Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Traitor in Us All -- Robert S. Levinson

If you've read Bob Levinson's short stories in EQMM or AHMM, or if you've read his earlier novels, you know that he writes in a lot of subgenres. The Traitor in Us All is a straight-ahead thriller that begins with a high-voltage action scene and then zips along at top speed.

Emil Grass, a stone cold killer, murders a young woman in a pizza parlor and abducts her friend, Tracy Collins. Or is it really an abduction. Jack Sothern, a reporter, thinks there's more to it, and of course he's right. The McGuffin here is the diary of a former head of East Germany's State Security back in the Cold War days. The diary would be worth Big Bucks to certain parties, and Sothern believes that Tracy's mother either has seen the diary or knows where it is. The mother hates Sothern, whom she holds responsible (because of an article he wrote) for the death of her husband, an actor who defected to the USSR.

It's a lot more complicated than that, and there are so many twists and turns that I couldn't begin to enumerate them. It's all way over the top, but I didn't mind at all. It's easy to overlook implausible things when you're reading as fast as you can to see what happens next. Check it out.

6 comments:

David Cranmer said...

I love Mr. Levinson's short stories. Among the finest.

Anonymous said...

Me too, David. I like the humorous ones. This book sounds pretty good, Bill.

Jeff

Bob Levinson said...

Bill,

Couple days late in thanking you for the wonderful words; heavy rains, L.A. style, have made it almost impossible for me to get or stay on line...

David and Anonymous, thank you, too. I'm,flattered.

Best,
Bob

Unknown said...

Hope you can get dry, Bob!

Deborah said...

I'm a big fan, and have been since day one - and I'm very picky about what I read - and recommend very few authors. This is one I can, and do, recommend without hesitation.

Bobbi said...

Bob Levinson is a great writer. His short stories and novels are highly entertaining. You'll want to read them again and again. I recommend them all!