by Larry Bienhart

Pantheon Books (1993)

Reviewed by Robert Thompson Oct 30, 1993

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EVERYBODY READ THIS BOOK. I very rarely give such a universal recommendation for a novel. If you are staunch Republican- Read it, you may learn something. If you are gung-ho Democrat, read it. You will find ammunition for your beliefs. If you are a Libertarian, read it and you can say: "I told you so." Any other political belief? Read it, you can say: "See how they are?"

If you like Action- Adventure or Detective stories this is a good one. If you like stories about Hollywood and the movie industry, this book will entertain you. Like romances? This is a pretty decent love story.

AMERICAN HERO is a novel. The author goes to great effort to tell you that it is a work of fiction. He repeats this many times. While many of the characters in the book are powerful politicians and celebrities in real life, Larry Beinhart repeats several times that unless the things that he says about them are documented elsewhere, what he says is purely his imagination- fiction- not truth- fable, not fact- fantasy; This is a novel, not a biography or a documentary. Got the idea? I think perhaps he doth protest TOO much.

AMERICAN HERO expands and "brings to life" a pet theory that I have held for several years. The plot of this book revolves around the thesis that George Bush could have started a war just because his Presidential popularity was declining.

The book is constructed almost like a biography or history, with lots of footnotes and references, yet still reads like a a well written, entertaining novel. I learned several really interesting "real life facts" and some neat trivia.

Joe Broz is a detective / security consultant working for a major international security firm. He is hired by Maggie Lazlo, one of the major leading ladies of the cinema. She was all set to make a movie for John Lincoln Beagle, one of the big Hollywood producer- directors who suddenly goes into seclusion. The rumor is that he is very ill, but when he is seen in public, he seems fine. He won't return Maggie's calls or anything, and she wants to know why.

I think that Maggie, Beagle and several other of the characters are based upon actual Hollywood people, but I am not "up" on the Hollywood scene anymore, and can't quite decide who the characters are modeled on. Perhaps you can figure it out.

Anyway, the story proceeds apace, entertaining and educating the reader. I do not want to give away anything more; while some of the stuff was predictable, there were a few surprises.

AMERICAN HERO is not the best novel ever written, but it is excellent in so many different ways. Of the many books sent to me for review in the last few months, this is the only one that had no disappointments at all for me. You will enjoy it too, even if it does happen to offend your political beliefs.