A review by readbooks10
The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer

4.0

This is the second book in the Milo Weaver series. Like the first book in the series (The Tourist), I thought this was an excellent contemporary espionage novel. In this book Weaver is estranged from his wife, and back working as a "tourist" for the CIA at various locations in Europe. Weaver is burned out and needs to prove himself to his new boss and complete various "jobs." The book jumps around a bit and I was a little confused at first until I had the time to stay with it, but then I couldn't put it down. A teenage Moldovan girl is found murdered, setting off a series of events involving the CIA, a U.S. senator, German intelligence, a Russian defector, and a Chinese master spy. My favorite character in the book was German intelligence agent Erika Schwartz, an obese middle-aged woman who drinks a bottle of Riesling each night, who ends up working with Weaver. Steinhauer does a great job of creating post-Cold War spy novels.