BOOK REVIEW: All The Old Knives By Olen Steinham ★★★★☆

Olen Steinhauer has two successful spy series: The Yalta Boulevard Sequence and The Tourist Trilogy. Apparently, All the Old Knives book reads like a John le Carré novel, but I won’t make that judgement because I need to read a Le Carré novel (any recommendations?).

I usually don’t and most likely haven’t read any espionage novels, so this is all very new to me. I haven’t heard of Steinhaur before and I think I’ve discovered an author I would like to read later on. It’s rare for me to find an author that I’d read more of their work (it’s usually a one-off deal).

For an espionage novel, I’d expect a lot of mystery with nail-biting suspense and undoubtedly some dirty double-crossing. This one had it all, with some surprising twists. But I didn’t really expect the whole story to be set in one setting.

This story follows two former lovers, Henry Pelham and Celia Harrison who have dinner in a fancy restaurant. Both are troubled by a terrorist attack in Vienna six years ago, prompting Celia to leave the CIA agency, move and settle in Carmel, California. Henry however never left but still carries a torch for her since their departure. The case of the terrorist attack in Vienna left holes and had never been solved. Henry has been tasked with determining if there was a mole in the Vienna CIA office during the incident. He interviews all that were involved, lastly making his way to Celia.

Most of the story progression happens at the restaurant, with flashbacks from Henry and Celia’s point of view of that day. It has a great twist. Steinhauer knows how to create character's narrative and a voice, revealing their personalities as they talk. He narrates first, then she told the same events from different perspectives. My only criticism would be because of the limited viewpoint the reader doesn’t know the full story, or about the other characters involved.

Rarely do I find a novel were the quotes speak out to me. There were two great quotes:

“While our expectations for the future are all that really keep us going, the failure of those expectations is the source of all our sadness.” And “Perhaps it’s only those who don’t know us at all who are able to see us most clearly.”

For a standalone spy novel, Steinhauer’s writing progressed mostly through the dialogues. It’s one of those intellectual thrillers than an action based one. This book had me making guesses at every turn of the page. Is it Henry? Is it Celia? Maybe there’s a hidden character? Why is the waitress sweating so much? The ending left me with a lot of questions. If you have read All the Old Knives then let me know what you think what happened at the end.

Rating 4/5 Stars
Publishers: Picador
First Published March 10th 2015
Second Publication Date: March 12th 2015
Genre: Thriller/Espionage