End As An Assassin by Lex Lander
Published: Kaybec Publishing (1st May 2016)
THIS TIME IT’S NOT FOR MONEY.
THIS TIME IT’S FOR BLOOD, PURE AND SIMPLE.
André Warner is a professional killer, ex-British Secret Service. Thirty-nine contracts have made him a wealthy man, and his fortieth is to be his last.
The hit goes smoothly enough, and the victim – a degenerate drug baron – is dispatched with minimal fuss and no traces left to incriminate Warner. He drives off into the sunrise to hang up his gun and retire to his home in Geneva.
Then into his life comes Gina, a hauntingly beautiful divorcee, fugitive from a bad marriage. The timing is perfect, coinciding as it does with Warner’s new beginning. They soon become lovers, and all seems set fair for a life together.
Their idyll is shattered when a former associate turns against Warner, and he faces exposure and arrest. Accompanied by Gina, he flees his Geneva home, only to run from the clutches of the Swiss police into the far deadlier embrace of a Marseilles crime syndicate whose boss has a score to settle on behalf of Warner’s last victim. Suddenly Gina is at risk through her association with him, and in trying to protect her he only makes matters worse.
His retirement plans in shreds, his life on the line, Warner is forced to stage a comeback. Only this time it’s not for money. It’s for blood, pure and simple.
THIS TIME IT’S FOR BLOOD, PURE AND SIMPLE.
André Warner is a professional killer, ex-British Secret Service. Thirty-nine contracts have made him a wealthy man, and his fortieth is to be his last.
The hit goes smoothly enough, and the victim – a degenerate drug baron – is dispatched with minimal fuss and no traces left to incriminate Warner. He drives off into the sunrise to hang up his gun and retire to his home in Geneva.
Then into his life comes Gina, a hauntingly beautiful divorcee, fugitive from a bad marriage. The timing is perfect, coinciding as it does with Warner’s new beginning. They soon become lovers, and all seems set fair for a life together.
Their idyll is shattered when a former associate turns against Warner, and he faces exposure and arrest. Accompanied by Gina, he flees his Geneva home, only to run from the clutches of the Swiss police into the far deadlier embrace of a Marseilles crime syndicate whose boss has a score to settle on behalf of Warner’s last victim. Suddenly Gina is at risk through her association with him, and in trying to protect her he only makes matters worse.
His retirement plans in shreds, his life on the line, Warner is forced to stage a comeback. Only this time it’s not for money. It’s for blood, pure and simple.
About Lex Lander
LEX LANDER is a British born writer of crime thrillers, living and working in Montreal. Despite heavy business commitments - he is a partner in a Property Realtor business - he is currently finding time to produce two novels per annum. Lander is also the author of political thriller ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER JACKAL, published by Kaybec in 2013.
End As An Assassin was conceived after a trip to France, visiting the areas we used to frequent when I was living there. We had a yacht berthed in Hyeres in the south of France, and a mobile home in Agde. Having had the urge to write, and dabbled in it for some years, I conceived the idea of a professional killer operating in the area, which has always appeared a glamorous part of the world to the average Brit.
I had always found conventional ‘goody-goody’ heroes in books and films rather boring, and it seemed to me that if I could create a hit man who killed only villains, this would make for an more fascinating character. Physically I based him loosely on a friend of mine from my teens, although he is unaware of this! As far as I am aware my friend did not become a spy or kill people for a living.
Warner was devastated by the death of his wife, and at the start of the story, 11 years later is still in love with her memory, and has had no satisfactory relationships with women during that period. The story starts with his retirement, the novelty of which quickly palls, and leads him to seek comfort in drink and women of a certain dubious character, just to pass the time.
His intended final hit, covered in detail in the book, leads to the German police making enquiries about him through the Swiss police (he is resident in Geneva). This leads to his leaving Switzerland to stay on his boat in Monaco. By chance he meets up with Gina Gregg, a woman with a troubled past, and they fall in love. This finally enables him to drive out the demons of his wife’s death, and he can now look forward to a normal life with Gina as his wife, and maybe kids too, something he has always longed for.
Things do not go to plan, of course, but I don’t want to give any more away, I just hope you will read, enjoy, and review the book.
Hello Magdalena
ReplyDeleteYou were on the blogging tour for my book END AS AN ASSASIN, Volume I of the Andre Warner, Manhunter series, organized by the PR agency, Authoright. As far as I am aware you haven’t reviewed it yet, and I wonder if I might prevail upon you to do so. Don’t be deterred by the title. There’s plenty of violence and mayhem, yes, but a strong romantic element too. Something to suit all tastes, I hope.
If you do read it, would you be willing to post a review on amazon.com and .co.uk? In return I will email you a free ebook of Volume II in the series, entitled I KILL. Naturally, I hope you will also review this book in due course, and can offer you another ebook freebie to make it worth your while.
I look forward to hearing from you and thank you again for joining the blog tour.
Best wishes
Lex Lander.