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beastreader's review against another edition
3.0
Milo Weaver used to work for the CIA as a “tourist”. Unfortunately, once a tourist…always a tourist. Milo quickly gets sucked back into the high adrenaline world of espionage, intrigue, and foreign enemies. Milo receives a call that his expertise is required. A suitcase containing three million dollars has disappeared. So why does Milo care? A blast from Milo’s past is somehow tied to this case. The temptation is too strong for Milo to resist. Grab your passport as The Tourist will have you racing all over the country.
The Tourist kind of reminded me of Jason Bourne meets Mission Impossible. It had the action, suspense and a character whom the bad guys should be scared of. Though, I do have to admit that there were a few times in the middle where Milo wasn’t featured that I found it a little dry and wish the story line would hurry. Other than Milo, I didn’t connect with any of the other characters. The word tourist will now have another meaning to it for me. Overall, I did like where this book took me. I would check out another book by Olen Steinhauer.
The Tourist kind of reminded me of Jason Bourne meets Mission Impossible. It had the action, suspense and a character whom the bad guys should be scared of. Though, I do have to admit that there were a few times in the middle where Milo wasn’t featured that I found it a little dry and wish the story line would hurry. Other than Milo, I didn’t connect with any of the other characters. The word tourist will now have another meaning to it for me. Overall, I did like where this book took me. I would check out another book by Olen Steinhauer.
elctrc's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely lacks the complexity and deep narrative histories that Le Carre dreams up, but in that lies the pleasure of it. Fast paced, fun, engaging spy thriller
webjoram's review against another edition
3.0
La verdad es que no tengo mucho que decir de esta novela. Es la típica novela de espías, es decir, espía atormentado por un pasado secreto, lanzado en medio de una conspiración y que tiene que utilizar todos sus increíbles recursos para salir del paso. Típica novela para entretener la espera, o para consumir en periodos vacacionales y olvidar en cuanto la termines.
Lo que desde luego no voy a hacer es leer más de este protagonista. La novela tiene un final "cerrado" que a mi me vale.
Lo que desde luego no voy a hacer es leer más de este protagonista. La novela tiene un final "cerrado" que a mi me vale.
lurdesabruscato's review against another edition
5.0
Fast-paced, mysterious, keeps you guessing. A classic spy novel done well. The lead character, Milo, tugs at you from the beginning. Very enjoyable.
kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
3.0
After five, multi-award nominated crime fiction novels, Hungary based, American born novelist Olen Steinhauer has turned his hand to contemporary espionage in THE TOURIST.
The action in this book centres around Milo Weaver - CIA Agent, Tourist, father and husband. Starting out in 2001, Milo, nursing a serious pill-popping addiction and a strong desire to suicide in the line of duty, is in the middle of a botched attempt to stop a hitman. Flash forward 7 years and Milo's got a wife, a child, and a personal interest in tracking down the hitman behind that nearly fatal, and life changing encounter. Out of active duty and in a desk job since then, Milo wasn't expecting the "Tiger" to hand himself over voluntarily. A deathbed conversation with the Tiger turns Milo's perceptions upside down, and set him on a path unexpected.
There are a number of elements in THE TOURIST that stand out. Milo, as a highly flawed, complicated central character in what is after all, an espionage novel, seems very realistic. A man with faults and flaws, he is poignantly aware of his own limitations - particularly when it comes to the ease with which he lives his professional life, compared to the way that he handles the personal. Obviously the situations in which he finds himself are not those which the average person is going to have to deal with, so a certain suspension of disbelief is going to be required on the part of the reader. There are some downsides to this characterisation however, the most notable one being the difficulty of focusing a great sense of moral and personal outrage, when the enemy is a little closer to home than would normally be the case. THE TOURIST gets into interesting territory in this area, a direction I found quite fascinating, but then I prefer the enemy to be less than straightforward. There's also a good sense of pace, with a nice sprinkling of rushing around, without it being too over the top. Mostly, however, there is a very elegant balancing of the tension, and the threat with some nice touches of reality, delivered with some very tongue in cheek humour. (What would be more hairy for your average burnt-out, long term spy - an encounter with a shadowy enemy or Disneyworld. Still can't decide!)
Where THE TOURIST may be slightly less satisfying for some readers is in the area of plot, where things are very busy. Lots of things happen, lots of characters (good and bad) come and go, and there's some question marks frequently on whether or not everything is / could / needs to be connected. Other readers may appreciate exactly this aspect. A spies life doesn't seem like one that would be tidy and neat, with one job wrapped up nicely and the paperwork done, before the next bad situation comes along. I liked the approach, and I particularly liked the way that Milo often had no idea what was happening, as well as me!
The element that ticked the biggest box for me, and the one that made THE TOURIST an interesting book was the portrayal of the mindsets of officialdom. Alongside the concept of the enemy within, perhaps more prevalent than an external threat, this gave considerable pause for thought.
The action in this book centres around Milo Weaver - CIA Agent, Tourist, father and husband. Starting out in 2001, Milo, nursing a serious pill-popping addiction and a strong desire to suicide in the line of duty, is in the middle of a botched attempt to stop a hitman. Flash forward 7 years and Milo's got a wife, a child, and a personal interest in tracking down the hitman behind that nearly fatal, and life changing encounter. Out of active duty and in a desk job since then, Milo wasn't expecting the "Tiger" to hand himself over voluntarily. A deathbed conversation with the Tiger turns Milo's perceptions upside down, and set him on a path unexpected.
There are a number of elements in THE TOURIST that stand out. Milo, as a highly flawed, complicated central character in what is after all, an espionage novel, seems very realistic. A man with faults and flaws, he is poignantly aware of his own limitations - particularly when it comes to the ease with which he lives his professional life, compared to the way that he handles the personal. Obviously the situations in which he finds himself are not those which the average person is going to have to deal with, so a certain suspension of disbelief is going to be required on the part of the reader. There are some downsides to this characterisation however, the most notable one being the difficulty of focusing a great sense of moral and personal outrage, when the enemy is a little closer to home than would normally be the case. THE TOURIST gets into interesting territory in this area, a direction I found quite fascinating, but then I prefer the enemy to be less than straightforward. There's also a good sense of pace, with a nice sprinkling of rushing around, without it being too over the top. Mostly, however, there is a very elegant balancing of the tension, and the threat with some nice touches of reality, delivered with some very tongue in cheek humour. (What would be more hairy for your average burnt-out, long term spy - an encounter with a shadowy enemy or Disneyworld. Still can't decide!)
Where THE TOURIST may be slightly less satisfying for some readers is in the area of plot, where things are very busy. Lots of things happen, lots of characters (good and bad) come and go, and there's some question marks frequently on whether or not everything is / could / needs to be connected. Other readers may appreciate exactly this aspect. A spies life doesn't seem like one that would be tidy and neat, with one job wrapped up nicely and the paperwork done, before the next bad situation comes along. I liked the approach, and I particularly liked the way that Milo often had no idea what was happening, as well as me!
The element that ticked the biggest box for me, and the one that made THE TOURIST an interesting book was the portrayal of the mindsets of officialdom. Alongside the concept of the enemy within, perhaps more prevalent than an external threat, this gave considerable pause for thought.
singsthewren's review against another edition
3.0
I read this for my book club - it's not the kind of book I normally gravitate towards. I have read a few spy thrillers in the past, but it's a genre I usually prefer to watch. I find the action sequences more interesting on screen, and often it seems like new information is 'discovered' by just sort of... asking someone? And they just tell you? And I find that really boring to read. The 'reveal' of information by dialogue makes my eyes drift closed...
That being said, overall I did like the book, though I don't plan to continue the series. I thought the characters were really well done and that got me through a lot of the less interesting passages. I particularly liked the final part of the book, where we got to see the story unfold from a bunch of different perspectives.
The book definitely suffered from the pace at which I was reading it - because I was devouring about 100 pages in a go and then not picking it up for a week, by the time I got back to it I had forgotten character names (I'm never great with names which I think is part of why this genre doesn't play well for me), so there would be a big reveal that X character had turned out to be involved and I was like.. who is that?! There were two Russian characters and I thought they were the same person for about 3/4 of the book (boy, was I confused...)! So, yeah. I am not great with spy mysteries.
If you like this style of book I think you would really like this one. It was intelligent and fun and the twists were believable but still surprising.
That being said, overall I did like the book, though I don't plan to continue the series. I thought the characters were really well done and that got me through a lot of the less interesting passages. I particularly liked the final part of the book, where we got to see the story unfold from a bunch of different perspectives.
The book definitely suffered from the pace at which I was reading it - because I was devouring about 100 pages in a go and then not picking it up for a week, by the time I got back to it I had forgotten character names (I'm never great with names which I think is part of why this genre doesn't play well for me), so there would be a big reveal that X character had turned out to be involved and I was like.. who is that?! There were two Russian characters and I thought they were the same person for about 3/4 of the book (boy, was I confused...)! So, yeah. I am not great with spy mysteries.
If you like this style of book I think you would really like this one. It was intelligent and fun and the twists were believable but still surprising.
charmainesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
The book was ok It had some good twists like a good mystery should, but it just didn't hold my attention. I wasn't waiting in anticipation to see what would happen next and therefore it took a really long time to finish the book because it was easy to put the book down & not come back to it for weeks at a time.
juliebcooper's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Looking forward to the next in the series. This was a reliable page turner and the intrigue kept my attention glued to my kindle on the subway these past few days. Recommended for those who enjoy spy novels!