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    The Nearest Exit: A Novel
    The Nearest Exit: A Novel
    The Nearest Exit: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Nearest Exit: A Novel

    Written by Olen Steinhauer

    Narrated by David Pittu

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Milo Weaver has nowhere to turn but back to the CIA in Olen Steinhauer's brilliant follow-up to the New York Times bestselling espionage novel The Tourist

    The Tourist, Steinhauer's first contemporary novel after his awardwinning historical series, was a runaway hit, spending three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and garnering rave reviews from critics.

    Now faced with the end of his quiet, settled life, reluctant spy Milo Weaver has no choice but to turn back to his old job as a "tourist." Before he can get back to the CIA's dirty work, he has to prove his loyalty to his new bosses, who know little of Milo's background and less about who is really pulling the strings in the government above the Department of Tourism-or in the outside world, which is beginning to believe the legend of its existence. Milo is suddenly in a dangerous position, between right and wrong, between powerful self-interested men, between patriots and traitors-especially as a man who has nothing left to lose.

    “Milo Weaver, Steinhauer’s hero, is the opposite of Swagger and Reacher—he is conflicted and neurotic and hopelessly sentimental—but no less entertaining.” —Malcolm Gladwell, TheNewYorker.com

    “Milo’s company is at least as valuable to the series’s appeal as is his flair for international trickery.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateMay 11, 2010
    ISBN9781427209740
    Author

    Olen Steinhauer

    Olen Steinhauer was raised in Texas and now lives in Budapest, Hungary. He was inspired to write his Eastern European series while on a Fulbright Scholarship in Romania. His first four novels have been nominated for many awards, including the CWA Historical Dagger and an Edgar, and have been critically acclaimed. ‘The Tourist’ has been optioned for filming by George Clooney.

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    Reviews for The Nearest Exit

    4/5

    179 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Like Daniel Silva (whose thriller, The Secret Servant, I last reviewed), Olen Steinhauer writes an espionage series with a recurring character. Unlike Silva, Steinhauer doesn’t weigh his down with clunky exposition explaining what happened in previous novels. Albeit, The Nearest Exit is the second in Steinhauer’s Milo Weaver series, as opposed to six previous novels in Silva’s Gabriel Allon series.Some similarities are that both writers show espionage as a dirty, ugly business with no moral center and too much killing. Beyond that they don’t seem to have much in common. Weaver has the kind of real family problems that anyone who is away too much for work can relate to. He also has issues with secrecy, paranoia and trust that few people do. He tries to quit his job, but can’t seem to get away. He’s a real person dealing with unusual problems – not a superhero.The espionage aspect of Steinhauer’s books also seems more realistic than many others, especially in the way technology affects everyday life, from cell phone capabilities to ubiquitous security cameras in public spaces. Overall, The Nearest Exit is a satisfying, multilayered story, an excellent continuation of the series as well as one of the better espionage novels I’ve read.
    • 5/5
      A real thrill ride. Couldn't put it down. Stayed up until I really couldn't keep my eyes open. Finished it in two days. The action and suspense never stop. Thoroughly enjoyable. Have fun.
    • 2/5
      Steinhauer does a creditable job on this sequel, however, I occasionally was confused as to how events were unfolding, especially toward the end of the book. There were a few pages I had to read two or three times to understand time, place and action. This occurred when the author melded a character's real-time action with the character's recollection of a conversation he had apparently had at an earlier time. Unfortunately, the transition was badly written, very rough,and the action difficult to follow. This occurred a couple of times in the book and it was quite disconcerting. I'm not sure I will give Steinhauer another chance, when there are so many other authors out there who tell a tale more smoothly.
    • 5/5
      In the category of spy novels, this is as good as it gets. The Nearest Exit is a sequel to Steinhauer's earlier novel, The Tourist, which focuses on Milo Weaver, an agent within the CIA's super-secret "Department of Tourism." "Tourists" are akin to those with the "OO" designation in the James Bond universe--assigned to the toughest jobs, often including assassinations. Reading The Tourist took all the romance out of the "spy business" for me, as it made evident that the one distinguishing characteristic for excelling as a spy is a extraordinary gift for lying. Lying is required for the spy's survival, of course, but as one creates as his world a "wilderness of mirrors," all hope for a genuine relationship with another person is lost. It took me a long time to get comfortable with The Tourist's world, which is probably why I like The Nearest Exit better: having already grown familiar with the world in which it took place, and I could get quickly get engaged with the intricacies of the plot. Since it had been some time since I had read The Tourist, I was happy Steinhauer took occasions through the story to remind me of the key things that happened in the previous book. The story was well-crafted, introducing enough elements that I wasn't sure exactly where it was heading, but they kept me turning the pages to a conclusion that brought all those elements together.
    • 5/5
      The Nearest Exit, by Olen Steinhauer8/4/14Espionage; CIA; EuropeThis is second of the Milo Weaver books. I read the last one, An American Spy, first, and the first one, The Tourist, more recently. It actually helped, I think, to have read the third book before this one. It helped me to understand some of what was happening, without ruining anything. At least it didn't ruin it for me, but it might for someone else.I enjoyed the book alot. I got drawn into the story and read it quickly. I didn't want to stop the flow of the story by putting the book down.I've also read Steinhauer's most recent book, The Cairo Affair, and now I want to read all of his other books.
    • 5/5
      Excellent second book in the Milo Weaver series!
    • 4/5
      This is the second book in a post-9/11 spy/thriller series that features Milo Weaver, a CIA operative who formerly served as a “tourist,” or “on-call” assassin for the agency. Milo was competent at serving as a licensed killer, but he tired of the dangerous and lethal work and wanted to settle down, so at the end of the first book, he transferred to a desk job.In The Nearest Exit, Milo decides to go back to “tourist” work, but first is tasked with proving his worth by going to Berlin, killing a certain 15-year-old girl, and disposing of the body. Milo doesn’t have the stomach for this particular challenge, so he enlists the aid of his father, a former KGB operative who now works for the United Nations. He wants his father to help him stage a phony murder and hide the girl. In spite of Milo’s efforts to save her, however, the girl is found murdered, and German intelligence quickly identifies Milo and subjects him to a brutal interrogation. Milo is exonerated, but he now gets enmeshed in the search for a suspected “mole” in his own organization.As in most good espionage novels, things are not as they appear, and Milo finds himself in a complex situation in which he doesn’t know whom to trust. Americans, Germans, Hungarians, Chinese, and (through his father) even the United Nations have operatives involved in seemingly interlocking conspiracies. Milo has to maneuver his way through a lethal and deadly game in which he doesn't even know who is on his side, and who is against him.Evaluation: With the exception of one or two sadistic killers, most of Steinhauer’s characters are multidimensional and human, if not humane. Milo Weaver is very resourceful and competent, but he is not an invincible superhero like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, so you can’t be sure that the author might not just kill him off. This second book is as good as the first in the series, with lots of action and suspense. There is, however, a bit of a stretch in plausibility, and some caricatured villains. Note: This book won the 2010 Dashiell Hammett Prize for literary excellence in the field of crime writing.(JAB)
    • 4/5
      The Nearest Exit picks up where The Tourist left off. The novelty of a spy who'd rather not be a spy has worn off by this time, but Steinhauer has replaced it with Weaver's struggles to return to a family that has been torn apart by the lack of trust that goes along with his profession. It's a well woven story that doesn't have as many surprises as I recall in The Tourist, but still an enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      Fantastic sequel to [The Tourist]. Can hardly wait for the last of this trilogy.
    • 2/5
      I was not that impressed by 'The Tourist' but decided to give this sequel a go. Wrong decision. It's even worse. Couldn't even finish.
    • 5/5
      This espionage novel is the sequel to The Tourist. Milo Weaver works for a secret department in the CIA as a spy. He has a family and a secret that could cost him his life. It is a strongly-plotted espionage novel with a remarkable ending.
    • 4/5
      This is the second in a trilogy about a disaffected CIA agent in a special covert op's unit where the field officers are known as tourists and their New York-based controllers as tour guides. I thought the first volume was decent but in my review wrote, "I don't think I'll be reading the sequel anytime soon." Sooner than I expected, I ended up reading the second volume.The Nearest Exit is better than The Tourist, centering around a single incident where the hero is sent to kill a 16-year old girl for reasons that are unclear. The incidents around this cascade and unravel over an increasingly large canvas.Although filled with very conventional and hackneyed tradecraft and double crosses, and with some especially silly elements (like a Senator who takes over operational control of the CIA unit with help from his Chief of Staff and Legislative Director), the plot is reasonably gripping, the writing is not distractingly bad, and overall I do plan to read the final book in the trilogy as soon as it's released.
    • 5/5
      This is hands down the best thriller I've read in years. The character of Milo Weaver is so well constructed that you find yourself wrapped up in his life immediately. The machinations that go on globally are just frightening. If you like world wide thrillers with a plot that is constantly twisting I strongly encourage you to read this one. I know i wait with baited breath for the next one.
    • 4/5
      In this sequel to the wonderful "The Tourist" ,Steinhauer keeps his hero Milo Weaver globetrotting doing his best to figure out whether or not there is a mole in the CIA. It would be hard to write something to top "The Tourist", but here Stienhauer comes close. The book suffers (as did the first one) when the plot drifts to Weaver's home life. But the strong legs of the plot and the fantastic ending is more than enough to keep the pages turning.