Paris Bound

In the morning we’re off to Paris, where my French publisher will put me in front of a few journalists for the ol’ question-and-answer. We’re looking forward to it, and having learned our lesson last summer, will trust our transportation to the skies.



I’m not sure I’ll get much of a chance to post here before our return Thursday, but I’m contractually obliged (well, not really) to keep up a presence over at Moments in Crime, the Minotaur blog. I’ll be posting there from Monday, and if I get a chance I’ll do as before and link from here to there to make life easy for all.



But before heading off, I’ve noticed a quick mention of the new book over at Time Magazine, as part of its “Short Takes” round-up of interesting work in a variety of media. Says Richard Corliss:

BOOK



The Tourist. Remember John le Carré before he became socially conscious? When he wrote about beaten-down, morally directionless spies? In other words, when he was good? That’s how Olen Steinhauer writes in this tale of a world-weary spook who can’t escape the old game.

32

I was originally putting together a post on my first UK review, over at Shots, where Damien Seaman made himself clear from the unambiguous get-go:

The publicity material for Olen Steinhauer’s The Tourist proclaims the novel ‘a spell-binding, intricate, commercial thriller’. Take away ‘spell-binding’ and ‘intricate’ and that statement becomes true.

And it gets worse from there.

But screw that. Yesterday saw some fresh good news, and I’d rather go into that.

First up is a very nice review in the April issue of Penthouse. Now, for those few of you who have let your subscriptions slip (I’m looking at you, John), this is what they have to say:

Now, for the second piece of excellent news it doesn’t hurt to go back to Seaman’s critical review a moment:

If Steinhauer intended to turn in a lazy espionage thriller to break the New York Times bestseller lists, then he’s done pretty well with The Tourist.

Take away ‘lazy’ and that statement becomes true. Because late last night I learned that The Tourist has reached #32 on the extended New York Times bestseller list. The list should be online in a couple days, but I’m already taking away the “Mr.” in my name and replacing it with “New York Times bestselling author.” Consider the change immediate, and permanent.

Time to get loaded.

Anderson's Take

Over in the Washington Post, Patrick Anderson reviews The Tourist.



It’s another good one. Anderson seems to get where I’m coming from, though it’s strange for any novelist to find himself being directly contrasted with a fellow novelist—in this case, Alex Berenson. But I’ll certainly take that if it leads to lines like

On the evidence of “The Tourist,” Steinhauer’s Milo Weaver trilogy could turn out to be something special.

Neat

Stasio's Take

I just wrote the post below, then saw that the page-long Sunday review by Marilyn Stasio is already online. Here’s the link to it. As I hint below, as a working novelist I’m pleased as punch that it exists, no matter the opinions within it. And as I also mentioned, Kevin Holtsberry has already laid out his opinions of the review.





(For a different NYT take, Janet Maslin’s review is here.)



Opinions either way? As I said below, I’m largely in agreement with Kevin’s perspective, but if anyone out there has read The Tourist and feels strongly one way or the other, feel free to comment. I am, if nothing else, a glutton for punishment!

(Originally posted at the Contemporary Nomad)

Notices and a Holtsberry Review

I’ve been meaning to post all week, but have been brow-deep in a revision of the next novel, which will probably take another week or so. It’s going well—most of it needs little touch-up—but the opening 100 pages need some very selective weeding, which is never an easy thing to do.



Anyway, my point is that I’ve been remiss, not bringing up some great attention the book has been getting over the week.



Over in the Seattle Times, Adam Woog gave it a quick mention, calling The Tourist “intelligent, evocative, and nuanced.”



I see that I didn’t bring it up here, but the indominable Ms. Weinman has had The Tourist up as one of her Picks of the Week for…well, for about a week. Says she: “The book thrills, but Steinhauer takes care to keep the reader thinking and contemplating about the actions, often brutal, that are to come. This deserves all the advance hype and the audience that is sure to expand with publication.”



But the most in-depth piece of the week has come from Kevin Holtsberry. As he admits from the outset, he’s a fan of my fiction (something I’ve appreciated ever since the first one came out—thank you, Kevin), and very quickly he echoed one of my own fears:

New is exciting but what happens when the author leaves a much loved series behind and starts a new project?  Sure, it is still what I like to call a literary thriller, but what if Steinhauer stumbled on his first stand alone?  Made me a little nervous, I will admit.

The Tourist is a great and thought provoking read for anyone who enjoys the thriller aspects of the espionage genre but prefers better - and more philosophical - writing than your average airport pick up.

his initial reaction to reading it a while ago











The Tourist



Liberation Movements





Check it out here



New York Times



posted a review of the review hereas Kevin points out in his rebuttal

LAT

Over at the Los Angeles Times, the ever-generous Paula Woods, who has supported my novels since they first appeared, gives her take on The Tourist.



Suffice to say, I’m extremely pleased with her reaction to it, in part because I respect her opinion, in part because she comes from having appreciated the earlier books (which she makes this wonderfully clear in the review), and I want earlier fans to enjoy this as well. Paula certainly does.

Although readers can hope to see it on the screen, “The Tourist” should be savored now. As rich and intriguing as the best of Le Carré, Deighton or Graham Greene, Steinhauer’s complex, moving spy novel is perfect for our uncertain, emotionally fraught times.

lot





LINK

Maslin's Take

One thing I haven’t mentioned over the last week is that I’ve known of an upcoming Janet Maslin review in the NYT. And thus, I’ve been living with a feeling of terror slowly eroding my bones.



Well, today Ms Maslin had her say, and I’m happy to report she don’t hate it. In fact, she seems to like it.



While my wife was reading the review this morning, she laughed out loud at this line:

So characters in “The Tourist” have multiple names, opaque motives, deceptive marching orders and vast capacities for duplicity. Incidentally there is a film version in the works, with George Clooney, for anyone who found “Syriana” too easy to understand.

Read it all here



thisnext











next

My Eyes in Manhattan

[caption id=”attachment_865” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”From my agent, Borders on Park & 57th”][/caption]

(Originally posted at the Contemporary Nomad)

P-Day

(The film still is from the inestimable James Lileks,

who I’ve admired for years. Perhaps the funniest guy in the Internet.)

The First Out of the Gate...

…is Jim “The Evil J” Winter in January Magazine. He says some wonderful things about the book, and I appreciate the detail he goes into communicating what happens in the opening—and getting it right. There’s a lot going on, and some earlier readers had trouble keeping things straight.



But Winter’s not just patting me on the back. He brings up one detail that, for him, just didn’t work. And it’s something that has nagged at me ever since I wrote it, wondering if people would buy it. He’s the first person to bring it up, so I know that while it works for most, it doesn’t work for all. Which is fair enough. But in the end he seems won over by the novel:

In The Tourist, Olen Steinhauer has composed a hugely complex successor to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Unlike most espionage tales written in the years since that classic work first saw print in 1963, however, he manages to give his characters — even the most reprehensible ones — a human side and a degree of warmth. Spying is a nasty business that chews up and spits out the people involved in it. The Tourist shines a light on the mortal costs.

Thanks, Jim!

LINK