(Sundays at 4:00 pm on WOSU 89.7 FM)
BOOKS
The Tourist is a complex conspiracy story expertly looping in and out of itself like a political game of Twister. With narrative dexterity, Olin Steinhauer intricately links the CIA and Homeland Security, Sudanese terrorists, Russian businessmen, MI6, Chinese oil contracts and an elusive assassin known simply as the Tiger.
At the center is Milo Weaver, a CIA agent working black ops. He floats unmoored from European city to city with phone orders coming from New York headquarters. Close to suicide and strung out on amphetamines, Milo retires from covert work and settles comfortably into a CIA cubicle. And then, he makes a simple information transfer in Paris, and it mires him in murder and deception.
This information transfer is designed to trap fellow agent Angela Yates, who's suspected of divulging secrets to the Chinese. Milo believes his friend is innocent but then learns she's gotten very close to discovering the Tiger's handler. In the process she connected with a Chinese official.
"If Angela's connected to someone who controls – or controlled – the movements of the Tiger, then we're not just talking about her selling some secrets to the Chinese. She's being run by someone with serious contacts. She could be freelance now. Open market."
"The plan's still the same," said Milo. "Identify her contact, then bring him in. Don't touch Angela until we have him."
Milo shares a glass of wine with Angela in her apartment, and when she turns up dead the next morning, he's accused of her murder.
Steinhauer gives us Milo's viewpoint, so we know he's innocent not only of Angela's murder but two other murders that officials link to him. The false accusations fueled my curiosity and so did the puzzle of lies, changing identities, misinformation, and surprise appearances taking place from Geneva, Switzerland to Blackdale, Tennessee.
Along the way, I was grateful that Steinhauer inserted plot summaries into situational briefings and interrogations. A few times these narrative round-ups felt contrived, but they are crucial to the enjoyment of this intellectually intense, fascinating drama because, as Milo informs us, intelligence work seldom, if ever, runs in straight lines.
The Tourist by Olin Steinhauer is published by Minotaur Books. The audio version is published by Blackstone Audio. I'm Kassie Rose.
© Copyright 2009, WOSU
