Mark of the Assassin FROM OUR EDITORS
When CIA agent Michael Osbourne is sent to investigate the tragic bombing of an airliner, he notices the mark of a notorious assassin on one of the dead: three bullet holes to the face. Now it's up to Osbourne to seek out the killer's employer, as well as the savage man who has evaded Osbourne for years.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Daniel Silva's first novel, The Unlikely Spy, proved itself to be one of the most auspicious debuts in years, was translated into over a dozen languages and went on to be a major international bestseller. Now, with The Mark of the Assassin, he firmly takes his place among the most compelling writers of his generation with an incredible tale of power, politics and intrigue.
When Michael Osborne of the CIA is called in to investigate the terrorist bombing of an airliner off the coast of Long Island, there is one relevant clue that drives him: a body found in the water, near the crash site, with three bullet holes to its face. Osborne recognizes the deadly markings as the work of a world-class assassin—a man whose very existence has never been proven because the only people ever to have seen him became his victims. Among those victims: a young woman Osborne loved years before.
As Osborne gets closer and closer to solving the puzzle of the airline crash, his personal obsessions threaten to consume not only the investigation, but his marriage and family life as well. And when the frightening identity of the assassin's employers becomes clear, Osborne puts himself—and his loved ones—into the sights of the most fearsome man on earth.
With breathtaking plot twists, complex characters, and a villain who is among the most ruthlessly diabolical creations in modern thriller fiction, The Mark of the Assassin is a razor-sharp suspense masterpiece from one of the more exciting new authors at work today.
Frank Runyeon, a versatile actor and comedian, has appeared in such popular shows as Melrose Place and L.A.Law, and has appeared in the feature films Sudden Death and Bolero.
SYNOPSIS
Daniel Silva, author of 1997's surprise New York Times bestseller The Unlikely Spy, returns with a bigger, bolder, razor-sharp suspense masterpiece. When Michael Osbourne of the CIA is called in to investigate the terrorist bombing of an airliner off the coast of Long Island, there is only one relevant clue that drives him: a body found in the water near the crash site with three bullet holes in its face. That is the mark of a deadly assassin named October, whom Osbourne has faced before, a man whose existence has never been proven but who, Osbourne knows, is responsible for the murder of a woman Osbourne loved years ago. When Osbourne gets on the trail of the assassin, he finds himself getting closer and closer to solving the puzzle of the airline crash—and to the frightening truth of the people who are the assassin's employers—while putting himself and his loved ones in the sights of the most fearsome man on earth.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
For his second thriller, Silva turns from World War II (The Unlikely Spy) to a modern intelligence milieu with corrupt government officials and wealthy special interests. The title character, October, is a contract master assassin released by the KGB 30 years ago. CIA agent Michael Osbourne, a terrorism expert, saw October kill his girlfriend and badly wants to capture him. Then the investigation of a missile-downed airliner off the coast of Long Island reveals a body with three shots to the faceOctober's signature. Osbourne's need to attend to his marriage while trying to stop October's completion of a multiple-hit contract and to uncover those financing it lead to a violent denouement. With concise, vivid character sketches, Silva weaves a swiftly paced, internationally tangled plot. Fans of Ludlum and Forsyth will look for this Literary Guild selection.-- Louise Saylor, formerly with Eastern Washington Univ,. Libs., Cheney
Entertainment Weekly
...[A] must-read for conspiracy buffs...
Kirkus Reviews
Silva, whose debut, The Unlikely Spy (1997), put the WWII thriller back on the map, brings the genre up to date with a vengeance in an exhilarating story that roots razzle-dazzle espionage heroics in contemporary political headlines. The Islamic fundamentalist group Sword of Gaza has apparently claimed responsibility for the Stinger missile attack that brought down TransAtlantic Flight 002, and the President, lagging in the polls a month before the next election, has responded by recommending a costly new antimissile defense system. But wiser heads at the CIA don't believe that Sword of Gaza shot down the plane. Michael Osbourne in particular has reason to remember the signature wounds in the face of the dead terrorist found near the Stinger launcher, since years ago his lover was killed in the same distinctive way. Now that Michael and his wife Elizabeth are trying for their last chance to have children, he's called away from her side to go after his b�te noir, the freelance assassin dubbed October, who all but pointed the Stinger at Flight 002, and who's now agreed to execute all the accomplices to the deed. Michael would be even more worried if he knew about the troubles he had much closer to homeþfor example, the Society for International Development and Cooperation, those warmongers whose tentacles reach high up in the Agency and the White House itself. The closer Michael gets to October, who's now taken out a Society contract to liquidate Michael, the greater the danger to himself, his wife, andþthanks to a gleefully inventive series of plot twistsþthe American political system as we know it. TWA Flight 800, Star Wars, Whitewater, Vince Fosterþthey're allhere, together with enough soothingly familiar spy stuff (the beautiful killer, the triple-cross, the conspiratorial military-industrial complex) to wring a sigh of pleasure and recognition from the most rabid paranoiac.
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