The Tourist (Milo Weaver, #1) in Espionage Aficionados

Mar 18, 2016 Mark rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: spies, thriller, 2016

A spy novel which seems to take place in Europe mostly but is very US centric. This is the first installment in the stories of a spy aka a tourist [hence the title] by the name of Milo Weaver.

The story starts with a near burned out Milo hunting a missing station chief who was carrying several million dollars to get a voice talking about a war criminal. When this first part of the story ends Weaver lies shot in street next to a very pregnant lady very upset with him.

The next phase of the book is A spy novel which seems to take place in Europe mostly but is very US centric. This is the first installment in the stories of a spy aka a tourist [hence the title] by the name of Milo Weaver.

The story starts with a near burned out Milo hunting a missing station chief who was carrying several million dollars to get a voice talking about a war criminal. When this first part of the story ends Weaver lies shot in street next to a very pregnant lady very upset with him.

The next phase of the book is Mila Weaver post 9/11 tracking down this elusive assassin down south in the US where he catches up with the master killer sitting in a southern jail. It turns out that this uncatchable killer has let himself be taken simply because he wanted his nemesis to catch the people that killed him and then he dies. Never again will you have this sense of Weaver being the nemesis of this brilliant killer as he turns out to be a gifted searcher but no more.

The tourists are essentially operators on foreign soil that defend the American empire and they are not chosen for their smartness but their skills that take care of clandestine jobs outside the US. Mila Weaver in the book never is the smart person all other characters around him seem to do better and out-think him every step of the way. In that sense Weaver is a catalyst of the story that is about a somewhat far-fetched conspiracy.

The good thing is that the book is fairly easy to read and does not require any large brain exercise to understand it. Most of the story has been done better in the average Ludlum novel. The one thing that really jumps out is the turf-war within the US intelligence community and how really awefull these services rather mess with each other than combine their strengths and really do some intelligence work. This book seems to be more about self importance within this community that the real job of making the US and the world a safer place. It is this part that is farily well illustrated that lifts the book to a 3 star verdict, even if I consider 2 1/2 star far more closer to the actual verdict.

Not the best of the spy-novels I read but perhaps not the worst either. ...more

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Sep 15, 2014 Richard rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Very solid!

it took me awhile to get into this one. This book and or author is not for the rookie reader. but let me tell you once I got into it the twists and turns were non stop and had me guessing and questioning what I had just read. The character Milo Weaver is well researched and put together, in this day and age of.cookie cutter protagonists Milo stands above them all. Well I am now hooked and I am on to book #2 in the series. A very very solid 4.5 stars, I highly recommend this author and ...more

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May 05, 2013 Douglas Cavanaugh rated it really liked it

I'm in agreement with most of the other reviewers - this was a good read that kept my interest to the end. The author succeeded in keeping the plot moving at a good pace. The transitions were smooth, and I found only a few moments where I questioned the dialogue or necessity of some small details in the story. Of the last five books I've read in the action/spy/thriller genre that I've read, this was the best. I feel I got my money's worth from this book. ...more

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Nov 06, 2013 Joe Newell rated it it was ok

I really wanted go like this book, but I just couldnt keep all of the characters straight, and I couldn't get attached to the story. ...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Karl Øen rated it really liked it

Shelves: spy

Tension: above average Plot: above average Characterisation: above average. Steinhauers books has been compared with those of Le Carre, but seems to me to have much more in common with Len Deighton, although he lacks the Deighton's dry wit. The main character struggles troughout the story, simultaneously figuring out what goes on, keeping his drug-addiction under control and saving his marriage, knowing that success on one field, will lead to disaster in another.
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