Review: 3* for action; 1 - 1/2* for simplistic presentation and lack of empathetic character development
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 18, 2014
The Assassin, an e-book written and copyrighted by Jay Deb is a fictional story following the activities of an on-again, off-again CIA agent who has a remarkable ability as a sniper.The Prologue describes the murder of a young man about to enter college after some time lost to drugs. We discover he is the son of Max Doerr, a resigned CIA agent now a New York newspaper editor and his deceased wife. Max and his new wife of one year, Gayle, are vacationing in the Dominican Republic when they receive a call from the NYPD about the murder. They return, and although Max is grief stricken he returns to work where he finds difficulty in dealing with the constant need to edit articles on murder and other depressing subjects, the necessity to spend much time alone because Gayle works endless hours at a highly paid but demanding job for one of the large banks, a mother suffering from Alzheimer's whom he must visit and a mother-in-law who hates him and repeatedly puts questions in her daughter's mind. Life goes on, however, he returns to work for the CIA, gets involved in more assignments, but again is disgusted with the politics, in-fighting and duplicity and the involvement of a man whom he is sure is his son's killer.Much exists in this story for readers who like action, However, the story and individual episodes seem forced and disjointed, and the characters, although for the most part physically adequately described, do not appear `real' emotionally. Max's love for his wife and especially his son are purported to be great but his actions often do not appear to offer endorsement. His lack of emotion certainly could reflect the thought processes of a professional killer of his stature, but then his `fainting upon seeing his son's body' does not `fit the picture' nor do other subsequent actions. A minor but additionally annoying feature of this presentation is the simplistic manner of presentation and the recurring lack of use of a, the, an, etc.In summary: a basically good plot idea with sufficient action but a somewhat disjointed, simplistic presentation lacking in the ability to offer characters with whom to empathize or even gain credence for much of their activity. I just received notification that a better edited revision has been published recently (March 2014) Reviewed by John H. manhold, award winning fiction/non-fiction autghor.