The villagers knew that they could not survive if they didn’t get help. Their little town was in the path of the advancing Serbian paramilitary forces and the villagers knew only to well what happened to the inhabitants of the villages the Serbs conquered in this never ending war in Bosnia.  Hoping to avoid their fate they sent the local school teacher, Zoran, with all of their money and jewelry to buy anti tank missiles to be used against the Serbs on the narrow road coming into the town. The deal was struck and the weapons promised, but the guns never came and the town was overrun and the villagers were killed or suffered horribly at the hands of the Serbs.

Eighteen years later, Petrar a farmer in the village, inadvertently uncovers a mass grave as he plows a field that had only recently been certified as free of land mines.  When the UN forensic pathologist comes and begins the task of identifying the dead, he finds Zoran’s body and in his pocket the carefully preserved receipt for the guns along with the name of the dealer who took their money and destroyed their hope. The village, led by the women, makes a plan for revenge and decides to arrange for the assassination of the arms dealer who betrayed them.

Harvey Gillot, the arms dealer whose name appears on the piece of paper, is completely unaware of the plot against him. Safe in England, far from the wars that feed his above average lifestyle, he cannot even begin to understand the implacable hatred and animosity that is now directed against him through the sights of an assassin’s gun.

Robbie Cairns is a young hitman who has already gained a considerable reputation for the efficiency and precision of his hits.  His jobs up till now have been local. His grandfather negotiates the deals and his sister and brother help with transportation and reconnaissance while Robbie goes where he needs to go and does the job.

Mark Roscoe a detective sergeant in the Flying Squad, an elite force with in the police service that protects those who became the targets for assassination.  Their “clients” are mostly bad guys-drug dealers, suppliers or somehow connected to organized crime who for some reason are now slated for execution. He and his team will need to protect Harvey Gillot against Robbie Cairns.

Every time I read a book by Seymour I am so impressed with his ability to make characters come right off the pages and his ability to take situations like the war in Bosnia and humanize them in all their complexity. You feel the villager’s implacable hatred and determination to seek revenge on the gun dealer, you feel the terror of Harvey Gillot and you realize that Robbie Cairns cannot give up even as he faces mounting odds. The complicated history, the diplomatic strategies are all told with an emphasis on understanding what motivates these characters. This was another impressive book and a great read for the beach!

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 Stars out of 5) 

Recommend this book to: Keith, Ken and Marian

Book Study Worthy: Yes

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