Olen Steinhauer's An American Spy is the third installment in the Milo Weaver series, and unfortunately, it marks a significant decline in quality compared to its predecessors. While the author's ability to craft intricate plots and complex characters remains evident, this novel suffers from several flaws.
One of the most glaring issues is the ongoing relationship problems between Milo and Tina. Tina's character continues to be a source of frustration, with her overly emotional and indiscreet behavior making her a questionable choice for a spy. The author's attempts to justify her actions feel forced and unconvincing.
The narrative structure of An American Spy is also problematic. Repetitive exposition fills the novel, hindering the story's flow and making it difficult to engage with the characters. The pacing is slow, and the plot meanders aimlessly, offering no real answers or conclusions.
The ending of the novel is particularly disappointing. It feels rushed and unsatisfying, leaving many questions unanswered. The plot threads introduced in the book are left dangling, and the overall tone could be more focused on business.
Overall, An American Spy is a disappointing addition to the Milo Weaver series. The novel's flaws outweigh its strengths, making it a difficult read. Fans of the series may find themselves feeling let down by this installment.

I should start by mentioning that I have read all of the Milo Weaver spy series and I was not disappointed by the third installment of Olen Steinhauer's trilogy featuring Milo Weaver, former CIA spy. Olen Steinhauer crafts a complex and interesting plot. Some have argued that it is so complex that it is hard to follow; I didn't find it too complex, but I admit that it is a bit tricky to follow all the characters. Having "retired," Milo seeks a safer, simpler life but becomes a pawn in a game among spy masters with no obvious way out for him.

Steinhauer does an amazing job with his characters. As in the first two books, I appreciated the strong women who play crucial roles rather than being window dressing. Milo Weaver himself has become increasingly likable as he has moved away from the cold killer with suicidal tendencies at the beginning of the first book (The Tourist) to a person who makes moral choices, values his family above all else, regrets loss of life, and only reluctantly participates in the spy game. If you want a thoughtful spy novel with a complete setup and intricate plotlines then this is the place to be.

This is book three in the series. Milo is back with us again as he deals with Cold War issues. I think this book did even better than the first two and the author's style has grown on me. Milo's days in the CIA as a Tourist are just fascinating to me. China is all involved in this story. It's wild! It is, quite probably, the best book in the series, but I would suggest reading the others first. It's helpful. If you like spy stories and the cold war, this is the book for you.

Thanks to Net Galley for my digital copy of this book. This is my review. A positive review is not required.

The final book in the Tourist series, it comes to a thrilling conclusion. The storylines tie up, but not neatly and all in a bow. Not all endings are happy. This series reminded me some of the Jason Bourne series and I would love to see it made into a movie, though all the moving parts in the book might be hard to capture. The books are all very layered and complex.

Very happy I read this series. The books are a commitment. You have to really concentrate to keep all the storylines and players together in your head, but it's worth it. Very compelling and hard to put down.

Although I loved the first two books of this series about Milo Weaver, this one didn’t do it for me. There were so many characters, so many locations, and numerous intelligence and political agencies. On top of that, the storyline jumped about in time and place. There was no character I cared about. I became increasingly confused until, about 60% in, I realized that I was quite lost, and not interested enough to go back and try to untangle the numerous threads in order to continue. I decided to give up and did not finish. Since I loved the first two books, I plan to give the fourth of the series a try and hope it is more like Milo Weaver #1 and #2.

Could not get into the first in the series, so I won't be trying this one. Maybe someday in the future!

An American Spy is the third in a series by Olen Steinhauer featuring CIA operative Milo Weaver. I actually read The Tourist, The Nearest Exit and An American Spy one right after the other because they felt like they needed to be read all together. Perhaps in a different era they would have been one book instead of three but, alas, attention spans and all of that being what they are, there are three books, now I believe even more. Never-the-less, the three books feature poor Milo Waver a former CIA operative known as a "tourist" because he had no home base, family or loyalty to one place. He could move about freely without any ties. Now, however, he is settled down, has a family and a home and wants nothing except to live a quiet life. That is not to be. Honestly, do agents really believe they ever can leave the agency behind? So off he goes, back into the field hoping this will be a one-off kind of deal but, as we can see with the follow up books in the series, it is from that.

Don't let my sarcasm put you off. Olen Steinhauer is a brilliant writer. This series is one of the best espionage series I've read in a while. It's fast paced, gripping and has a ton of action. Obviously I enjoyed the series to date or I wouldn't have read all three of the books. I'm just jaded because I'm sick of governments and their spies and their wars and their killing. It's me, not the book. If you like spy thrillers you honestly will devour these books

A good enough read to escape Covid boredom. As with many spy thrillers, I don’t read them for plausibility but to enjoy a story and get away. This did the trick. In third installment of CIA double-secret operative Milo Weaver’s saga, Milo has determined his family means more than the Tourist department. He is trying to make a go of civilian life. But you’re never out.

What I liked, the reminders from the previous two books to keep me in the loop. What I did not care for was how one quickly lost their lack of scruples.

I was given an e- copy of this book by Netgalley. I am not required to leave a positive review.

This was a great adventure/thriller. Enjoyed getting to know Milo and friends. Solid writing, fine dialogue that moved the action along naturally.

Milo Weaver is back. This is the third book of the trilogy, the first being The Tourist and the second the Nearest Exit. The agency division Milo worked for has suffered some serious setbacks. Milo discovers that his setbacks are Chinese in origin and personal not political.

The author has his main protagonist, Milo, re-evaluating his life and his morals. Steinhauer clearly shows the devastating impact a life of lies has on the liar and his family.

Steinhauer writes a devious plot with many twists, I enjoyed the book.

The series was pretty good, although could be confusing at times. This was not the best book in the trilogy, and I felt like the ending left us with a cliffhanger.

About: Milo is back where he started in the CIA. This time he's uncovered a conspiracy. There's a mole in the department. Unsure who to trust, he must figure out a way to put together a team so that they can get to the bottom of it before everybody is in danger. His former boss has also gone missing.
Plot: This book was just as action-packed as the first two. I wasn't really surprised. I was happy to see more of the wife and daughter in this book. I was mostly happy to see more of the father in the book though. He seems like a decent man underneath it all. He also wants his son to take over his career when he passes.
Characters: Milo is a very work driven guy. He will stop it at nothing to get his job done and keep his loved ones safe. His wife and kid are seriously wonderful people. He tries his wife's patience with his job sometimes, but they find a way to make it work. I really loved the father the best. He's one of my favorite characters.
Narration: This book was narrated by the same person as book two. David Pittu. He did a really good job. I'm still impressed with how much he sounds like the person who narrated book one though. If I didn't know better, I would say he just got a professional name change. I like his voice though.
Suggestions: None
Recommend: Yes, but please read the first two books first.

I received a free copy of this book from the author. I had the opportunity to review or not.

I enjoy the Milo Weaver series, but I found this one to be confusing with all the characters, their names, the constant changes of location and the final resolution. However, it was not off-putting. I love the way Mr. Steinhauer weaves the intrigue and situations together to make fascinating tales. His characters are all very strong, male and female, and believable. There are no token women just to get women to read his books. They are significant members of the tale. Kudos to him for making paper people come to life.

The world of spies is exciting, intriguing and frightening. To live in this world is to live in a world of lies, constant vigilance and fear. Milo Weaver is not fearless. He is a very normal, everyday human caught up in a world he doesn’t really want to be in. How he survives in this world is part of the skill of the author. He makes it seem possible, rather than outlandish. This series is worth the time and effort to read. If you love spy stories, this is one of the best out there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Steinhauer doesn't waste any time in this third book of the series. It picks up right where The Nearest Exit leaves off. If you haven't read books 1 and 2 you will be confused so go back and start the series at the beginning.

Milo Weaver is officially done with the Company. But certain members keep trying to pull him back in, and then there's his father trying to get him to work with him. Milo wants nothing to do with it any longer. He's tired of being suspicious of everything and everyone and tired of being suspected of covert activities. Yet, working at a company as a security guard isn't quite what he wants to be doing either. When one of his names used for his past life pops up across the pond, where he most definitely is not, he is pulled in to a scheme his former boss has dreamed up for revenge. But his fake identity could lead people to his wife and daughter and he can't take that chance so he reluctantly enters into one last mission so he can ensure the safety of Tina and Stephanie.

This third book in the series was just as entertaining as the first two and focused much more of the peripheral characters Steinhauer had introduced in books 1 and 2, weaving Milo into their parts of the bigger picture. There's 8 years in between book 3 and book 4 and I can understand how Steinhauer might have debated with himself about writing a book 4. Book 3 ends and provides closure but it also leaves the door cracked open if Steinhauer wanted to write more about Milo Weaver. I hope book 4 lives up to the rest of the series as I was satisfied with how book 3 ended. *fingers crossed*

This is the third book in the Milo Weaver Series. I did not read the first two books in the series and was able to keep up but it would have been more enjoyable if I had. If you like spy mysteries, this is one of the best I've read. The author is very accomplished and spins a great story. The characters are engaging and well-developed. This book is hard to put down once you start reading. I read a free copy via Net Galley and voluntarily chose to review it.

When I first started reading the Milo Weaver books by Olen Steinhauer, I remember thinking he is the only espionage /spy novelist I have read who is in John le Carré class. I’m not the only reviewer or critic making that comparison. An American Spy continues that rich tradition but with the Chinese, rather than le Carré Cold War Soviets as adversaries.
Milo Weaver is a former member of a super secret unit of the CIA, known as the Department of Tourism where the agents are known as Tourists. They are famous within certain high levels for their abilities to move in and out of countries leaving about the same trails behind as ghosts. They are also celebrated for their success as assassins. Many people believe the Tourists are a fable.
A few months ago a distraught father, mistakenly believing Weaver murdered his fifteen year old daughter shot Weaver in front of his wife and daughter. A very high level Chinese intelligence operative, Xin Zhu, aimed the father at Weaver, while at the same time orchestrating the murder of 33 Tourists, decimating the Department and causing its dissolution. Its brand new director, Alan Drummond was blamed and fired. The action takes place in 2008 just before the Olympics being held in Beijing.
Drummond decides to become a one man (almost) wrecking crew and seeks to take down Xin Zhu. Drummond easily obtains the help of the remaining three Tourists and tries to draw in Milo Weaver who had quit before the Department’s end.
It is quite some time before Weaver enters An American Spy. The beginning shows the alarms of two vastly different spy agencies, one in Germany, the other in China as the surviving Tourists start their offense.
During the Xin Zhu section, we get a look at the various high levels of the Chinese government’s intelligence apparatus that seems to seek to destroy themselves. Picture maybe a creature trying to eat itself, an ouroboros perhaps? Paranoia and jealousy is a true legacy of the Cultural Revolution.
Drummond disappears in London and fearing for his family’s safety, Weaver is finally drawn into Drummond’s insane revenge plot.
Don’t make the mistake of having expectations of knowing what is going to happen next. You will be wrong, and then you will be shocked. I think the British word is gobsmacked.
An American Spy is original in making families and the costs they pay an integral part of the story. Is that man really a parent, or is he scoping out Weaver’s daughter? Who tossed the apartment? The good guys or the bad guys or is it always possible to tell the difference? What about…well paranoia just ain’t for the paranoids.
Steinhauer tells his story using several POVs, making for a richer novel. This does have the disadvantage of Weaver not being the strongest character. But that’s okay, after the two previous Tourism novels, he deserves a bit of a rest.
I’ve read reviews complaining about the book’s intricacies. That’s the real world of intelligence. Rarely is intelligence, especially an active operation able to get to point b from point A. Nice to find a writer who refuses to dumb down his story, or to make it about absurd Bond wannabes either.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

“An American Spy” is the third Milo Weaver novel from Olen Steinhauer, an exceptional author who tells wonderfully complex stories about the world of spies, agents, and foreign intrigue.

Milo is a (somewhat) retired American spy from the Department of Tourism, which was pretty much destroyed at the end of the previous novel. Milo has no desire for revenge, he just wants to try to have a normal, civilian life with his family and leave the spy world all behind. But as we know it’s never that easy. His former boss, Alan Drummond, tries to recruit Weaver onto a secret mission, and when Milo refuses Drummond goes anyway, promptly disappearing in London.

The first part of the book is focused on Xin Zhu and the ramifications of the destruction of the Tourists. When Milo does show up, recovering from his gunshot wound, he is pulled out of retirement and off around the world, trying to rescue Alan.

A cerebral spy novel, a great set-up for “The Last Tourist” where all these threads will come together.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Convoluted, sometimes confusing but an enjoyable spy thriller read. I couldn’t put it down and really enjoyed #anamericanspy featuring Milo Weaver in his third adventure. Again we learn more back story and the stage is set for further antics by the Tourists. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for this ebook to read and review.

This novel brings us back to what all spy novels should be! The twists, turns and different perspectives and points of view all collaborate to make this an exciting read. So far, my favorite of the Tourist Series.

There is a mistake here...

I've reviewed this book, I'm sure, so what it is suddenly doing in my list?