The Altman Code: 05/04/07
I picked up The Altman Code at one of last year's BookCrossing meetings. I'm a sucker for international spy thrillers so was willing to give this first in a series a go.
Agent Jon Smith and others must race the clock to get a manifest to prove that China is shipping chemical weapons to Iraq. The basic adventure plot is entertaining but it has to compete with an incredibly cheesy soap opera involving the President of the United States. Castillo's missing father disrupts the flow of the plot and interjects some unintentionally funny scenes.
The other major flaw is the sheer number of characters. No scene lasts more than a half dozen pages before the plot blips to another location and different characters. There is too much action and too many characters to ever get to know any of them well, even the hero, Jon Smith.
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