An American Spy

Set in 2008, bestseller Steinhauer’s excellent if initially convoluted third thriller featuring Milo Weaver (after 2010’s The Nearest Exit) finds Weaver no longer a member of the CIA’s deeply clandestine Department of Tourism, which was shut down after Chinese spy Xin Zhu, motivated more by personal vengeance than allegiance to his government, orchestrated the assassination of 33 of its agents one by one around the world. When Alan Drummond, Weaver’s boss at the now defunct department, disappears from his London hotel, Weaver gets on his trail—a matter that becomes much more urgent after Drummond’s wife and daughter are kidnapped. 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. 125,000 first printing. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, the Gernert Company. (Mar.)