Identity Check - Book Review

Identity Check is a work of fiction by Rich Allan and lies in the Political thriller/mystery/drama genre. The book is all about a whirlwind journey of a young man, Scott Harold, to find his progenitor. During his journey, he faces the wrath of a weasel of a campaign manager, Vince Terrell, who is hell-bent on ending Harold’s quest. Terrell does so to protect President Walter Kendall in his reelection campaign. Kendall has a lot of skeletons in his closet, a bevy of lascivious affairs and one illegitimate son. Terrell wants to erase all those threats that might complicate Kendall’s reelection so he finds and hires Frank Tate, a stuttering sociopath killer to do his dirty work.

The book touches upon the fragile relationship between the promiscuous President Walter Kendall and his devout wife and her desire to bear the baby of the man she loves. She hopes that might save their dying marriage. It explores the loving yet deceitful relation between Scott Harold and his mother; the lies she fed to her son about his make-believe father and his heroic demise and the extreme measures she took to hide the identity of his real father.

 Once Scott Harold discovers the man he thought was his father was merely a lie, he and his girlfriend, Jessie, become the hunted.  He doesn’t know who his real father is, but his search has becomes a major threat to the President’s reelection as far as Vince Terrell is concerned. Suddenly Scott’s search for the truth seems to be a death wish as he and Jessie fight the powerful forces that are threatening their lives.

Allan creates an impressive mentally unstable villain in Frank Tate and provides a good backstory on what drove him to insanity. Identity Check provides a piece of the backstory of how this sociopath killer evolved, his abusive childhood, his sisters’ incarceration to a mental institute and his dream to emancipate them and give them a normal life on the farm he dreams of owning.

Allan gives a bit of the behind the scene view of the election process and how dedicated, manipulative and power hungry the man behind the candidate can be. Alan paints the picture of a President who really would be happy to do his four years and be done with it, but his campaign manager thinks otherwise and shames him into running for a second term. A lot of killings and other nefarious doings driven by power-hungry political figures keep the book intriguing.  Allen's sociopaths killing spree and his gruesome modus operandi add a gory edge to this novel. Frank Tate’s flicker of empathy for his victims adds an unexpected element to the plot line and makes one wonder if old Frank is really a sociopath.  Rich Allan's story has a cleverly mixed amount of thrill and drama that will keep you hooked until the last page.