The Last Testament

March 2, 2009
Bestseller Bourne (the pseudonym of British journalist Jonathan Freedland) follows his 2006 debut, The Righteous Men
, with another Jewish-themed thriller, a cliché-ridden hodgepodge. Weeks before a closely fought U.S. presidential election, disgraced diplomat Maggie Costello comes out of self-imposed exile to mediate a final Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. When a prominent right-wing academic, Shimon Guttman, tries to reach the Israeli prime minister with an urgent message during a peace rally, security guards gun him down because they fear he was trying to assassinate the prime minister. Costello joins with Guttman’s son to track down the secret his father uncovered that could radically affect the negotiations. Bourne does nothing to endear Costello to readers by revealing the reason for her earlier diplomatic disgrace. The ludicrous denouement involves a high-ranking official confessing to all his misdeeds while unknowingly being filmed on a Web cam.

The brutal murder of an innocent bystander in Jerusalem threatens to put a halt on a historic peace treaty between the parties at war in the Gaza Strip. When a beautiful young woman is called in to keep the peace, her investigation into the death unravels a plot to conceal an ancient religious secret. George Guidall's throaty, wise tone steers this plot, reminiscent of a Dan Brown work. Guidall's powerful delivery whisks listeners into a world that would otherwise be unbelievable. Guidall's gritty tone instills a strong sense of realism in this slightly over-the-top novel. L.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine