
The Cairo Affair
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Edoardo Ballerini
-
By:
-
Olen Steinhauer
About this listen
Sophie Kohl is living her worst nightmare. Minutes after she confesses to her husband, a mid-level diplomat at the American embassy in Hungary, that she had an affair while they were in Cairo, he is shot in the head and killed.
Stan Bertolli, a Cairo-based CIA agent, has fielded his share of midnight calls. But his heart skips a beat when he hears the voice of the only woman he ever truly loved, calling to ask why her husband has been assassinated.
Omar Halawi has worked in Egyptian intelligence for years, and he knows how to play the game. Foreign agents pass him occasional information, he returns the favor, and everyone's happy. But the murder of a diplomat in Hungary has ripples all the way to Cairo, and Omar must follow the fall-out wherever it leads.
American analyst Jibril Aziz knows more about Stumbler, a covert operation rejected by the CIA, than anyone. So when it appears someone else has obtained a copy of the blueprints, Jibril alone knows the danger it represents.
As these players converge in Cairo in The Cairo Affair, Olen Steinhauer's masterful manipulations slowly unveil a portrait of a marriage, a jigsaw puzzle of loyalty and betrayal, against a dangerous world of political games where allegiances are never clear and outcomes are never guaranteed.
©2014 Third State, Inc. (P)2013 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Tourist
- A Novel
- By: Olen Steinhauer
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the vein of John le Carré and Graham Greene, this contemporary international thriller follows Milo Weaver as he is drawn into a conspiracy that links riots in the Sudan, an assassin committing suicide, and an old friend who's been accused of selling secrets to the Chinese. Once the CIA and Homeland Security are after him, the only way for him to survive is to return, headfirst, into Tourism.
-
-
A book not for dummies
- By Tim on 03-23-09
By: Olen Steinhauer
-
All the Old Knives
- By: Olen Steinhauer
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Juliana Francis Kelly
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nine years ago terrorists hijacked a plane in Vienna. Somehow a rescue attempt staged from the inside went terribly wrong, and everyone onboard was killed. Members of the CIA stationed in Vienna during that time were witness to this terrible tragedy, gathering intel from their sources during those tense hours, assimilating facts from the ground with a series of texts coming from one of their agents inside the plane.
-
-
Pushing, incrementally, toward le Carré
- By Darwin8u on 03-17-15
By: Olen Steinhauer
-
Damascus Station
- A Novel
- By: David McCloskey
- Narrated by: Andrew B. Wehrlen
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
CIA Case Officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad's recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy. But the cat-and-mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime.
-
-
The Performance !
- By Allenby on 01-02-22
By: David McCloskey
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
The Kill Artist
- By: Daniel Silva
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the assassination of his wife and son, Gabriel Allon retires from his brutal anti-terrorist career and loses himself in his previous cover job: art restoration. But when Tariq al-Hourani, the Palestinian terrorist responsible for his family’s death, begins a killing spree designed to destroy Middle East peace talks, Gabriel once again slips into the shadowy world of international intrigue. In a global game of hide-and-seek, the motives of Gabriel and Tariq soon become more personal than political.
-
-
Reluctant Assassin
- By Snoodely on 10-30-13
By: Daniel Silva
-
An Accidental Death
- A DC Smith Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-DCI, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so.
-
-
Excellent British Mystery
- By Customer on 09-07-16
By: Peter Grainger
-
The Tourist
- A Novel
- By: Olen Steinhauer
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the vein of John le Carré and Graham Greene, this contemporary international thriller follows Milo Weaver as he is drawn into a conspiracy that links riots in the Sudan, an assassin committing suicide, and an old friend who's been accused of selling secrets to the Chinese. Once the CIA and Homeland Security are after him, the only way for him to survive is to return, headfirst, into Tourism.
-
-
A book not for dummies
- By Tim on 03-23-09
By: Olen Steinhauer
-
All the Old Knives
- By: Olen Steinhauer
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Juliana Francis Kelly
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nine years ago terrorists hijacked a plane in Vienna. Somehow a rescue attempt staged from the inside went terribly wrong, and everyone onboard was killed. Members of the CIA stationed in Vienna during that time were witness to this terrible tragedy, gathering intel from their sources during those tense hours, assimilating facts from the ground with a series of texts coming from one of their agents inside the plane.
-
-
Pushing, incrementally, toward le Carré
- By Darwin8u on 03-17-15
By: Olen Steinhauer
-
Damascus Station
- A Novel
- By: David McCloskey
- Narrated by: Andrew B. Wehrlen
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
CIA Case Officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad's recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy. But the cat-and-mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime.
-
-
The Performance !
- By Allenby on 01-02-22
By: David McCloskey
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
The Kill Artist
- By: Daniel Silva
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the assassination of his wife and son, Gabriel Allon retires from his brutal anti-terrorist career and loses himself in his previous cover job: art restoration. But when Tariq al-Hourani, the Palestinian terrorist responsible for his family’s death, begins a killing spree designed to destroy Middle East peace talks, Gabriel once again slips into the shadowy world of international intrigue. In a global game of hide-and-seek, the motives of Gabriel and Tariq soon become more personal than political.
-
-
Reluctant Assassin
- By Snoodely on 10-30-13
By: Daniel Silva
-
An Accidental Death
- A DC Smith Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-DCI, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so.
-
-
Excellent British Mystery
- By Customer on 09-07-16
By: Peter Grainger
-
Alias Emma
- A Novel
- By: Ava Glass
- Narrated by: Sophie Colquhoun
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing about Emma Makepeace is real. Not even her name. A newly minted secret agent, Emma's barely graduated from basic training when she gets the call for her first major assignment. Eager to serve her country and prove her worth, she dives in headfirst. Emma must covertly travel across one of the world’s most watched cities to bring the reluctant—and handsome—son of Russian dissidents into protective custody, so long as the assassins from the Motherland don’t find him first.
-
-
Too much romance
- By Melissa Graves on 08-16-24
By: Ava Glass
-
The Cold, Cold Ground
- Detective Sean Duffy, Book 1
- By: Adrian McKinty
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force.
-
-
Listen to this book. You won't be disappointed.
- By Christopher on 01-21-12
By: Adrian McKinty
-
The Key to Rebecca
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Tim Downie
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant and ruthless Nazi master agent is on the loose in Cairo. His mission is to send Rommel’s advancing army the secrets that will unlock the city’s doors. In all of Cairo, only two people can stop him. One is a down-on-his-luck English officer no one will listen to. The other is a vulnerable young Jewish girl....
-
-
Christ the Savior
- By camille hobbs on 03-23-21
By: Ken Follett
-
Box 88
- Lachlan Kite Series, Book 1
- By: Charles Cumming
- Narrated by: Charlie Ansen
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lachlan Kite is a member of BOX 88, an elite transatlantic black-ops outfit so covert that not even MI6 and the CIA are certain of its existence - but even the best spy can't anticipate every potential threat in a world where dangerous actors lurk around every corner. At the funeral of his childhood best friend, Lachlan falls into a trap that drops him into the hands of a potentially deadly interrogation, with his pregnant wife, also abducted, being held as collateral for the information he's sworn on his own life to protect.
-
-
Excellent
- By enriver on 01-20-22
By: Charles Cumming
-
Angels and Demons
- By: Dan Brown
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization, the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra.
-
-
A must for fans of The Da Vinci Code
- By Geoffrey on 04-14-04
By: Dan Brown
-
Red Sparrow
- A Novel
- By: Jason Matthews
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drafted against her will to become a "Sparrow" - a trained seductress in the service, Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a first-tour CIA officer who handles the CIA's most sensitive penetration of Russian intelligence. The two young intelligence officers, trained in their respective spy schools, collide in a charged atmosphere of tradecraft, deception, and inevitably, a forbidden spiral of carnal attraction that threatens their careers and the security of America's valuable mole in Moscow.
-
-
Sexy Saucy Spies
- By Mel on 06-13-13
By: Jason Matthews
-
The Power of the Dog
- By: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This explosive novel of the drug trade takes you deep inside a world riddled with corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge. From the streets of New York City to Mexico City and Tijuana to the jungles of Central America, this is the war on drugs like you've never seen it.
-
-
Gripping Drama
- By Deborah on 01-06-11
By: Don Winslow
-
The Peacock and the Sparrow
- A Novel
- By: I.S. Berry
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. Stationed in Bahrain off the coast of Saudi Arabia for his final tour, he has little use for his mission—uncovering Iranian support for the insurgency against the monarchy. Then Collins meets Almaisa, a beautiful and enigmatic artist, and his eyes are opened to a side of Bahrain most expats never experience, to questions he never thought to ask.
-
-
Slow storyline
- By Chris on 10-17-23
By: I.S. Berry
-
Elantris (1 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation]
- Elantris, Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: James Konicek, Danny Gavigan, Lily Beacon, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The city of the gods. Elantris once stood as the symbol of all that is beautiful. A sprawling metropolis of unrivaled grandeur, it was a symbol of power and strength, built to be as imposing as it was magnificent. The only thing more glorious than the city itself was its inhabitants, Godlike beings, with silvery skin and hair of the purest, flowing white. Able to create powerful magics with a mere wave of their hands, the Elantrians were able to heal mortal wounds and create any object they desired. To be an Elantrian was to be without sickness, without pain and without want.
-
-
15 minutes in ..
- By Anjelique on 10-07-20
-
The Camel Club
- By: David Baldacci
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It exists at the fringes of Washington, D.C., has no power, and consists solely of four eccentric and downtrodden members whom society has forgotten. Their simple goal is to find the "truth" behind their country's actions.
-
-
Gotta Love These Tough Older Guys
- By Scott on 05-26-09
By: David Baldacci
-
The Short Drop
- Gibson Vaughn
- By: Matthew FitzSimmons
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A decade ago, fourteen-year-old Suzanne Lombard, the daughter of Benjamin Lombard - then a senator, now a powerful vice president running for the presidency - disappeared in the most sensational missing-person case in the nation's history. Still unsolved, the mystery remains a national obsession. For legendary hacker and marine Gibson Vaughn, the case is personal - Suzanne Lombard had been like a sister to him.
-
-
Incredibly wonderful thriller! Magnificant!
- By Wayne on 03-15-16
-
The Inner Circle
- By: Brad Meltzer
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Clementine Kaye, archivist Beecher White's first childhood crush, shows up at the National Archives asking for his help, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the president of the United States privately reviews classified documents. They accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact - and find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder.
-
-
WOW Get this book. Great plus Scott Brick
- By James on 01-21-11
By: Brad Meltzer
Olen Steinhauer writes beautifully. He evokes visions of Egypt and other lands that are intriguing and worth exploring. His characters, especially the veteran diplomats and spies, are individual and multifaceted. He reveals their strategies and their frailties. Some characters are deep and authentic while others are cold. With the exception of one, the women were not as well written as the men.
Based on my limited knowledge of regional accents, Edoardo Ballerini's narration is on point. He has a wide range and given the number of characters in this book, did a masterful job of recreating their voices.
The story line was a problem. It was if the book were written on glass tablets, shattered, and then pasted together by someone who didn't know the plot. The characters, the timelines, the decades and the locations jump around and cannot find their way back to center. It becomes tedious. I didn't feel, as some other reviewers stated, there were too many characters. My criticism is that the disjointed story lines ruined the pacing.
The Cairo Affair didn't make it to my top ten list. Nevertheless, because of his writing style, I will try another book by Olen Steinhauer.
The Cairo Affair - a fragmented plot
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellently plotted
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Solid Espionage Thriller
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I can see why some readers compare Olen Steinhauer to John le Carré. Steinhauer is one of the few espionage writers whose style and artful method of presentation come up to the high standards of the older writer. Like le Carré's, Steinhauer's characters are not ciphers, but interesting and diverse personalities, some of whom have thought hard about the morality of their actions in a twilight world. Also, some of the characters can surprise us, for example, a cynical old agent who is inspired by a young, inexperienced idealist.
The story is very well told (and the narrator fine), but there is a mystery at the heart of the action. One of the lead characters makes inexplicable, apparently unmotivated choices that have calamitous effects on those around the character, including on some who are (imperfectly) loved by this lead character. It strikes me this is a blemish on an otherwise fine novel, for the foolish, irrational decision-making occurs not once or twice but three times over the course of the novel. The shocking choices are made in contradiction to the well-being and personality of the character in question. The contradiction is a bit much to make the action wholly convincing, but I must concede that it drives the action of the novel in a way that is appropriately mysterious and moving.
This is only a minor point, but the author does not always play fair with the reader. As is the case in many interesting novels, the action is carried forward through the consciousness of several of the characters. Facts that are very well known to some of them are not revealed to the reader until quite late in the novel, though of course these facts would have been known to the character through whose consciousness we are viewing some of the crucial action. Of course, this deception keeps up the level of suspense. But it seems to me strange that a character who possesses a key piece of knowledge that would explain some crucial bit of business in the plot should withhold that information from the reader when that character's consciousness is used to transmit a description of that very bit of business.
Still, this is a first-rate novel and very enjoyable read.
Stylish, interesting & worthwhile espionage tale
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
well written Unsatisfying Story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
2. This is not like a Dept. Q novel - no delightfully goofy characters.
3. It's a spy story and probably a reasonably good one, but I couldn't remember who was who or who had done what to whom, when.
4. I appreciated the sound of the narrator's voice and the author's (translator's?) words and I got the gist of the story but didn't follow it from chapter to chapter.
5. I didn't play it during a long car trip and it might be good for that. I don't think it would be confusing to read, but I wouldn't put this on a list of books to actually read - ever.
Who's on Third? Or Second or First? Or at Home?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great narrator.
I really like this author.
Don't trust anyone
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The Cairo Affair is an important bookmark in espionage fiction. In this 21st Century, post 9-11 world, Steinhauer (along with le Carré) is the goto fiction writer to understand the nuances of private-contract espionage, post-Soviet global realignments, and the moral failings of a waning American empire (all with a non-US-centric outlook on espionage and foreign policy). The Cairo Affair highlights the fact that the CIA is slowly losing its place as the gravitational center of the spy universe and seems to have lost its principled, idealistic foundations as well.
In the widening gyre
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Complex plot, great spy novel
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Along with The Cartel and Palace of Treason, this book was amongst the the very best of 2015.
Excellently conceived plot, brilliantly conceived story..
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.