The Cairo Affair

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.



Olen Steinhauer was born in America and has lived in Croatia, the Czech Republic and Italy. He has now settled in Hungary with his wife and daughter. His first book,

The Bridge of Sighs, was nominated for five major thriller awards.



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



The kind of thing le Carré might have written if he knew then what we know now



The best spy novel I've read that wasn't written by John le Carré



Steinhauer does for Chino-American espionage exactly what John le Carré did for the Cold War, which gives his thriller a unique insight into this treacherous half-lit world in the 21st century



Stunning... Steinhauer is at the top of his game - but when isn't he?