Sirk TV Book Review: THE CAIRO AFFAIR [Minotaur]

The essence of approaching the aspect of spying from an emotional standpoint is an interesting predilection but distinctly a shortcoming to thinking since the balance of intelligence is finding the extent of fact versus passion. In "The Cairo Affair" [Olen Steinhauer/Minotaur/417pgs], the use of 1st person perspective as a changing motif back and forth in time makes sense but tends to disjoint the story. Sophie, the anti-heroine of sorts at the center of the story, seems unsure what she wants and, for the most part, is unable to ask the right questions. As a result, she leads many of her acquaintances from near to far to their deaths. The idea of an unraveling structure, especially after the death of this woman's husband, would seem to be a focal point. The essence though, in fact, is watching the dissemination of information and how its perception changes by how much you know. The ultimate crux though is a spy by the name of Zora who turns our heroine. The actual idea of that relationship is the most interesting part of the book but it allows the narrative to wither into the end. The reflections of a time before the Serbian War started definitely give an interesting psychological view. That actually is the narrative worth following. The eventual aspect of revenge is interestingly handled but tapers off. The eventual resolution lacks intention despite the underlying characters having a true story to tell.C-