of the time, switches in viewpoint and time period don't bother me, but I think the two narrators made this one tough. Celia's "voice" threw me out of the story every time. She just didn't sound like...
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The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer

by Carol5 Comments
It's been a while since I've read a good espionage book. I've read a couple of barely mediocre ones, but that's beside the point. My library had The Cairo Affair available on audio and the title rang a bell, so I borrowed. Turned out that was a really good choice. It's nice to start of the new year with a winner. The story is told through several viewpoints, but it was always clear whose eyes we were seeing situations through. It was interesting, although not surprising, how much the same event could vary from viewpoint to viewpoint. The characters were all real, there were not over the top superagents, no too good to be true loyalists, no overly intelligent office worker able to predict everything. They are all doing the best they can given their abilities, limited knowledge and resources. Okay, maybe "the best" is not quite true, because we do have people willing to kill, to betray their country and...
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