Book review - End as an Assassin

I enjoyed Lex Lander’s first outing, Another Day, Another Jackal (as evinced by my blog of 30 May 2014 - here), so thought I’d try his latest, with a new anti-hero, the intriguing André Warner, Manhunter, assassin for hire. 

As before, Lander has the knack of creating believable characters, immersing them in real places where he seems very knowledgeable. His knowledge also stretches to cars and guns.

Warner wants to retire and this is to be his last job. He has been given a new target to kill. One rain-sodden night, crime boss Fabrice Tillou is surprised when Warner confronts him; it will be a clean kill. Unfortunately, it isn’t – because Tillou’s mistress interrupts…

From that moment on, Warner’s future is highly uncertain.

Warner is not modest, by any means. He knows he’s good at what he does; he also believes that he’s popular with women: a lady-killer, though not in the literal sense, of course: he’s definitely not politically correct! However, his reason for being cold and calculating where the fair sex is concerned can be traced to the loss of his wife, Marion. He’s surprised to find that his heart can be still be stirred; and perhaps his brief encounter with the delightful Georgina will prove it. Could this new love be the one? To end his career as an assassin? Life’s not that easy, or that kind, it seems.

Warner is a rounded creation, and gradually evokes your sympathy as he becomes entangled in events that threaten to crush him.

There’s sex, violence and death aplenty. So be warned.

Since his release of the Jackal book, it seems Mr Lander has been busy, as End as an Assassin is published concurrently with its follow-up I Kill, which I'll read and review shortly.

‘Ferocious and unprovoked attack’

Last February, a 91-year-old became the oldest man ever to be sent to prison after a first-time conviction in England.  He was given a sentence of 9 years for sexual offences against a number of 14-year-old pupils committed between 1958 and 1978.

Yet on that same day, in another court, two 23-year-old men were convicted of what the judge called a ‘ferocious and unprovoked attack’ on a man, and were given suspended sentences because the judge considered the two assailants had shown ‘genuine remorse’ and were able to walk free. Needless to say, both guilty defendants whooped with glee once outside the courts, and bragged on Facebook afterwards. How did their victim feel after that pronouncement? Pretty sick, I imagine. And if he had any faith in the legal system, it probably hit rock-bottom then.

True cases like these that hit the headlines prompted me to write Sudden Vengeance. No matter how much water has passed under the bridge since the book was written, the apparently total disregard for recipients of ‘violent offences against the person’ – that is the victims – seems to pervade the British justice system. 

More true instances will follow…

Sudden Vengeance

 

When justice fails, a vigilante steps forward.

In the broken Britain of today, faith in the police is faltering. Justice and fairness are flouted. Victims are not seen as hurt people but simply as statistics.

Paul’s family is but one example of those victims of unpunished criminals. In the English south Hampshire coastal town of Alverbank, many others are damaged and grieving. It cannot go on. There has to be a response, some way of fighting back.

A vigilante soon emerges and delivers rough justice, breaking the bones and cracking the heads of those guilty individuals who cause pain without remorse. Who is the vigilante?  He – or she – is called the Black Knight. The police warn against taking ‘the law into your own hands’. But the press laud the vigilante’s efforts and respond: ‘What law?’

Will the Black Knight eventually cross the line and kill?

Paul and his family seem involved and they are going to suffer…

Amazon COM –

http://www.amazon.com/Sudden-Vengeance-Nik-Morton-ebook/dp/B00KE1GTPA/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1431527522&sr=1-9&keywords=nik+morton

Amazon UK –

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sudden-Vengeance-Nik-Morton-ebook/dp/B00KE1GTPA/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1431527569&sr=1-3&keywords=nik+morton

 

 

Dear editor - size isn't everything

Our alien wannabe writer has another letter to the editor...