The Terrorizers

In the Terrorizers, the eighteenth book in the Matt Helm series, Hamilton returns to a plot-line that he first used in 1954 in Night walker - - that of amnesia and espionage mixed together. Here, Helm, who was a long-time member of a special assassination squad, finds himself in a Vancouver hospital, with a different name, a different background, and a beautiful fiancée. He simply cannot remember anything about what preceded his admittance into the hospital, including his entire life. There are hints that everything is not as it seems – he has bullet wounds over his body that are unaccounted for – scars that his war record does not include. And, someone calls and tells him that he is Helm.
The story takes Helm to a torture chamber, show more to a psych hospital, and into a world where fringe groups are out to destroy anything that reeks of establishment even if that means planting bombs and hurting innocents. His own role in these endeavors is not entirely clear to him, but his body remembers the skills he learned over his long career.

This is an excellent book and is filled with Hamilton’s trademarked matter-of-fact realism which made Helm, at least in literary form, one of America’s most beloved spy heroes, one who did not need the latest fancy gadgets or supersonic vehicles to do his work. show less

Paul Madden wakes up in a hospital bed with no memories and a fiancé. A phone call informs him that his name is Matt Helm. When Madden runs into trouble, some type of reflex takes over and saves him time and again. A different take on the old amnesia wheeze that plagues every long running series.

The basic plot is trite & over used; Matt wakes up in a hospital with amnesia, a voice tells him who he really is, even though his fiancee says otherwise. After that, it gets complicated & Matt gets to show his stuff. It's a fun read. He's not the character portrayed by Dean Martin nor is he one of the new gadget super men. He doesn't have a black belt in anything. He's just a very tough, smart guy who manages to get through most situations fairly well.