THE ASSISTANT

A debut thriller in which Arab and Jewish superspies have their climactic shoot-out not in the Middle East but in the good ol’ US. First, though, begin with likable young Ben Poltarek: lawyer, amateur magician, devoted son, fond lover. American as apple pie, he's pretty good at minding his own business. He's also got a nice girlfriend, Rachel, a doctor. Unbeknownst to Ben, however, Rachel once worked for Israel's spookiest intelligence agency, the Mössad, reporting to superspy Landau. Landau's worst enemy is Arab superspy Jamal, an authentic crazy. Landau wants to kill Jamal. Jamal wants to kill all the Jews and become prime minister of Palestine. Furious plotting and counterplotting ensue, and what with one thing and another, naïve Ben finds himself wandering the killing fields, definitely in harm's way. Jamal nabs him. When Rachel tracks them down, Jamal nabs her, too. Landau pursues, catches up. Jamal and Landau go one-on-one—fur flies, blood flows.

Cookie-cutter stuff.