What do readers think of The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer? Write your own review.

When I started THE CAIRO AFFAIR the pace was so slow I almost stopped reading it. Since I have always been intrigued with Budapest, Cairo and spy thrillers, I continued reading. It gets better, but the pace remains slower than I prefer. The book shifts between the perspectives of several characters (Sophie, Omar, John and Stan) that can be somewhat confusing. It is an enjoyable spy novel with well-written plot twist near the end. Good, but not a great read.

If you like well drawn characters, this book is not for you. If you like action or suspense, this book is not for you. If you like to feel comfortable or identify with someone in the story, this book is not for you. It is a timely story with a modicum of interest but I experienced difficulty in liking any person or portion of the plot involved in the book. I ended up rushing through the final 100 pages just to see how the author concluded the slight mystery. A clever and unexpected close but not enough to give satisfaction. I usually like almost any book but I would not recommend this version and do not even plan on saving my copy.

I can't exactly say what this book is about. A minor diplomat is shot in Budapest and it may or may not have anything to do with an affair his wife had in Cairo. She heads to Cairo to find out who murdered him. A CIA agent in DC thinks his plan to topple the Libyan government is being put into action. He meets with the diplomat shortly before he's shot. Then there are the diplomats/spies in Cairo and everybody seems to be selling/giving information to everybody else. This book requires at least a basic knowledge of the Arab Spring and Egyptian/Libyan/US politics. If you don't have that you will probably feel lost as I frequently did. The book toggles back and forth in time and in perspective and that added to the confusion for me. The book ends abruptly and I felt like the last few pages were missing. Maybe there's a sequel planned?

There's lots of intrigue but I feel that a more linear telling of the story would have been clearer.

The main character in The Cairo Station is Sophie. A Harvard graduate who married a fellow Harvard grad in 1991, Sophie agreed with husband Emmett that America wasn't where real life was happening. They went to Eastern Europe on their honeymoon, Sophie acquiescing despite her desire to see Paris, and then spent a few days in a small village in the Balkans just as the war was heating up. There they met Zora, a mysterious and compelling woman who showed them the sights. Two incidents from this time haunted Sophie in future years. First, her souvenir bust of Lenin was stolen by a child in the streets, and second, they became involved in a life and death situation whose details comprise the better part of the plot and take a while to emerge. Suffice to say that both incidents seemed to impact Sophie equally, though the latter would be the one to cause trouble 20 years later when they were stationed with the US government in Cairo and Zora turned up again.

In early 2011, the Arab Spring had begun. The Libyans were in revolt, and Cairo was abuzz. Agents from different countries vied for information. It was impossible to tell who was lying, who was just ignorant, and what the heck was going on. Were the Americans trying to hijack the revolution now that the Libyan masses had taken first steps to freedom themselves, or was Ghadafi using an old CIA plan to rid himself of opponents? Here begins the real plot, and suddenly the book becomes all about misdirection. Stories are told and retold from different perspectives. Characters speculate about the myriad possibilities. Is X lying? Does he even know what's going on? What if this is true? On the other hand, maybe that is true? What is truth? Who can know? Who are the heroes, which of the characters has altruistic motives and which are cynical? Which are devoted to their country and which to money? As the story unfolds, refolds and unfolds again, the extent of Sophie's involvement becomes clear, layer by layer.

The writing is average. The character development is average for a thriller. An attempt was made to explain the various motivations of the characters, but failed in my opinion. Sometimes I actually cringed at the sex scenes. I was put off by the cliches about Americans--there is a scene at Logan Airport near the end which was offensive and filled with trite observations. The plot was average. The misdirection was massive and tried my patience.

I would give it an average grade overall.