general

American Ambassador to Italy, Stanfield goes out for a late drink after a tryst with his mistress, but is killed by a smart missile that specifically targeted him. Alex Hawke and Dr. Victoria Sweet exchange "I Dos" when a sniper kills the bride. In Saudi Arabia, American Ambassador Butch McGuire drops dead from having his internal organs fried.

Secretary of State Consuelo de Los Reyes asks the grieving Hawke to join Jack Patterson on investigating the assault on the United States diplomatic corps. Hawke agrees. However, in the meantime in Maine a female teen babysitter slaughters Deirdre Slade and her two preadolescent children; the victims are the loving family of a diplomat.

The Sweet killing evidence points to Cuban exile Scissorhand while the ambassador murders look like the work of bin Wazir. Though he prefers to go to "Little Havana" to confront Scissorhand, Hawke lets friends handle that while he tries to stop further assassinations from occurring even as the intrepid ambassador to France Duke Merriman dies from phosphorus fire.

ASSASSINS is an exciting action-packed and nonstop tale starring a terrific series of heroes and an even better band of killers. The story line is chilling in many ways as the assassins are pretty women who one would never suspect as killers yet their loyalty is to bin Wazir or his superior, his father-in-law the Emir, a believer in a Moslem only world. The satirical spoofing of the first novel (see HAWKE) never occurs, as this is more of a straight shooter. The dual plots come together although the Sweet murder seems overkill and pale vs. the more clever kills. Action-adventure readers will enjoy this testosterone vs. estrogen thriller.

Harriet Klausner