Review of The Disposable Assassin

So as a pseudo-washingtonian who has worked at the Pentagon, this book seemed like it would be a fun ride. The basic premise - the US Government found the most average guy in America and sent him to spy on the Russians, was funny, imaginative, and left the door open for lots of fun.

Keet definitely has a unique voice and a penchant for throwing in oddball comments and descriptions, which adds to the madcap-nature of the book. Jack Rian is one of those characters who finds himself in over his head very quickly, but somehow fumbles his way to getting out of whatever scrape he finds himself in. I loved how he thought himself to be Clive Bixby, when he was very clearly more Phil Dunphy.

At times, it read more like a movie, with the action jumping around between Jack, the Russians, and some visits to Vladamir Putin. I wasn't sure that name-dropping the actual Russian president worked, but it added to the overall feel.

What really dropped this to a three-star review for me was that things seemed resolved a little too easily. He's a great shot. He knows Russian. His wife allows him to walk out the door and leave her and his fifteen month old son back in the states, and doesn't seem to bat an eye when he comes back and says, "yeah, I killed a guy."

I had some other quibbles as someone who's spent time working in the Pentagon. There definitely is no central call line, and there definitely is no "Just call, they know me" thing. But I let that slide for the madcap nature of the book.

It read a little clunky, with the jumping around and short chapters not very well executed at times. Again, that was intentional, part of the madcap style, but sometimes it didn't work very well. I definitely think this book is for folks who like things a bit off, a bit silly, and like to see the most average man in America go off and be a spy.