Listen here.

Related articles

• An American Spy by Olen Steinhauer (collectedmiscellany.com)

What from so many angles seems like violence and betrayal fueled by mere revenge turns out to be each side attempting to turn constantly shifting events to their advantage. Steinhauer plays the story out giving the reader the perspective of a number of characters from Weaver to his former boss Alan Drummond to Chinese spymaster Xin Zhu. But just when you think you are starting to put the pieces together he shuffles the deck and you have re-evaluate your assumptions.

There is an underlying tension in espionage – and thus in spy fiction – in that at root it is the search for truth and yet in pursuing that elusive truth, truth itself – or at least honesty and veracity – are the first causality (cliché perhaps but accurate I think).  An American Spy mirrors this and in fact forces the reader to wrestle with it and “live” in this type of world. You find yourself constantly trying to understand the strategy and motivations of each side while guessing their next steps – in other words, thinking like a spy.  What also becomes clear is how the nature of the trade undermines trust and casts doubt on everything.

Milo starts out trying to act like a “civilian” – dinner with friends and a routine with school and family.  But when your friendly dinner companions are your ex-boss and his wife and all he wants to talk about is the death of 33 agents under his watch, and the destruction of his career, normalcy is by nature elusive.

Steinhauer uses another cliché – the agent who can’t break free – but again to very good use.  But instead of wreaking havoc and gaining revenge on those who forced him to return – ala many action films – Milo instead is caught in an ever-changing web of deceit and seems almost resigned to his death as an acceptable solution.  The more he pursues the safety of those he cares about the more they seem to be in danger.

It is worth pointing out that if you ever hope to make sense of the complicated plot or to understand the back stories of the characters you need to read the first two books.  You can read this by itself but you will lose a lot of depth.

Some early reviews have pointed to the complexity of the plot and the slow start that results.  But as noted above, I believe this grows out of Steinhauer’s attempt to mirror what it is like to be involved in espionage: making decisions based on limited information, constant shifting of motives and angles, and all of this done under great pressure and with ever higher risks.  We start off by approaching the story from different people’s perspective with clues and threads dangled in front of us.  But once this foundation is set, events begin to move very fast and you find yourself racing to the conclusion.  Only then you find that there is one last twist – and one that makes you hope for more books featuring Milo Weaver.

I will admit to a lack of objectivity when it comes to Steinhauer.  I am fan and have been for a long time (having read all of his books and followed his blogging as well).  But I think it is safe to say that if you are interested in spy fiction and not reading Steinhauer you are missing out.  Without getting into the never-ending debate surrounding genre versus literature, I think Steinhauer is an excellent example of the best of genre.

And I think PW’s review captured this element very well:

Steinhauer is particularly good at articulating contemporary spy craft—the mechanics of surveillance and intelligence in the digital age and the depth of paranoia endemic to the trade. In addition, his ability to create characters with genuine emotions and conflicts, coupled with an insightful and often poetic writing style, set him apart in the world of espionage fiction.

Given this it is not surprising that he is garnering comparisons to legends like Le Care and Deighton.  Big shoes to fill but with this excellent trilogy Steinhauer is well on his way.

Here is the publisher’s synopsis:

A man climbs a cliff face in the oldest inhabited place on earth, a mountain known as the Citadel, a Vatican-like city-state that towers above the city of Ruin in modern-day Turkey. But this is no ordinary ascent. It is a dangerous, symbolic act. And thanks to the media, it is an event witnessed by the entire world.

Few people understand its consequence. But for foundation worker Kathryn Mann and a handful of others, it’s evidence that a revolution is at hand. For the Sancti, the cowled and secretive monks who live inside the Citadel, it could mean the end of everything they have built. They will stop at nothing to keep what is theirs, and they will break every law in every country and even kill to hold it fast. For American reporter Liv Adamsen, it spurs the memory of the beloved brother she lost years before, setting her on a journey across the world and into the heart of her own identity.

There, she will make a discovery so shocking that it will change everything. . . .

It turned out to be an fast paced and entertaining read. One that overcame some of the weaknesses of the genre by doing a few things well.

The first thing that the book does well is drop you into the story. Instead of trying to start with the back story, Toyne gets right to the heart of the matter; he starts with the mystery but in action form (see video above) and so hooks the reader at the start.

In fact this hook, the man who jumps from the Citadel and the mystery involved, fuels the rest of the story. From the very beginning you are pushed forward trying to figure out what exactly happened to drive this man to jump (what did he see in that ceremony, what is the message he left on that piece of leather and those seeds, etc.).

As it happens there is a video teaser to illustrate this:

Which brings us to the second positive, the pace. With short chapters and plenty of action the book is a quick and suspenseful read. The story never gets bogged down trying to explain the history involved or fill in the details of the characters. Everything is done “on the fly” and so the pace is fast and steady; and the tension builds.

While none of the characters are particularly deep, there are enough angles and side stories to keep the action interesting and the plot moving forward.  This is classic good versus evil with both sides seeing themselves as the good guys (although it is pretty clear who Toyne thinks are the true good guys).  This also pushes the plot forward as both race against time (also a classic device).

Lastly, the exotic setting and backdrop make for an interesting story. The mountain gives the story a center and the monks in the mountain give it a unique flavor. Granted, everybody speaks English and the town of Ruin is presented as rather vanilla but the mountain and its history are what animates the story.

The weaknesses of the story are common to the genre, IMO anyways. The plausibility level is pretty low.  Toyne doesn’t really even try to make much of it plausible. You just have to suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Liv Adamsen, her back story and her interaction with Gabriel is particularly implausible. And the connection between the ancient sect in the citadel and the faith of Christians around the world is never really explained; is left generic and unexplored except for a few references to a heretics bible and the creation story in Genesis.

I also think this work succeeds despite its mythology or underlying worldview if you will. The secret behind the sacrament struck me as silly – a sort pagan feminism attractive to certain types of post-modern westerners; or an idealized version of creation myth.  But I didn’t keep reading because I thought the secrets being discussed had some connection to real history and belief but because I enjoyed seeing the action play out and wanted to find out what happens to the characters. I wanted to find out the secret at the heart of the mountain but I didn’t find it insightful or religiously significant. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Sanctus is an entertaining and intriguing thriller but, like many, requires you to suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the fast paced action and interesting twists and turns. The first of a planned trilogy, it will be interesting to see how the secret finally revealed at the end plays out moving forward.

If you like your thrillers fast paced with a taste for conspiracy theories and religious mythology be sure to check this one out.

I kid, I kid. It is actually a book trailer for the forthcoming The Devil Colony from James Rollins.  Is the book worth the hype? Does this kind of video make you want to read the book?

If anyone has read an ARC or has a opinion please leave a comment.

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Christopher’s cartoonish fourth Templar suspense novel (after The Templar Throne), a sniper assassinates the pope while the Holy Father is giving the Christmas blessing on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. Before easily escaping, the killer also fatally shoots a cardinal, two bishops, and the Vatican’s official photographer. This outrage is merely the prologue to an even greater intended act of political violence, the murder of the U.S. president, who’s sure to attend the pontiff’s funeral. The president’s death will pave the way for the rise to power of right-wing Sen. Richard Sinclair, a story line used far more effectively by Richard Condon in The Manchurian Candidate. Standing in the way of the bad guys is the clichéd pairing of an older ex-soldier, John “Doc” Holliday, and his attractive younger female protégé, Peggy Blackstock, who respond to traumatic situations with banter out of one of the weaker James Bond movies.

Kirkus Reviews

Deputy Charlie Hood (The Renegades, 2009, etc.) copes with love, war and a baffling being who might be an angel, a demon, conceivably both, or none of the above. Detached from the L.A. Sheriff’s Department, Deputy Hood is sent south to join Operation Blowdown, assembled to war against the much-too-successful Mexican drug cartels. It’s an overwhelmingly difficult job, never-ending and ever-perilous. As evidence of this, Jimmy Holdstock, one of Charlie’s young colleagues, is suddenly snatched by a particularly ruthless cartel-object: torture, mutilation and the kind of prolonged, very public death wickedly calculated to dampen law-enforcement enthusiasm. In the immediate aftermath of the kidnapping, an envelope arrives at Blowdown headquarters, containing a pair of Polaroids. Pictured in one is a dramatically ill-treated Jimmy; in the other, a still-life formed by “a pair of pliers, an electric circular saw, and a long-nozzled barbecue lighter.” Clearly, Jimmy needs to be rescued fast.

Meanwhile, Mike Finnegan, a strange little man who might furnish some helpful answers resides, severely injured, in the ICU of Buenavista Hospital. He sends for Charlie. The two have never met, but Charlie can’t ignore the existence of a peculiar sort of connection between them. They talk. Finnegan wants Charlie to find his missing daughter and offers a quid pro quo that may or may not pertain to the beset Jimmy. The little man-nothing if not mysterious-knows things he can’t possibly: about Blowdown, about Charlie’s private life. Moreover, he really should have died as the result of his injuries, and not even lovely, smart Dr. Beth Petty can explain his survival. So who or what is Mike Finnegan? It’sanybody’s guess. Lacks the seamlessness of Parker’s best plotting, but indomitable Charlie is, as always, irresistible. Hard not to warm to a man who-no matter the adversity-insists that “Hope counts.”

Publishers Weekly

Disgraced former CIA agent Court “The Gray Man” Gentry (introduced in 2009′s The Gray Man) makes ends meet as an assassin working for clients he cannot trust. Russian arms merchant Sidorenko wants Court to kill Sudan’s President Abboud, arguably the man responsible for the genocide in Darfur. The CIA makes a counteroffer: kidnap Abboud and give him to American officials in exchange for amnesty. Court cannot refuse and treks through Sudan in pursuit of nebulous, ever-changing goals. Every element in this book is familiar, but Court is endearing in his perseverance even as his schemes are undermined by sympathetic victims, misleading information, outright lies, poor planning, betrayal, conflicting agendas, and simple bad luck. What could have been a storm of clichés becomes an action-filled yet touching story of a man whose reason has long ago been subsumed by his work ethic.

Synopsis

In The Knight, the third installment in the bestselling series of thrillers featuring FBI criminologist Patrick Bowers, the stakes have never been higher.

Agent Bowers is used to tracking the country’s most dangerous killers, but now it looks like a killer is tracking him. When he realizes the murderer is using clues from an ancient manuscript as a blueprint for his crimes, Bowers faces a race against time to decipher who the next victim will be and to stop the final shocking murder–which he’s beginning to believe might be his own.

Gritty, chilling, and intense, this psychological thriller is guaranteed to keep readers up all night.

From the Publisher

Private investigator David Spandau, an ex-stuntman familiar with the ins and outs of Hollywood—a smart, tough, and wickedly funny observer of la vie L.A.—finds his patience almost sapped when he’s hired to protect actor Bobby Dye from a blackmailing scheme gone wrong. Dye—young, brash, and on the verge of becoming a major star—has been set up by gangster Richie Stella, a nightclub owner and drug dealer with dreams of becoming a Hollywood producer. And he has a movie perfect for Dye. Problem is, it’s the worst script anyone’s ever read. But Richie is not easy to say no to, and when he retaliates, the game becomes deadly for more than a few of its players.

Charged with the elements of all great L.A. noir&crackling dialogue, fast-paced plot, and seedy, jaded characters—Loser’s Town is a deftly written thriller and a gruesomely hilarious depiction of what goes on beneath those white letters on the mountainside.

Publishers Weekly

Spare, clipped expository prose and hip, spot-on dialogue propel this visceral crime novel from Winslow (The Dawn Patrol). The future is looking good for Laguna Beach, Calif., marijuana growers Ben and Chon, until they receive an ominous e-mail from the Baja Cartel. Attached is a photograph showing the decapitated bodies of other independent drug dealers. The message is clear: sell your product through us or else. Ben and Chon try to resist, but matters escalate after cartel thugs abduct Ophelia, the guys’ beautiful young playmate and accomplice, and hold her for a cool million ransom. Meanwhile, Elena “La Reina” Sanchez Lauter, the leader of the Baja Cartel, must deal with rival drug gangs and potential overthrow from within. Ben and Chon propose a trade that Elena can’t refuse, setting the stage for the violent and utterly satisfying ending. Winslow’s encyclopedic knowledge of the border drug trade lends authenticity.