Book Review: The Assistant

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Assistant     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
J. Patrick Law
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Legal Setting   Terrorists   Espionage   Thriller
Simon & Schuster, Jul 2000, $25.00, 414 pp.

Washington DC attorney Ben Poltarek feels he lives a great Yuppie life. He enjoys his work and loves his girlfriend Rachel. Ben is looking forward to seeing his parents who are coming for a visit, but they are killed in a shoot-out near the Watergate Hotel. Ben races over to the scene, only to be accosted by a dying Russian Tarnofsky who provides him secret information that needs to be given to superspy Landau.

Ben’s world, already crumbled by his parents’ deaths, completely shatters as he is now involved in the Middle East crisis here in America. Arab terrorists led by the dangerous Jamal want him dead; his girlfriend’s connection to the Mossad haunts him at every twist and turn as they expect him to work for them; finally, his own government simply wants to eliminate him. Not knowing friend from foe, Ben ends up toiling as an ASSISTANT for an underground Jewish-American group working for the betterment of the State of Israel.

THE ASSISTANT is an exciting, by the book, espionage thriller that will excite fans with its premise of who is an innocent person’s ally and enemy. The story line is crisp, fast-paced, and filled with excitement from start to finish. Ben and Rachel are a warm couple, but he steals the show with his reactions to the nightmarish journey he now travels. Though a bit too formulaic in nature, espionage readers will find J. Patrick Law’s tale very entertaining.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner