All the Old Knives : A Novel
Author(s): Olen Steinhauer
From the author of New York Times bestseller The Tourist...
Six years ago in Vienna, terrorists took over a hundred hostages, and the rescue attempt went terribly wrong. The CIA's Vienna station gathered intel during those tense hours, assimilating facts from the ground and from an agent on the inside. So when it all went wrong, the question had to be asked: Had their agent been compromised, and how?
Two of the CIA's case officers in Vienna, Henry Pelham and Celia Harrison, were lovers at the time, and on the night of the hostage crisis Celia decided she'd had enough. She left the agency, married and had children, and now lives in idyllic Carmel-by-the-Sea. Henry is still a case officer in Vienna, and has traveled to California to see her one more time, to relive the past, maybe, or to put it behind him once and for all.
But neither of them can forget that long-ago question: Had their agent been compromised? If so, how? Each also wonders what role tonight's dinner companion might have played in the way the tragedy unfolded six years ago.
All the Old Knives is New York Times bestseller Olen Steinhauer's most intimate, most cerebral, and most shocking novel to date.
Review(s):
“[A] sneaky little gem . . . Sustains the difficult balancing act of melding a heart-racing espionage plot with credible dinner table conversation . . . Mr. Steinhauer specializes in tough showdowns. And the more innocently they begin, the more devastatingly they end.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A splendid tour de force . . . Without neglecting the turmoil of the geopolitical landscape, the novel focuses more intensely on the equally treacherous landscapes of the human heart.” —The Washington Post
“[A] masterfully plotted and suspenseful stand-alone.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Long-listed Amazon.com Best Books of the Year (2015), Short-listed Audie Award Finalist (2016), Long-listed NPR Best Book of the Year (2015)
ISBN: 9781250045430