All the Old Knives / Olen Steinhauer

Henry and Celia are two CIA operatives who worked together at the Vienna office when a large scale hostage-taking event occurred on a passenger jet on the tarmac at the airport. The event goes horribly wrong and there is speculation that one of the CIA operatives in the field office was feeding info to the terrorist ringleader. Was it Celia? Was it Henry? They were lovers, nearly to the point of long term commitment, but then their paths abruptly diverge after the terrorist event. When they meet up again years later, they hash out the details leading up to that awful day, in alternating chapters that offer differing perspectives on how events may have unfolded.

All the Old Knives has the unusual distinction of being both a spy novel and a relationship novel, a mix that is mostly unheard of. It also distinguishes itself by being structured as an extended conversation between two people at a restaurant table a la “My Dinner with Andre”. It's a short but sophisticated novel that keeps you guessing until the end, at which point there is a bit of a surprise resolution.

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