All The Old Knives

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What to expect

'One of the sparest, most elegant spy novels I have come across in a long time . . . Written in glistening prose - with not a word wasted - it proves Steinhauer truly is John le Carré's rightful heir.' – Daily Mail

Now a major film on Prime Video starring Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton and Jonathan Pryce.

Celia used to lie for a living. Henry still does. Can they ever trust each other?

Six years ago, Henry and Celia were lovers and colleagues, working for the CIA station in Vienna, until terrorists hijacked a plane at the airport. A rescue attempt, staged from the inside, went terribly wrong. Everyone on board was killed.

That night has continued to haunt all of those involved; for Henry and Celia, it brought to an end their relationship. Celia decided she'd had enough; she left the agency, married and had children, and is now living an ordinary life in the Californian suburbs. Henry is still a CIA analyst, and has travelled to the US to see her one more time, to relive the past, maybe, or to put it behind him once and for all.

But neither of them can forget that question: had their agent been compromised, and how? And each of them also wonders what role their lunch companion might have played in the way things unfolded . . .

All the Old Knives is Olen Steinhauer's most intense, most thrilling and most unsettling novel to date - from the New York Times bestselling author deemed by many to be John le Carré's heir apparent.

Critics Review

This sneaky little gem . . . Steinhauer sustains the difficult balancing act of melding a heart-racing espionage plot with credible dinner table conversation. He never violates the book's basic premise, not even when his characters begin to have the darkest suspicions about each other . . . Steinhauer specializes in tough showdowns. And the more innocently they begin, the more devastatingly they end
New York Times
All the Old Knives has a disarmingly quiet start, but good spy novels are like good spies: they draw you in, earn your trust, and then grab hold with both hands. By the last 100 pages Steinhauer's hook is firmly embedded and it's hard not to race to the finish. And the ending? I can sum it up in one word - brilliant
Amazon (‘Best Book of the Month’)
This is one of the sparest, most elegant spy novels I have come across in a long time . . . Written in glistening prose - with not a word wasted - it proves Steinhauer truly is John le Carre's rightful heir.
Daily Mail
A splendid tour de force. The mystery here works with the dexterity and precision of Agatha Christie's best.
Washington Post
This terrific standalone thriller . . . Steinhauer is a very fine writer and an excellent observer of human nature
Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
Compelling . . . Delivers intrigue, suspense, and a heart-stopping finale . . . You'll devour it in one night
Booklist (starred review)
Masterfully plotted . . . Even readers well-versed in espionage fiction will be pleasantly surprised by Steinhauer's plot twists and double backs
Kirkus (Starred Review)
This genre-bending spy novel takes Hitchcockian suspense to new heights
Library Journal (starred review)
There are few writers alive who can transform the mundane with such possibility . . . All The Old Knives remains coiled and alive until the very last page . . . The plot of Steinhauer's novel retains a reader's attention until its final images. The night has closed in, danger has asserted itself in warm, placid Carmel. The meal is finished. Who will pay?
New York Times Book Review
Reminiscent of the best of Deighton and John Le Carré. Like those masters of the genre, Steinhauer manages to make the reader care desperately for his characters even as the realities of the spy game mock their every hope of happiness
Los Angeles Times

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