Monday, June 9, 2008

Assassin, by Ted Bell

The author used up his full allotment of adjectives in this book. Here's the first paragraph:

"The late afternoon sun slanted through the tall windows opening onto the Grand Canal. There were silken peacocks in the velvet draperies and they stirred in the salty Adriatic breeze. These warm evening zephyrs sent sun struck motes of dust swirling indolently upward toward the valuted and gilded ceiling."

As the action picked up so did the writing. That takes us to the next problem with this story: the ridiculous credibility gaps. The hero is portrayed as a super man, knows all political leaders, has infinite money, can shoot through the eye of a needle at 1,000 yards, and best armed men twice his size with his bare hands. Sigh.

I like a spy / action novel. But it is best if it stays within the genre and doesn't slide into the fantasy realm. This book positively leaps out of credibility, and thus, out of my interest.