Andrew Britton, The Assassin

The Assassin

Andrew Britton

Kensington, Mar 2007, $24.00

ISBN: 0758213344

Ryan Kealey was written off by the American espionage agencies as yesterday's news, but they brought him back as the only person capable of defeating a prot g turned rogue killing machine. Though some died, he saved the lives of many world leaders (see The American). Now over a year has passed since he faced his mirror image and though a hero, he is classified once again as unusable though the brass honored his request to return to the fold.

The CIA learns from a reliable source Iran plans to bomb the United Nations just in time to influence the tight presidential election between the incumbent saddled with the Iraq war albatross and the popular Governor of California. However, whereas all American Intel tries to prevent the catastrophe from happening, Kealey thinks that a UN bombing is a red herring. He believes there will be a bigger target on a 9/11 scale though he is not sure what is intended with his worst nightmare being international terrorist and grandmaster criminal William Vanderveen is behind the horrific event; no one in any of the western intelligence agencies take his theory seriously except England's assistant chief, Naomi Kharmai.

The Assassin is a non-stop action thriller that never slows down from the opening moments in the White House and in Baghdad. Readers will wear seat belts as they come along for a ride that makes DC superhero The Flash look like the Turtle. Though characterizations are either thin or stereotyped including the lone star hero, fans of terrorist vas counterterrorist chess matches will want to read Andrew Britton's incredibly exhilarating novel.

Harriet Klausner