The tables have finally turned for British hit man Michael Weston. After making his mark in this seedy underworld as one of the best, cold-blooded hit men around, it appears that someone just may be after him this time.
After pulling off his latest job -- the murder of journalist Eleanor Ricks -- Weston nearly gets caught, despite his meticulous planning and preparation that included diversions such as a secondary explosion and a fake head wound requiring a trip to the ER. To his astonishment, he barely slips past the cops.
What went wrong this time? Is someone setting him up? Is it payback time for a murder-for-hire gone wrong that involved a stray bullet and the death of a young American girl? Who has set their sights on Weston, and why do they what him dead?
The reader will chase answers across the Atlantic Ocean to Texas and Seattle. With more twists and turns than one can count, Ian Rankin creates a crafty, mysterious, violent read with a level of detail that's hard to match. Those readers with a passion for crime minutia will be pleased, while it may leave other readers overwhelmed.
Michael Weston is a gun for hire. He's paid well to do his
job and ask no questions. But after successfully
assassinating a TV reporter, the cops are quickly on his
tail. How did they know how to find him? And who is his
anonymous employer? Why did he or she want the reporter
dead in the first place? Was he set up to be caught and
thrown in jail?
The answers may lie with Hoffer, a private detective who
has been hunting him for years--ever since Michael
dispatched a bullet and accidentally hit an innocent young
American girl. Her grieving father has kept Hoffer on
retainer and on a mission to bring Weston to justice no
matter what the cost. Could Hoffer have finally trapped
him?
The only way Michael can stay ahead of the police is to
find his mysterious employer and figure out who has been
playing him like a puppet on strings--or he may find
himself on the other end of the rifle.
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