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THE EXECUTIONER'S GAME
by Gary Hardwick
HarperTorch, December 2005
272 pages
$7.50
ISBN: 0060575859


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Luther Green, the African-American protagonist in Gary Hardwick's THE EXECUTIONER'S GAME, is an assassin. He has been so for over a decade and has spent the time travelling the world on behalf of the US Government strategically despatching his Government's enemies not once questioning the orders given to him.

However, things change when he gets his new target. The person he is sent to kill is his friend and mentor, Alex Deavers. The Government now believe him to be a rogue agent on the brink of insanity who needs to be taken out.

This new assignment raises a number of questions for Green and he begins to believe that not all is right with his current assignment. As he digs deeper and begins to stalk his prey he comes to realise that he is in the middle of a game with his mentor that could cause the death of many and the only person who is able to help him solve this riddle is the person whom he has been sent to kill.

The main character is a cold, calculating, patriotic governmental assassin who is 100 per cent willing to sacrifice all and sundry to complete his mission. In fact, Green is nothing but a pawn between his masters and his former mentor.

To me THE EXECUTIONER'S GAME tries hard to be in the same league as novels such as of John Le Carre's but sadly does not come up to scratch. This is not to say that this is not a good read. Far from it. It is without doubt a thrilling read. The characters are powerful (even if you do not have much sympathy for them) and there is a lot of suspense in this novel.

Nevertheless as much as the reader becomes engrossed in the cracking scenes and vivid dialogue one is not entirely convinced of Hardwick's depiction of the world of espionage. The action-packed story line does not offer anything new within the literary world of spies. In comparison to Le Carre Hardwick is still a novice. What does come across in this novel is how much this reads like a film script. Need I say more!

Reviewed by Ayo Onatade, February 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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