The Executioner's Game
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
A deadly government assassin is sent to kill the man who trained him, only to be trapped in the deadliest game of all.Luther Green is a government assassin. He is employed by E-1, an agency so secret, even the President is unaware of its activities. Luther was recruited from a military academy, then plunged into a world where his only purpose was to eliminate America’s worst enemies. Luther’s mind and body were forged into a killing machine by Alex Deavers, a legendary agent who became Luther’s mentor and best friend. Luther is called back to America and informed that Alex Deavers has turned rogue agent while on assignment in Africa. Deavers has disappeared and is rumored to be insane.Luther accepts the job of terminating his old friend, which within the agency is called The Executioner’s Game. Deavers proves a dangerous and elusive target, leading Luther on a chase through the bowels of America’s inner cities, dropping clues which signal that all is not as it seems. Luther is lured into constant danger, his skill and loyalty tested at every turn. Luther captures Deavers, then discovers a secret spanning a half century; involving billions of dollars and costing millions of innocent lives. Luther realizes that he was marked for death from the start and must now turn rogue agent himself or face elimination.Luther summons all of his skill and turns it against the agency which created him. And to win the game, Luther will have to rediscover the man who was turned into a killer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hardwick, a veteran film and television producer, screenwriter and director who also writes books (Color of Justice), has a moderately interesting story to tell in this political thriller about an African-American assassin working for an elite government intelligence agency with ties to the CIA. But despite his publisher's attempts to promote him as the black Elmore Leonard, Hardwick's prose isn't really up to the job, making even the more exciting scenes hard going. What he does share with Leonard is the ability to quickly capture the hard edge of Detroit street and crime life, as his lead character Luther Green uses what he learned growing up in that Michigan city to track down the man who hired and mentored him. Alex Deavers is now suspected of killing a U.S. senator on a fact-finding trip to AIDS-ravaged Africa, and the head of Luther's agency wants him dead. Despite his doubts about his friend's guilt, Green follows orders and sets off after Deavers. Few readers will be surprised to discover that they soon share these doubts, which increase with every twist of Hardwick's plot. A rewrite or some better editing could have made this a winner. FYI: Film rights to the novel have been sold to Sony Pictures and Original Films, with Jamie Foxx to star.
