The Amateur American

Elmore's less than suspenseful thriller debut opens with a French news report dated March 23, 2003, describing the manhunt for Jeffrey Delanne. An American, Delanne is suspected of having had a hand in the murders of two federal agents as well as the poisoning death of the former head of the school where Delanne worked as a teaching assistant in Lourange, France. The action then flashes back three weeks to relate how Delanne became a patsy for shadowy conspirators with murky motives. The cash-strapped TA agrees to serve as a translator for an elderly Arab entrepreneur, who turns out to want Delanne's help in getting information out of a British man he's holding hostage. Despite this frightening experience, Delanne is unable to avoid a second assignment that crosses the line between interpreter and torturer. Too easily manipulated, Delanne is more apt to make readers impatient than gain their sympathy. (Aug.)