What do you do when an enemy takes out 30 of your people, many tricked into killing other members of their team, gets you fired, dismantles your whole organization and then threatens your family? Vengeance, of course! Right? An American Spy By Olen Steinhauer Read by David Pittu Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio March 2012 That's what Xin Zhu thinks anyway. It is a few months before China is to host the Olympics in 2008. Xin Zhu is a head of the Chinese spy service. He is also the one responsible for the massive attack on the Department of Tourism, a long running, almost mythical arm of the American C.I.A.. Now the disgraced former head of that organization, Alan Drummond, is running an option and it seems that China and specifically Xin Zhu are the targets. (This is the third and final volume in the Tourist trilogy.) Milo Weaver doesn't want to get involved though. He has a wife and a young daughter and being out of the game suits him well. But when Drummond uses one of his known aliases in England - one wanted for art theft - he is involved like it or not. And so is the B.R.N. - Germany's secret service - because the theft was in Germany and they had issued the warrant, as well as Milo's father, a former KGB agent that now runs a secret U.N. intellegence service. For most of the book the readers remains blissfully unaware of exactly what is happening and why. All we know is that this tangled web of lies and spycraft is one amazing ride! Stienhauser does a masterful job of keeping the reader confused by shifting and unclear alliances and unrevealed plans. Milo Weaver is every man and the reader slips easily into his skin for the duraction of the thriller. The viewpoint changes from part to part lending credence and inspiring empathy for the different parties involved. I loved the fact that while Americans played a huge part in this book and Milo was the main character there were so many other nationalities and locations that I felt the books wasn't trapped in America and the story had an international feel that made it stand apart from other spy novels out there (think Clancy here.) This was not a one dimensional, America is always right and will always prevail book. Reality is never that pure and the muddiness of reality in this book was all the more inticing. A note about the reader: David Pittu did a great job with the different accents and emotions in the novel. He was easy to follow and consistent in his voice acting. A very well done audio book version. A great thriller. Highly recommend!