Official Review: All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer

[Betty56]

I definitely had a problem getting through this book even though it is less than 300 pages. The plot line just did not work for me.

Two former spies, once romantically involved, meet over dinner in Carmel, California. Both are still bothered by a terrorist attack several years previously. One of them wants to finally know the truth about the tragedy on which terrorists took over a commercial airliner and used the children onboard as pawns.

The book is slow paced and takes place over only one evening at dinner. However there are numerous flashbacks to the night of the tragedy. The sections bounce around being told from Henry's viewpoint at times and then from Celia's viewpoint. I often had difficulty determining which character's viewpoint I was reading. Even with that distraction, the book is well written. However, I found the story generally pretty dull. There was just that one small thread in the storyline that kept me reading. But by the end I did not feel the story was worth the time invested.

If you are really into spy novels you may enjoy it. It does have a hint of conspiracies and several twists.

[Kappy]

Good review. I shy away from any book or movie about "terrorists." That word is so overused it has lost all meaning. Today, even people who are defending their own land are called "terrorists" by the invading army.