Prayers for the Assassin

Posted on by
The Pitch: “Red Dawn“ with Islamic Radicals… 25 years later [and without the teenage freedom fighter aspect].

The Overview: The year is 2040 and the United States is long gone, replaced by the Islamic Republic and Bible Belt. Both factions exist in a state of constant unease. Sarah, the daughter of an important Islamic leader is missing. She was working on a book which could show that the demise of the United States may not have happened the way the history books say. Rakkim, her lover and a former member of the Fedayeen, is on her trail. So to, is Darwin, a sadistic assassin.

The Good: Ferrigno creates a world that could exist now. It’s the subtle changes that jolt. “The second half of the Super Bowl began right after midday prayers.” // The book could accurately be described as action-adventure or mystery or science fiction. // The pace is quick. // There are plenty of twists and mysteries. // Rakkim is a very cool, very capable hero. // Darwin is the ultimate assassin. “My name is Darwin. I’ll be your killer tonight.” // The scenes with the “werewolves” [which are not really werewolves]. // The SWAT ambush. // The entire book.

The Bad: “See there? Your liver’s been shredded. Amazing how quickly the bile backs up when the ducts have exploded. The human body… what a playground.” // “You’ll be dead in a couple of hours, but I wanted us to have some time together first. I so very rarely get to discuss my handiwork.”

The Ugly: What happens to Sarah early on.

The Summary: Robert Ferrigno is an excellent writer. I started reading Ferrigno’s work with The Horse Lattitudes, his first novel and my favorite by him. Prayers for the Assassin now has that honor. There is a chance that it may soon be replaced by Sins of the Assassin, the second in the Assassin trilogy. It sits in my To Be Read stack calling me back to a world very much like, yet subtly different than, that outside our windows today.