Reviewed by Fiona Matthews
Beyond the lights, Byron could just make out a human figure against the louvres.
‘Miss Lucia?’ Byron squinted, trying to discern what he hoped was his editorial contact from Milan.
‘Lucia Vega.’ The voice came out of the dark. When the body from which it emanated now stepped into the light, it caused Byron’s jaw to noticeably drop. He had been around some of the most beautiful models in the world in the past few years but this figure dressed in the jungle green camouflage with the “Punta Gorda” logo, was stunning beyond belief.
In The Assistant, Byron Clarke, Sydney born assistant photographer and Dee Why surfer accepts a “small assignment” from ASIO for a ludicrously large amount of money and meets the stunningly beautiful C.I.A. agent Lucia Vega. Under her spell he becomes trainee and assistant in a very different world – a covert world of espionage, danger and murder.
Gold Coast author JD. Forbes takes Byron and the reader on a fast moving adventure from Sydney to the jungles of Central American Belize and Key West Miami. Byron is a fast learner and together he and Lucia make a formidable team. There is an echo of Ian Fleming characters about their adversary, Colonel Leandro Ramirez but as ever, good triumphs over evil and a new Aussie hero emerges.
The Assistant, by JD. Forbes
S.G.Publishing, 2005
Author web site http://www.jdforbes.com.au/