The Lisbon Crossing

February 26, 2007
Gabbay's second historical thriller to feature Jack Teller falls short of the high standard set by his debut, The Berlin Conspiracy
(2006). Teller, who in 1940 is working as a Hollywood stuntman, has to leave town fast after having an affair with the wife of studio head Charlie Wexler, who hires a hit man to deal with Teller. Lili Sterne, a German film star whose career is on the skids, asks Teller to accompany her to Lisbon, Portugal, to help her childhood friend, Eva Lange, who may be in danger from the Nazis. Teller and Sterne get into all kinds of trouble during their European travels, meeting the duke and duchess of Windsor as well as various spies and counterspies. Teller, who finds himself mixed up in a conspiracy to deliver England into Hitler's hands, must figure out how to save the British Empire while still avoiding the hit man. There's plenty of action, but a surfeit of dialogue, flat characters and skimpy geographic detail, especially given the exotic locations, undercut the energetic storytelling.