The Einstein Proxy

Various intelligence agencies scramble to get their hands on Albert Einstein’s lost manuscript, the solution to the Theory of Everything, in Dimodica’s (Covert Matters, 2008) thriller.

The CIA’s belief that Einstein solved the TOE and hid his final manuscript was pure conjecture, but the document may have resurfaced. The TOE solution can be used to manipulate the forces of nature and, in the wrong hands, as a weapon. The agency sends special activities division operative Terry Solak and theoretical physicist Melissa Hastings to Istanbul to recover and verify the manuscript. But they’re already behind Tefvik Yilmaz of the Dönmeh, a secret organization in Turkey. He’s been tracking and killing the keepers, a circle of scientists that’s kept the document concealed for years. Soon, everyone from Russian intelligence agents to Mossad officer David Reisman heads to Morocco, hoping to retrieve the TOE solution from one of the last keepers. The exhilarating novel showcases myriad agencies and characters, some of whom have less than reputable agendas. Short chapters that bounce from scene to scene give the story a steady tempo. To help the reader remember important players, Dimodica spotlights certain characters, like Americans Terry and Melissa or the mysterious Farraj, who offers to help David but whose true allegiance is initially unclear. Yilmaz is unquestionably the most fascinating. A prominently featured bad guy (and the deadliest), Yilmaz also has a complicated back story. He was a victim of rape while at an orphanage and is later taken in by Oguz Ghanem, his Dönmeh benefactor, who treats him like a son. Terry’s history, on the other hand, is unknown. He initially seems condescending, apparently believing that one of Melissa’s better traits is the fact that she doesn’t ask questions. Nevertheless, readers will savor the more overt qualities of the hero-villain duo. Terry, for example, faces armed men regardless of whether he’s armed or not, while Yilmaz winks at someone he then shoots in the head and does cringe-worthy things with other people’s fingernails. The story picks up even more speed as it nears its indelible ending.

Rife with action, suspense, and a final act that’s fully energized.