I’ve been meaning to post all week, but have been brow-deep in a revision of the next novel, which will probably take another week or so. It’s going well—most of it needs little touch-up—but the opening 100 pages need some very selective weeding, which is never an easy thing to do.
Anyway, my point is that I’ve been remiss, not bringing up some great attention the book has been getting over the week.
Over in the Seattle Times, Adam Woog gave it a quick mention, calling The Tourist “intelligent, evocative, and nuanced.”
I see that I didn’t bring it up here, but the indominable Ms. Weinman has had The Tourist up as one of her Picks of the Week for…well, for about a week. Says she: “The book thrills, but Steinhauer takes care to keep the reader thinking and contemplating about the actions, often brutal, that are to come. This deserves all the advance hype and the audience that is sure to expand with publication.”
But the most in-depth piece of the week has come from Kevin Holtsberry. As he admits from the outset, he’s a fan of my fiction (something I’ve appreciated ever since the first one came out—thank you, Kevin), and very quickly he echoed one of my own fears:
New is exciting but what happens when the author leaves a much loved series behind and starts a new project? Sure, it is still what I like to call a literary thriller, but what if Steinhauer stumbled on his first stand alone? Made me a little nervous, I will admit.
The Tourist is a great and thought provoking read for anyone who enjoys the thriller aspects of the espionage genre but prefers better - and more philosophical - writing than your average airport pick up.
his initial reaction to reading it a while ago
The Tourist
Liberation Movements
Check it out here
New York Times
posted a review of the review hereas Kevin points out in his rebuttal