THE MIDDLEMAN

Fiction

What if they’d gone underground?

THE MIDDLEMAN
By Olen Steinhauer
368 pp. Minotaur

Reviewed by Sarah Corbett Morgan

What if the Occupy movement, or Bernie Sanders for that matter, had gone underground and formed a political terrorist cell after the 2016 election? What if, in an eerie and nonviolent way, thousands of young people quietly walked away from society—disappeared—and caused a local and ultimately national news sensation?  What if corrupt FBI agents then infiltrate the terrorist cell? These are the premises of Olen Steinhauer's new novel, The Middleman. Author of ten other books, plus the acclaimed TV series, Berlin Station, he has written a thriller for these troubled times.

The story unfolds in 2017-18 and Trump is president. Left-wing groups and protesting in the streets, the FBI is aware and monitoring the situation. Martin Bishop, the charismatic leader of the terrorist group, the Massive Brigade, is a wanted man, and FBI agent Rachel Proulx is on the hunt. 

The premise is clear enough, but there are several problems with the book. The first and most glaring issue for me is that we seldom see or hear anything from the occupant of the White House. Out of character, much? Another problem is those evil FBI characters. We don't get a sense of why they are doing what they are doing—trying to disrupt the terrorists, yes, but killing Rachel? She’s one of them, so that is less clear. The third problem is the structure of the book, which flips back and forth not only in time but in character focus. That made the issues surrounding the FBI motivations harder to follow. 

I read an article about the book that suggested Steinhauer wrote it before the 2016 election. His assumption, like many of us, was that Clinton would win. The book was initially written to reflect the establishment of a right-wing terrorist cell. When Trump won, he re-wrote the book. This information, to me, explains a great deal about the confusion of motives, the president's odd silence, and at least some of the abbreviated character descriptions. 

All these complaints aside, I enjoyed the ideas and the many political questions the story explores. How would a peaceful opposition of Millennials act? How would they organize if they had to go underground? Would they eventually turn to violence if provoked? Would they answer this call from the Massive Brigade that Steinhauer envisions when he writes: 

America!

This is the first day of the first situation that will give rise to further situations leading to the liberation of you, each of you, each one.

Do not be confused or frightened—there’s no need.

Those who do not move do not notice their chains.

The time for analysis is over.

Let’s move.

Where there is power, there is resistance.

Sounds familiar, right? The book feels in many ways as though it was ripped straight from the headlines of those first tumultuous months of the Trump presidency or perhaps what is still out there in our uncertain future. 

Steinhauer keeps the pace quick and the action high as we catapult from crisis to crisis. We meet many characters along the way, some better developed than others. The second half of the book gets confusing—those corrupt FBI agents again. And in the final chapters, all is wrapped up a bit conveniently in what I’ve come to call the Perry Mason moment when people blurt out their guilt and motives so the author can finish up the book. It required more suspension of disbelief than this reader could muster. 

This was my first Olen Steinhauer book and while I had complaints, I would definitely read another especially having watched and enjoyed his TV series.