The Assassins Gallery (Mikhal Lammeck)

People read novels in different ways. Typically I tend to read in 30 minute increments while waiting for a flight or just before going to bed. There have been a few exceptions over the years where the writer has forced me off my preferred schedule. In those rare cases, I actually get to feel like I know the characters and the storyline starts to blur with reality. 'Papillon', 'A Winters Tale', and 'Portnoy's Complaint' are some other novels that temporarily took my life over in this way. These are all different types of books but they had in common an ability to allow me a temporary escape from my day to day life. If you are familiar with these titles you will also understand that it has been a while since I have had this experience. If you have not had this experience you will when you read 'The Assassins Gallery'. You will find yourself following leads along with Professor Lammeck in his search to stop the assassin before it is too late. You will be both repulsed and attracted (in my case very attracted) to Judith (the Persian assassin). You will be genuinely sad when certain characters are murdered in various and exotic ways and not so sad when some other characters meet their fate. The best quality of this novel (among many) is the complexity of the characters. They are complete human beings, not just heroes or villains. To summarize The Assassins Gallery is a great book but do not open it up if you have an important sales meeting the next morning. Because you will appear at that meeting with bleary eyes and thinking about whether the donuts might be laced with arsenic rather than the monthly sales results.

"The Assassins Gallery," by David L. Robbins, is a historical thriller set during the early months of 1945. Professor Mikhal Lammeck poses the question: "Can a single man change or direct the course of history?" during the first session of his class at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Although the professor is fascinated by the whole "bloody mess that is human history," his particular field of expertise is the political killer or assassin. Lammeck has begun to write a treatise on assassinations, but, after five years of work, the book remains unfinished. Adding to his already heavy workload, Lammeck spends time in the Scottish highlands instructing clandestine teams of highly trained British operatives who work behind enemy lines. However, all of his activities are put on hold when Lammeck receives an unexpected visit from an old friend, Dag Nabbit. Nabbit is with the American Secret Service, and his job is to protect President Franklin Roosevelt. After two civil defense wardens are killed while patrolling a remote Massachusetts beach, Nabbit and his superiors suspect that a deadly intruder has infiltrated the country to kill FDR. They want Lammeck to lend his expertise in the hunt for this would-be assassin. The author provides some interesting facts about famous assassins in history, and he repeatedly raises questions similar to the one that the professor asked in Scotland: Do people mold history or are they history's unwitting pawns? By killing a head of state, can a single individual accomplish what years of war cannot? Trying to change the direction of world events is an exotic looking woman from Cairo who calls herself Judith. She has been hired to rid the world of FDR, and Robbins follows Judith as she settles into Washington, D. C. and formulates her strategy. Lammeck tries to outthink his wily opponent, but he gradually realizes that he is facing a formidable, dangerous, and tenacious foe. Robbins energizes "The Assassins Gallery" with lively characters and sharp dialogue. Lammeck, for all of his scholarly interest in political violence, is a thoughtful man with a conscience, for whom killing is theoretical. Judith, on the other hand, is a cold-blooded sociopath who has few qualms about eliminating anyone who stands in her way. The paths of these two very different people will inevitably cross, but who will emerge the victor? The secondary characters are nicely drawn, as well, from a neurotic political wife for whom Judith works as a housekeeper to an elderly neighbor who shrewdly sees through Judith's lies. The author includes thoroughly researched tidbits about FDR's affection for Lucy Rutherford, and the scenes featuring the president, devastated by illness and surrounded by his loved ones, add flavor and poignancy to the story. There are a few predictable elements in this novel, including the obligatory high-speed chase scenes and near-misses that we have come to expect. However, Robbins goes way beyond the obvious, an

One might be tempted to dismiss David L. Robbins's latest historical thriller as a rewriting or perhaps a recasting of Frederick Forsyth's classic THE DAY OF THE JACKAL. This should only arise as the result of failing to read THE ASSASSINS GALLERY, an engrossing, riveting work that needs to be judged solely on its own formidable merits. THE ASSASSINS GALLERY is set in the closing months of World War II. Suspicions have arisen that an increasingly ailing Franklin Roosevelt may be the target of an assassination attempt. Mikhal Lammeck, an expert in the history of assassinations and a special ops instructor, is clandestinely recruited by the Secret Service to determine if such a threat exists and, if so, to thwart it. Lammeck, a United States expatriate residing in Scotland, is initially reluctant but soon becomes engrossed in the hunt for the assassin, who by appearances is as unlikely a murderer as Lammeck is a hunter. The killer, whom we come to know as "Sarah," is a master of subtle disguise, recruited by an unknown principal to assassinate the most powerful man on earth. Utilizing her looks to pass freely between the black and white community, Sarah is able to slowly but inevitably work her way toward the White House, turning culturally imposed limitations and barriers into strengths while using her own formidable skills to turn Lammeck from the hunter into the hunted. Robbins's dialogue is absolutely first-rate, capturing the nuanced cadence of the early to mid 1940s. He also deftly weaves his way through the crazy quilt patchwork of race relations during the mid-twentieth century. Washington, D.C., where the majority of the novel is based, was officially not segregated, yet people of color were assigned to second-class status. Robbins takes this point of fact and utilizes it as a key element of his work, fashioning it as a camouflage from which his villain of the piece can operate. These and other elements move the book out of the "what if?" category of fiction into the "maybe so" area. THE ASSASSINS GALLERY will be of special interest to those who study American history, but any fan of thriller novels or of strong characterization will find much to enjoy here. Highly recommended. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

As the countdown ends 1944, Judith comes ashore from the freezing water off Newburyport, Massachusetts into a Nor'easter. When a two-person civilian patrol stops her on the beach, Judith tries a bluff, but when that fails she kills them. Judith cannot find her murder weapon, a twelfth century knife belonging to enemies of the Templars during the Crusades. Still the enemy agent knows stealth remains her major weapon so no one must know who came ashore. The murders on the beach upset the Secret Service, who assume a plot against President Roosevelt by unknown assassins. Agent Nabbit obtains the help of his former history professor Mikhal Lammeck, who concludes by the murder weapon used that the killer is a professional who will slay anyone remotely in his or her way. He assumes like Dag that FDR is the target. So he waits patiently in DC for the assassin's arrival, not realizing a female is the cold blooded killer and that she is already on the staff of Roosevelt's mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherford, but beyond stopping the assassin Lammeck wonders who hired her. David L. Robbins provides a fascinating historical thriller that uses an electrifying plot to enable the audience to look deeply at 1945 DC. The story line is action-packed so that the thriller crowd will sit on edge throughout, but also includes interesting tidbits. For instance many people by his fourth term thought Roosevelt was a benevolent dictator whose popularity was waning as the war seemed endless, but feared switching administrations (when will we begin hearing the noise to change the twenty-second amendment?). Lammeck is a well-rounded hero struggling to stop an assassination and uncover a conspiracy, but also relaxes by exploring his favorite subject, what is history, which ultimately is the underlying theme of this delightful thriller. Harriet Klausner

I work for a book store, so I was fortunate enough to read an advanced copy. This book is utterly enthralling. Initially I picked it up for some light bedtime reading, then before I realized the time it was 3 am and I had finished it. The premise of the book is that a female assasin has been hired to kill FDR. The secret service recruits the help of a Scottish professor, who happens to train OSE and is writing a book on assasins, to hunt down this assasin before she hunts down FDR. I won't write any more about the plot because I would hate to provide any spoilers. Robbins' writing style is reminscent of the best of Dan Brown and Vince Flynn's works. Not only is there fast paced action goading you to turn the next page, but the characterization is excellent as well. I give this book the highest recommendation, and urge you to read this before it becomes the next book everyone is buzzing about.