Steinhauer's agent/protagonist, Milo Weaver, is an experienced professional who hasn't completely lost his moral compass. In the espionage business, the latter quality is considered a fatal flaw and has caused Weaver major career and personal problems. He has been used and abused by his CIA employers, and in "The Nearest Exit" he returns to a kind of entry level job as a gypsy spy ("Tourist") to redeem his reputation and professional livelihood. The use/abuse begins again immediately as Weaver is sent off to Berlin to assassinate an apparently innocent teenage girl. In his business, no explanation for these assignments is ever offered, but this particular job unravels into an international crisis with the reluctant killer becoming the new target of unknown opponents. Among the more interesting opponents that Weaver encounters in this ever more interesting saga, is Fraulein Erika Schwartz, a German spy master of great intelligence, grit and energy. Destined to become Weaver's partner and savior in routing the baddest of the bad guys, Schwartz is vividly sketched by the author as one of the most original characters in the contemporary genre. This book is worth reading just to savor the chapters that she inhabits