The New York Times Book Review - Scott Turow
The Middleman is smart and entertaining and consistently intriguing, clipping along in brief chapters, somewhat reminiscent of the novels of James Patterson, and often animated by lovely, spare descriptive writing…Yet because the premise of The Middleman is so audacious and because its point of view is fragmented, the novel doesn't fully exhibit the propulsive force of some of Steinhauer's spy fiction. What makes up for that is the neat feat of asking serious political questions without burdening the suspense.
From the Publisher
Praise for The Middleman
"The Middleman is smart and entertaining and consistently intriguing." —Scott Turow, The New York Times Book Review
“Steinhauer proves himself an equally adept chronicler of a world in which walls have come down and the most potent powers aren’t necessarily political. Another must-read from a modern master.” – Booklist (starred review)
"The Middleman, with its abundance of multidimensional characters and political viewpoints, is a thought-provoking novel that never ceases to excite as a thriller." – The Wall Street Journal
"One of the most entertaining and thought-provoking novels of the year." - Christian Science Monitor
“Steinhauer has written an unnerving and timely thriller with incredible pivots. From a perspective on activist/terrorist civilian organizations to an examination of Big Brother conspiracy plots, there’s something here for everyone to grip – with white knuckles” – Library Journal (starred review)
“Steinhauer masterfully taps into that vein of uncertainty and disaffectedness.” – Book Page
“In this day and age of political unrest in the US and around the world this is a timely story author Olen Steinhauer has written of something that could very well be happening. It has twists and turns you don’t see coming.” – Red Carpet Crash
Praise for Olen Steinhauer
“One of the hottest names in spy fiction today.”
—USA Today
"Mr. Steinhauer draws his spies as flesh-and-blood characters in whom his readers invest both attention and emotion.”
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Olen Steinhauer is not afraid to challenge readers…Much like John le Carré, Steinhauer doesn’t offer simple answers. In his books, the good guys are elusive, and the shadowy world his characters inhabit is blanketed in shades of gray. If you’ve never read one of his stories, dive in. But don’t get comfortable. It’s going to be a wild ride.”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“One of the two best espionage novelists working today. It’s Steinhauer who will become the standard by which others are measured.”
—Booklist
“Not since le Carré has a writer so vividly evoked the multilayered, multifaceted, deeply paranoid world of espionage, in which identities and allegiances are malleable and ever shifting, the mirrors of loyalty and betrayal reflecting one another to infinity."
—The New York Times Book Review
“Right now the hottest name in [the spy thriller] field is Olen Steinhauer. He's been called John le Carré's heir apparent, and the best espionage writer of his generation.”
—CNN
Kirkus Reviews
2018-05-28
A thoroughly modern thriller, as real as the news."The Massive Brigade," an organization similar to the Occupy movement, has captured the attention of the media and the people. Rolling Stone runs a profile, and the FBI takes notice. When a phone tip reveals the Brigade has cached a Stinger missile, it crosses the line from protest movement to terrorist threat. The FBI, in the person of Special Agent Rachel Proulx, arrives at a party too late to arrest the Brigade's leaders, Martin Bishop and Ben Mittag, and they disappear into the American landscape, along with about 400 of their followers, who similarly vanish. The FBI has an undercover agent, Kevin Moore, among the vanished, permitting the plot to follow the dual tracks of the FBI's efforts to find the Brigade and the Brigade's internal turmoil, which meet in a shootout. The media declares victory for the FBI, careers are advanced, and the movement seems dismantled. But the FBI's subsequent account of the bloodbath, at first kept secret and then released only because of public pressure, differs from the experiences of Proulx and Moore. The two unite in hopes of uncovering who is being protected and why, and the Massive Brigade survives, in some form, to play a role in the denouement. Steinhauer (All the Old Knives, 2015, etc.) is a veteran, a real pro; the issues raised in this well-paced thriller are serious and timely, and the characters are believable and likable. But the targets of the Brigade, corporate conspiracy and the protection of the rich from public scrutiny, never quite reach a viscerally threatening level, and the individuals who conspire to preserve the status quo seem merely bureaucratically venal.A professional and entertaining thriller a little short on menace.
