On February 19, 2011, barely one week after Hosni Mubarak was forced out as president of Egypt, five exiled Libyan opposition leaders are apparently kidnapped, one by one. Two weeks later, a mid-level US diplomat is murdered while dining with his wife in a Budapest restaurant.
Uncovering the connections between these disparate geopolitical events is the main plot line underpinning the unusual new thriller, The Cairo Affair, by the best-selling author Olen Steinhauer.
Clearly, this is the work of a pro. Not only is it a page-turner with constant twists and turns, it is also a well-written piece of literature, a cut above its genre. The characters are complex human beings far from the James Bond image.
The naive assumptions and uncertainty of the early days of the Arab Spring, lurking in the background, add extra depth. Before the Egyptian revolution, one CIA contractor laments, the experienced spies who tailed him were easier to predict than the new radicals, “awkward, fumbling rookies who knew the neighbourhood but wouldn’t know tradecraft if it slapped him in the face”. But surprisingly, this book stumbles at its own speciality. The story relies too heavily on motivations and obtuseness that are simply unbelievable, especially for career agents.
In the Libya-related plot line, a young Libyan-American CIA analyst named Jibril Aziz, convinced that the US is trying to manipulate the simmering opposition to Muammar Qaddafi, heads to the Middle East to find the missing activists. Meanwhile, just before he is killed, Emmett Kohl, the deputy US consul in Hungary, had accused his beautiful wife, Sophie, of having an affair with a CIA official who had worked with Emmett at the embassy in Cairo the prior year. Panicked, Sophie sneaks back into Egypt to try to find her husband’s murderer and cover up her own misdeeds. Those misdeeds are presumably related to a shameful episode during the Kohls’ honeymoon in Prague 20 years earlier, when they jauntily took a side trip to Serbia to “look at a war”.
Steinhauer – who has written eight previous novels and been a finalist for numerous awards – effectively uses literary techniques to subtly scatter his clues. His understated style is perfect for a thriller, where it’s important to have just the right number of hints, hidden with just the right amount of subtlety.
At the Budapest restaurant, for instance, Emmett asks Sophie if anyone knew about her extramarital affair. She thinks: “He was being petty now, as if it truly mattered whether or not someone knew of his bruised pride. But she could give him that. ‘No one,’ she lied. He nodded, but didn’t look relieved.”
Without saying so outright, Steinhauer has signalled that Sophie still cares enough about Emmett to spare his feelings, that her white lie won’t be enough for an immediate reconciliation and that her guilt hasn’t wiped out her ability to see his faults. At the same time, the author, like a magician, has waved a brightly coloured silk handkerchief that distracts from the real drama going on.
Similarly, Steinhauer needs only a few key phrases – “a scratched BMW” or a man’s “cheeks bristling with white hair” – to return repeatedly to the same scenes from different points of view, thus unrolling a complicated, multifaceted view of the story.
The spies and their colleagues have families, headaches and heart attacks, in addition to the mandatory cynicism. The CIA contractor, John Calhoun, is a no-nonsense black former Army sniper who also loves the poetry of T S Eliot, Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams. A dedicated Egyptian security official and his frumpy wife become second parents to Aziz, the Libyan-American CIA analyst.
But perhaps the characters are too well-drawn as people and not well enough conceived as spies.
Surely a seasoned security guard like Calhoun would be suspicious when the wife of an Egyptian opposition leader, who already speaks perfectly passable English, insists on meeting only Calhoun and no one else for extra language tutoring because, supposedly, she wants to be taught by an African-American. Yet he takes the job. Nearly every character seems to accept Aziz’s complicated scenario regarding the kidnappings without suggesting a much more obvious explanation.
Most crucially, the motivation behind a key element of the plot – why someone would pass secret files from the US embassy in Cairo to an Egyptian agent – is just too weak.
Despite these flaws, The Cairo Affair is an engrossing and well-written yarn with interesting insights into the current turmoil in the Middle East and the US role. Plus, the reader can feel smarter than the spies.
Fran Hawthorne is an award-winning US-based author and journalist who specialises in covering the intersection of business, finance and social policy.
thereview@thenational.ae
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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The years Ramadan fell in May
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
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The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
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Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke
Two stars
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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