Monday, March 31, 2008

Eyes of the World-Rob Palmer

Eyes of the World
Rob Palmer
Leisure, May 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 9780843956764

The election for the next President of the United States is two weeks away, but appears to be a historical one. Carolyn "Lynnie" Connor is leading comfortably in all the major polls and looks ready to become the first female president. Her spouse former naval chaplain "Saint Devon" is a popular individual as he does missionary work around the world; currently the future First Man is in Africa. The only thing that could derail Lynnie’s trip to the White House is a mega scandal. That possibility exists because of her affair with her childhood friend, who saved her life during a fire that killed his sister; her trysts with Michael "Mike" Stanbridge will not be forgiven by the voters as she is cuckolding her paragon of a husband.

Reverend Eve Tessmer has set up a "This Is Your Life" for Lynnie in her home town. She has arranged guest speakers to represent each phase in Lynnie's life, except for when she was in Arizona. Eve's friend Archibald "Archie" Pascoe takes some of the Arizona documents home to peruse in an effort to determine a suitable speaker. That same night someone kills Eve and takes her Arizona file except what Archie possesses. The police suspect Mike killed Eve. When someone tries to murder Archie, Mike knows he is the only target of the Feds for this attempted murder and an unknown assassin who he fears is working for a famous person he knows intimately.

With the obvious connections to the real election aside, this is an exciting thriller as a lone nobody becomes the focus of an assassin, the media, and law enforcement. Though somewhat over the top readers will enjoy the fast-paced EYES OF THE WORLD as Mike will remind the audience of Cary Grant's character psychiatrist Thorndike in NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

Harriet Klausner

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