Assumed Identity is an spy thriller that explores the question of identity for a man whose life has consisted for years of being anyone but himself. The action and thriller components of the novel sit right in Morrell's wheelhouse, and the plot is fairly entertaining, but overall it falls short of Morrell's usual standard of popcorn fun.I found the mechanics of the writing to be incredibly weak and lazy. Rather than illustrate characters' responses through dialog or action, Morrell simply slaps an appropriate response on their face. Physical description of various characters are repeated, often nearly identically, in multiple places, which caused me to skim over chunks of the book once the repetition became predictable and tedious. Also, for a book published in 1993, much of the technology used is incredibly retro, especially considering that the agencies and groups had deep pockets and access to top of the line gadgets.The depictions of action in the book are breathless and rapid fire, reading like descriptions of action scenes straight off the screen of idealized action heroes. The ability of the main protagonist to fight and engage in strenuous and skilled combat despite extensive injuries was, frankly, pretty unbelievable. I can suspend belief when reading, but with the overly detailed and excessively long action sequences of a near super hero stretched so thin that I just couldn't buy it.The story juggled a hefty number of poorly intersecting storylines of varying degrees of effectiveness. While some of these were resolved by the end, most fizzled out without any resolution. We don't, for example, find out what happens to many of the characters, in particular the one who has been sought obsessively by the protagonist. I spent a few moments hitting the forward button on my e-reader because I expected another chapter or epilogue to flesh out the outcome of events. Finally, I felt that the deus ex machina of the final pages was so ridiculous that I began to regret I'd read the book at all, though it's nice to know that if I need to find a cure for both intense psychological damage and near life-threatening physical wounds, I only need travel to the Mexican jungle and find some Mayan natives to get myself a miraculous cure. After all, nothing releases damage from multiple concussions and deep psychological traumas like a little Yucatan jungle trepanning. Morrell failed to explore the meatier ideas about identity and depersonalization in favor of a convoluted mess of an action hero tale. The novel has its moments of insight, a few good twists, and was an easy read that was moderately fun, but it's not one I'd reach for again. The author has plenty of other novels that are better written, with more structural integrity, and which are far more entertaining than this one.
What could have been a good story is spoiled by inferior writing. Much of the story takes place in Yucatan but the author manages to give the impression that he maybe spent a week there and decided to locate his story there based on his interest and vast knowledge of the area. Some of his facts are correct but rain forests in Yucatan?, Cancun situated on the northeast coast of the peninsula?? His use of street names inCancun centro seems an weak affectation rather than a pertinent detail. The book features trite, unrealistic dialogue and a multitude of fractional, incomplete sentences. Quite a disappointment when much more was anticipated.
