THE FACTORY

by Jack Lynn ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 1983

Lynn's central notion--the Maria was behind the assassination of Robert Kennedy--emerges almost at the very start of this overwrought conspiracy novel; the test is stretched-out, standard thriller material, not really enhanced by a novel-within-a-novel format. Most of the book, you see, is the text of Sandcastle, a thriller written by Eleanor Garth--a bestselling writer new suffering from multiple sclerosis in a South of France hospital. In Ellie's manuscript (being read by her agent), her journalist-husband Steve Garth is approached in France by a shady expatriate Major claiming to be in touch with Lebanese terrorist Labadi--who will spill a Big Secret about the RFK assassination in exchange for an expensive trip to ""The Factory,"" a super-secret operation in Italy where terrorists are given new faces and new identifies. Though skeptical, Steve (urged on by Ellie) is eager for a look at The Factory; and when the Major is murdered he takes over the responsibility for getting Labadi to The Factory. Meanwhile, however, both the Mob and a slimy, traitorous CIA agent are also on the trail of The Factory, determined to kill Labadi before he tapes his confession. Steve, with help from a new love, innocent Factory henchwoman Rosa, gets secret data on Factory operations. Labadi tapes his story, fingering a Mafia don as the mastermind of RFK's conspiracy-murder. And then the bad guys arrive, killings and chases ensue. . . but all the evidence (along with Steve) seems to disappear in a nasty CIA/Mafia explosion-cum-fire. Routine suspense, despite the RFK connection and the unusual angle of author Ellie's MS (rather tastelessly handled)--and, like Lynn's The Turncoat (1976), marred by strident, repetitious dialogue about how ""shocking,"" ""explosive,"" and ""electrifying"" the Big Secret is.

Pub Date: May 18, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION