The Undercover Gentleman
Author
Anthony Pour
Publisher
Marlborough Publishing
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Anthony Pour’s "The Undercover Gentleman" was probably born some point in between Ian Fleming’s Bond novels and W. Somerset Maugham’s tales from around the world—more precisely, a culmination of Fleming’s choice of subjects and Maugham’s writing style. Astonishingly, Pour is able to put together all the different characters, scenes and moods without losing the plot and simply mixing all the elements in a perfectly structured set. Suspense is left untouched with the reader not being able to second-guess the ending right up until the last page.
A reluctant secret agent, a chancy wild goose chase, romance, many far-off locations are the main ingredients of The Undercover Gentleman. Altogether, the thriller and action story walks side by side with the tender relation between the middle-aged protagonist and his young girlfriend, while both of them are being sucked into a maelstrom of events that are beyond their control, yet naturally interweave with their personal stories. One of the greatest talents Pour shows in writing this book is the ability of creating not just suspense and atmosphere, but also characters with unique but plausible personal stories. The trick is that all of them have
a well-defined past, present and personality, so the reader feels their existence and wants to know more about them.
Reviews
The story begins in the winter of 1969 on a ranch in California. Hank Teeple is riding from his father’s ranch to a rendezvous with his girlfriend to ask her to marry him. He has the engagement ring in his pocket but she does not show and Hank wonders if the rumors are true about her and a rich fellow. What is he going to do?
Fast forward to Singapore in 1999 and we find that Hank is now a special agent. An operation goes very wrong and he is held responsible and loses his job with the CIA. Again, he is uncertain of the next step but he gets an office job and there meets a younger woman who has him over for drinks. This story line is handled very well and you see a new gentler Hank as he interacts with this woman and you see a romance developing though neither one admits it.
However, Hank is soon thrown back into the secret agent world that causes him to leave that job. The remainder of the book has Hank traveling throughout the world with many unsavory characters, and some characters from his past show up quite unexpectedly. Pour keeps the reader guessing throughout and though there is plenty of action though it is not over the top like some special agent stories. Hank Teeple is a likeable fellow who you would enjoy reading about again.
Reviewed on 03/14/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Janice Hidey
