From Publishers Weekly
British author Wignall (
For the Dogs) successfully channels Robert Ludlum in this lean, muscular thriller with more than a few parallels to Ludlum's Jason Bourne series. Conrad Hirst, a remorseless European hit man burnt out by a life of violence, plans to walk away from the business by eliminating the only four people who know his identity. Of course, it isn't that simple. Hirst's first target, Frank Dillon, admits as he's dying that he has lied to Hirst consistently about Hirst's true employer. Later, Hirst learns that the man he thought was his employer, German crime boss Julius Eberhardt, was only using Eberhardt's identity and may in fact be connected with the CIA. Hirst's ignorance of most tradecraft is a little less than plausible, as is his naïvete in trusting the attractive women he meets just as his plan hits high gear. Still, Wignall's ability to blend meaningful characterizations with suspenseful action shows a talent that many other genre writers would envy. A film, to be directed by Liam Kan and Grant Hodgson, is in the works.
(Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
British assassin Conrad Hirst wants out of the killing business. But four sinister associates must be eliminated before he can embark on a new life. He guns down one; the others turn up either missing or dead. All along, Conrad thought he was working for a German crime boss; is it possible that his paychecks are being cut by the CIA? Conrad's instincts tell him to trust no one, including the smart, sexy French woman he encounters along the way. With each anxiety-ridden day, he sees his dream of a peaceful existence slipping away. Wignall (For the Dogs, 2004) writes eloquently about criminals with a conscience, weaving together Conrad's precarious pursuit of "retirement" with his poignant (and, at times, maudlin) letters to a dead lover. Clipped prose drives this lean tale about a man less likely to go out with a whimper than a bang. "He'd experienced enough to know that survival wasn't an end in itself, that it was better to die trying to live than not live at all." Block, Allison