A review by Bob Tedder • Sometimes I consider books as foods to be consumed and define my dining in terms of the institution which prepared the meal. This being the case, then Brad Meltzer’s “The Fifth Assassin” is to be found on the BOGO drive-thru menu at your local McBook’s. Its adver-teased substance is not only less than fulfilling but marbled barely enough to savor the suspense.
Meltzer has many sterling qualities. His books are bestsellers and he has won awards spanning such diverse writing disciplines as children’s literature and comic books. Additionally, he has hosted American history docudramas and is considered an impeccably resourceful researcher. The last attribute provides the gristle which makes “The Fifth Assassin” hard to chew and digest.
As is typical in political suspense thrillers, the reader finds secret cabal plotting against secret cabal. Meltzer’s good guys, The Culper Ring, are pitted against a mysterious band of Knights intent on reenacting elements of all four previous presidential assassinations, culminating in the fifth – the murder of current President Orson Wallace. Pivotal to and interspersed throughout the plot one finds Meltzer’s meticulously researched knowledge of the nation’s four presidential assassinations. Such condiments are not necessarily unpalatable; however, they require endless reapplications via flashbacks which without measured consideration leave the reader with a resigned aftertaste. The interplay between his characters when combined with Meltzer’s chosen recipe for suspense provides yet another unhealthy dose of disquieting flashbacks.
Instead of endorsing this fast-food morsel with a contented burp this reader sadly drove off muttering a vow to never eat here again. When considered as a whole, “The Fifth Assassin” is not a bad burger. However, do not expect the Michelin Guide reviewer to impatiently honk his horn while waiting behind you in the McBook drive-thru line.