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Alles beginnt mit einem Wort: Stumbler. Ein längst verworfener Plan der CIA, der vorsah, mithilfe libyscher Exilanten das Gaddafi-Regime zu stürzen. Jetzt verschwinden diese Männer, einer nach dem anderen, ein Analyst aus dem CIA-Hauptquartier in Langley ist wie vom Erdboden verschluckt, und ein amerikanischer Diplomat, Emmet Kohl, wird wie aus dem Nichts erschossen. Die Fäden dieses verworrenen Netzes von Ereignissen laufen in Kairo zusammen. Hier ringen, am Vorabend des arabischen Frühlings, die Geheimdienste aus aller Herren Länder um Kontrolle. Und Sophie Kohl versucht hier, den Mord an ihrem Mann aufzuklären. Doch Information ist in dieser paranoiden Welt der Täuschungen und Tarnungen das teuerste Gut, das es gibt.

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When a US diplomat is assassinated in a restaurant in Budapest, his wife sets out to discover who is behind it and why. Her search triggers a series of high-stakes events that will have global ramifications, ultimately uncovering an explosive conspiracy.

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Sophie Kohl is living her worst nightmare. Minutes after she confesses to her husband Emmett, a mid-level diplomat at the American embassy in Hungary, that she had an affair while they were in Cairo, he is shot in the head and killed.

Stan Bertolli, a Cairo-based CIA agent, has fielded his share of midnight calls. But his heart skips a beat when he hears the voice of the only woman he ever truly loved, calling to ask why her husband has been assassinated.

Jibril Aziz, an American analyst, knows more about Stumbler, a covert operation rejected by the CIA years ago, than anyone. So when it appears someone else has obtained a copy of the blueprints, Jibril knows the danger it represents...

As these players converge on the city of Cairo, Olen Steinhauer´s masterful manipulations slowly craft a portrait of a marriage, a jigsaw puzzle of loyalty and betrayal, against a dangerous world of political games where allegiances are never clear and outcomes are never guaranteed.

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[An] elaborate, sophisticated spy tale; a long, twisty road full of cleverly placed potholes and unexpected turns Janet Maslin New York Times

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Steinhauer, Olen

Grew up in Virginia, lived in Austin, San Francisco, Boston, Brooklyn, and other places in the States, as well as Romania (on a Fulbright research fellowship), Italy, and Hungary (where I´ve lived since 2002, now with my wife and daughter).

An MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston, a BA in English from the University of Texas, Austin. Semester in Zagreb, Fall/Winter 1989 (when the Wall fell).

First novel (The Bridge of Sighs) nominated for 5 awards, including the CWA Historical Dagger. Two Edgar nominations to my credit. The Tourist was nominated for the SpecSavers CWA Ian Fleming Silver Dagger and reached the New York Times bestseller list. It´s also being developed for a feature film by Warner Bros and Smoke House Productions, starring George Clooney.

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