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Book Review: Night of the Assassin

     Hey, everyone. Happy Mother's Day to all you ladies out there. You certainly deserve a day to be lauded and appreciated. If there is any among you in search of a good book, may I make a suggestion? Try a book called Night of the Assassin, by Russell Blake.
     This is a book about Mexico, by an author who lives in Mexico. It is fast-paced, action packed and well written. I highly recommend it, although it is more of a guy book than a woman's book. Gee, I guess that sounded a little chauvinistic.
     This is the story of a hit-man. He is called El Rey, the King of Swords. His calling card is actually a playing card. When he kills, El Rey leaves a face card at the scene of the crime, usually stuffed into the victim's mouth. His story begins with a contract that he undertakes to kill a drug czar by the name of Papi Contreras. The hit turns out to be more difficult than normal and El Rey barely escapes intact. But that is why he enjoys the work. He specializes in the 'impossible jobs' and he makes a pot full of money for his services.
     After the initial contract is described, the author takes us back 20 years to a time when the assassin was  a kid. His father, also a high-ranking cartel guy, entrusts his son's education to a man named Emilio. Emilio teaches the young El Rey to shoot, fight and many other things. The lad is so gifted in certain areas that he just seems to naturally go down a certain path. He winds up as a Mexican Marine sniper. He learns demolitions. All along, he knows what he wants to be, a contract killer.
     When El Rey leaves the Marines and returns home for the first time in years, he learns that his childhood playmate and the girl who later became his lover, has been horribly mistreated by a gang of men from a cartel. Thus he begins life in his chosen field on a mission that is fully personal. This prequel, or origin, novel, as they say in the comics, tells us how El Rey became El Rey. It paves the way for the rest of the books in the series, which I intend to buy. Good writers are rare. Great writers are as scarce as hen's teeth. This guy is one of the elite, in my opinion. For an ebook, this will cost you about $5, I think, from Amazon and other places. Check it out, if you are so inclined.
    From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
  

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