You Know What's Going On by Olen Steinhauer

A first for me - a 'single' as defined by Kindle. A bit too long for a short story, but well short of a full-fledged novel. I doubt many are going to run out and spend the $0.99 at Amazon for this short story, so I'll reveal all. This review, too, shall be short.

4 players: Paul, Sam, Nabil, Benjamin - 2 CIA agents, a Somali, and a Kenyan policeman, plus a fat Kenyan politician.

A CIA agent is trying to buy information from a Somali who is a member of the new splinter group Aslim Taslam. The deal is struck in Rome. The money and information is to be exchanged in Nairobi. Simple enough. Sam asks Paul, a fellow agent, to act as a banker to facilitate the transfer of money in Nairobi. Two colleagues, Said and Lorenzo, are beheaded in Rome.   That fat politician, loyal only to money ("No one ever pays enough.") attends to broker the exchange between Paul (as banker) and Nabil (as terrorist/recipient). The transfer goes south when only Sam's hand is delivered to complete the fingerprint ID necessary to complete the exchange. Paul flips out, is killed, then the house explodes.

This story, read over breakfast on a Sunday morning, is essentially the same tale told from the perspective of each of the 4 main players. And with each 'chapter', we learn a little more. Paul panicked during a surveillance op that resulted in the execution of Said and Lorenzo. Those two were killed by Nabil as a test ordered by an Iman to see just how far Nabil would go in the name of jihad. Said was Sam's lover, so Sam cooks up a scheme to avenge Said's death and in so doing probably get himself killed. Sam hires Benjamin to fix the 'bank' computer with a bomb. Sam is captured in Nairobi, the fat politician kills Sam, cuts off Sam's hands, forces Paul to start the transfer process, does the fingerprint ID, and the house goes up in a massive explosion.

See? Even a 'single' can have a layered plot typical of that which Steinhauer is deservedly known for. A welcome tease as we await his upcoming novel that can not come too soon. Honestly, I don't know what modern author is telling classic espionage tales as well as Steinhauer.

East Coast Don