February 2012
5 posts
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“Steinhauer’s use of multiple perspectives allows him to lead readers down...”
– Ron Hogan’s terrific review of An American Spy in the most recent Shelf Awareness.
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An audio preview of An American Spy →
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Required reading for spy fans | BookPage →
Terrific mention in BookPage from Bruce Tierney. Says he:
Serious, gripping and lightning-paced, An American Spy should be required reading for fans of espionage fiction.
Thank you, Bruce!
(NOTE: As a commenter on Facebook pointed out, the link to this review should have a SPOILER alert. Consider yourself alerted.)
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Some South African Love →
It’s always nice to get favorable attention from South Africa, where over the years I’ve gotten some really wonderful mentions. Thanks to Mike Nicol for this one on The Tourist. One of these days I’m going to have to visit…
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Back on the Case: Elmore Leonard's "Raylan" →
This just up: My NYT Book Review take on Elmore Leonard’s latest novel, Raylan. Check it out.
January 2012
4 posts
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A Literary Spy: Olen Steinhauer →
Just after Christmas I had a lovely lunch with Tim Peters, who interviewed me for Publishers Weekly, and we chatted about plenty of things, only ending the conversation because of other obligations. Here’s the profile he wrote. Thanks, Tim!
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Focus Features | Videos & Extras | Slideshow | Spy... →
Somehow I missed this before—but it’s some of Focus Features’ “extra content” for Tinker Tailor. William Boyd, Philip Kerr, and I were asked to share a few thoughts on that legendary character, George Smiley.
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Library Journal has its say
Despite the lack of a star, Library Journal’s review of An American Spy is quite stellar. Witness:
This follow-up to The Tourist and The Nearest Exit proves the adage that good things come in threes. With Milo Weaver as the conscience-worn hero, Steinhauer does for Chinese-Western intrigue what John le Carré did for the Cold War era of international espionage. A mesmerizing series for...
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Booklist has excellent taste...
…which is an obnoxious title for a post, but Keir Graff over at Booklist has over the years given my novels some wonderful attention, and his forthcoming starred review for An American Spy has me blushing. It’ll come out in the January 15 issue, so keep an eye out for it, but in the meantime I’ll share the climactic, sure-to-be-quoted-on-the-back-cover line:
“Another...
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Star in PW! →
Just came across this starred review of An American Spy in Publishers Weekly. Though I always notice the negatives (they find the opening “initially convoluted”) it’s a very praising review that I’m proud to receive. Thanks PW!
December 2011
8 posts
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Kirkus on forthcoming thrillers →
A nice mention for An American Spy from Kirkus, in particular from J. Kingston Pierce, of the inestimable January Magazine and Rap Sheet, which makes it all the nicer.
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WatchFor those who don’t know him, Ken Bruen’s a brilliant, lyrical crime novelist who I first came to know during my first Edgar Award ceremony back in 2004. Both of us having lost, we obviously chose to drink ourselves senseless in Manhattan. As everyone else gradually disappeared, heading off to their hotel rooms, the two of us survived until four in the morning, talking nonstop. A...
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Los Angeles Times Festival of Books →
I just learned from my publisher, St Martin’s, that I’m going to be in Los Angeles this April for a panel at the LA Times Festival of Books. Early days, so I don’t know which panel, or who I’ll be chatting with, but I expect it to be a blast.
I spy, with my literary eye →
A cool piece from a friend, Adam LeBor, on the state of the thriller in the literary world. I missed it when it came out, but am glad I caught up to the piece. Enjoy.
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The state of the post-Cold War spy novel -... →
In keeping with the Tinker Tailor theme, Salon asked a number of espionage aficionados—and me—for to answer a few questions about Cold War spy fiction and the current state of the genre. My two cents are at the very bottom. Note the freakishly similar opening sentences shared by me and Charles Cumming…
St. Martin's Press: The "An American Spy" Advance... →
The contest of a lifetime!
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Book with a Face
I’ve just set up a page on Facebook, and once I figure out how to do it I’ll run a feed from the page to here.
I’m working with St Martin’s on this, so in the coming months they’ll help me make the place interesting. One thing I know it will involve is a contest or two to win a copy of An American Spy before it hits the bookstores…which will make you smarter,...
November 2011
1 post
The Rap Sheet: Dick Adler Passes Away →
I was stunned today to learn (a day later than most) that Dick Adler, legendary book reviewer, has passed away. This is a tremendous loss for mystery & thriller fiction, as he was an astute yet generous lover of the genre. Early on in my own career he took to the pages of the Chicago Tribune to say wonderfully kind things about my work, and for that I have always been grateful. We never met,...
October 2011
1 post
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The Crooked Road
I just heard from Janet Hutchings over at Dell, publishers of the fine periodical Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and learned that a story I published with them a few years ago, “Investment in Vevey,” is part of a new ebook anthology they’ve put out, called The Crooked Road: Ellery Queen Presents Stories of Grifters, Gangsters, Hit Men, and Other Career Crooks.
Terrific...
September 2011
4 posts
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My new review in the NYTBR: A Thriller, With... →
In Zoran Drvenkar’s novel, four friends whose profession is making apologies acquire a client who is a killer.
(And in case I wasn’t clear in the review, it’s a brilliant book. Go get yourself a copy.)
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Milorad Krstic: Radmila, reading "The Tourist" by... →
(reading the Hungarian edition) See the entire Radmila series as it grows over here.
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August 2011
6 posts
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The true price of publishing | Books |... →
A simple look at the complexities of book/ebook pricing, and the role of Amazon in pushing down prices.
Apologies, Twitterers
To anyone who follows me on Twitter, my apologies.
I just transferred a few hundred of my posts from the Contemporary Nomad to live here at Tumblr using an automated script…but forgot to turn off the “post to Twitter” selection in Tumblr. Thus, anyone who follows me just got a load of ancient garbage.
It won’t happen again.
(I’d apologize on Twitter, but I’ve...
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Spy | Berlin | East Germany :: AmericanWay →
Nice mention in a list of excellent spy fiction from American Airlines…
July 2011
7 posts
Texas Governor Signs Budget Cutting State Funding... →
With family in Texas, and the memories of how, when I was a kid, libraries formed so much of who I am, I’m pretty appalled by this.
Link to Library Journal.
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"You Know..." on the NOOK
At the suggestion of a Twitter connection, I finally did the obvious and reformatted “You Know What’s Going On” for the Barnes and Noble NOOK, or any device that uses the B&N reader software. No longer is the story tied solely to the Kindle, and with that little taste of freedom comes the desire for more—I’m going to start looking for other digital avenues for...
Labyrinths | Online Only | Granta Magazine →
True writer stuff from A.L. Kennedy:
“If you’re in any way like me, it all means that for months your friends have not seen you, or if you’ve been there, you haven’t really been there. If there is anyone you love, you are aware that they have known you only in bursts between something intense which has little to do with them…”
WatchJust ran across this for the first time, though it’s been floating around for a month. Was unsure about Oldman as Smiley, but looking at this my worries sort of float away. A beautiful looking film of one of the best novels of the 20th century. Absolutely can’t wait.
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"You Know..." on sale for 99 cents
At the end of March, I put a long story of mine, ”You Know What’s Going On,” up for sale as an ebook on Amazon. I’ve been pleased to see steady sales of the story, which is one I’m particularly proud of, but though the numbers have been steady, they’ve been pretty low. One or two a day, really.
So I’m going to try a sale, and see what, if anything,...
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Hemingway, Hounded by the Feds - NYTimes →
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean…
June 2011
2 posts
Olen on Hungarian TV--Könyvajánló extra →
Back on April 22, 2011. Music Video by Molnár Szilvia
Beautiful job editing, making it look as if I actually had fans showing up for signatures. In fact, only one appeared, a lovely young lady who chatted a moment about what she liked in the books. The people you see actually getting things signed are friends of mine!
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My take on Carte Blanche →
A couple weeks ago, Simon & Schuster asked if I’d like to read/review Jeffery Deaver’s new Bond novel for Amazon, and I said, “Well, gosh, of course.” You can read my happy take on the book here.
I would’ve mentioned it earlier, but Fleming Publications keeps a tight lid on anything Bond-related, sort of like MI6 or, say, Apple. Had I mentioned anything before...
May 2011
4 posts
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Explaining "Last Exit" →
My German publisher, Heyne, asked me to shoot a quick video of myself discussing The Nearest Exit (or, in German, Last Exit) for Amazon. A nice idea, so a few months ago I sat in a corner of my bedroom in Budapest and rattled on, while in the background my daughter watches something on television. Enjoy…
DSK and France, 10 Days after Check-Out →
Excellent piece by one of my grad school profs on the French scandal and the nature of a certain kind of male aggression.
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Done, and done
I’ve just emailed the final version of the next book, “An American Spy,” to my editor and agent. As I mentioned before, this one has taken over a year and a half to write, and the feeling of letting it go is bittersweet. On the one hand, I’m thrilled to get this monster off my back, but on the other there’s that authorial itch that tells you it’s still full of...
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An American Spy...
…is the title of the third and final book in the Milo Weaver trilogy, which will be out in March 2012.
For a year and a half I’d written and edited the book living with the previous title, “American Express,” but apparently there’s a financial services company that actually owns that name, so…
So I like it. It’s an ear-catching title, and very...
April 2011
1 post
On Hungarian TV, being grilled... →
A legközelebbi vészkijárat - ATV
March 2011
4 posts
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You Know What's Going On - story for sale
Inspired—or at least nudged—by Barry Eisler’s recent move into the digital book world, I’m putting a story of mine, called “You Know What’s Going On,” on Amazon for sale (in the US, and in the UK) to Kindles and anyone with the Kindle software (iPads & iPhones, I’m looking at you). This is the start of a vague plan I have to, over the next...
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Serbian editions
I recently learned that both The Tourist and The Nearest Exit have been sold to Evro Giunti, a Serbian-language publisher. Great news, as this now means my in-laws will be able to read at least two of my novels!
"The Trinity Six" by Charles Cumming - NYTimes.com →
Nice review of Charles Cumming’s great new thriller, The Trinity Six. I met him in London the other year and he’s a swell guy—so go buy it already!
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Help out Japan, don't forget Libya
With the unprecedented disasters facing Japan right now, it may be too easy to forget what’s continuing in Libya, and how the international community is failing the rebellion by its indecision. So, a couple links:
The website of the Libyan revolution
Japan earthquake and tsunami: How to help
February 2011
5 posts
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Spy tangled in a sticky web | The Australian →
The Nearest Exit reviewed Down Under.
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Andre Dubus III Traces a Violent Youth in ‘Townie’ →
My old prof from Emerson College gets a rave in the Times. Great to see.
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Paperback Row - NYTimes.com →
The Nearest Exit gets a mention…