The Double Tap (Stephen Leather Thrillers) [Paperback]

Stephen Leather (Author), S. Leather (Author)

Book Description

Series: Stephen Leather Thrillers | Publication Date: January 2002

The assassin -- the world's most successful contract killer. An anonymous professional with a unique calling card -- one bullet in the head and one in the chest for each of his targets. The Judas goat -- an ex-member of the SAS, Mike Cramer is the perfect sacrificial bait. When the FBI discover the next name on the assassin's hitlist, Cramer is set up to take his place. The wild card -- Cramer's past has caught up with him. Ex-IRA extremist Dermot Lynch blames Cramer for his lover's death and he's out for revenge. As Cramer trains for the most dangerous mission in his career, Lynch hunts down his sworn enemy. And the unknown assassin silently closes in on his target. The players are in position for the final deadly game ...

Editorial Reviews

Review

'In the top rank of thriller writers' -- Jack Higgins 'Stephen Leather should be nestling in your bookshelves alongside Frederick Forsyth and Jack Higgins' -- Daily Mail 'A fine tale, brilliantly told' -- Oxford Times on THE DOUBLE TAP 'Leather, a former journalist, can dispense high-adrenaline plotting but never at the expense of remembering that his characters are humans rather than Action Dolls.' -- Sunday Express 'Reading Stephen Leather at leisure is always a pleasure.' -- Ireland on Sunday 'Stephen Leather's novel manages to put a contemporary spin on a timeless tale of revenge and retribution... Leather's experience as a journalist brings a sturdy, gritty element to a tale of horror ... which makes The Eyewitness a compelling read' - Evening Herald, Dublin 'As high-tech and as world-class as the thriller genre gets' - Express on Sunday on The Bombmaker 'A whirlwind of action, suspense and vivid excitement' - Irish Times on The Birthday Girl 'Exciting stuff with plenty of heart-palpitating action gingered up by mystery and intrigue ... Leather is an intelligent thriller writer' - Daily Mail on The Tunnel Rats

About the Author

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He began writing full-time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 508 pages
• Publisher: Coronet (GB) (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340628391
• ISBN-13: 978-0340628393
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,502,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. You can find out more from his website, www.stephenleather.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Double the pleasure, March 3, 2003

By 

"jimbond2003" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Double Tap (Stephen Leather Thrillers) (Paperback)

Great read, the hunt for an assasin takes former SAS officer Mike Cramer around the world. The assassin has never failed and always kills the same way - two shots to the head, the double tap of the title. The only way Cramer can stop the killer is to take the next target's place. Gripping characters and a fast-paced style that makes the book difficult to put down. Leather isn't widely known in the US - but he deserves to be.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough Guy goes down swinging, January 15, 2006

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Double Tap (Stephen Leather Thrillers) (Paperback)

In a previous Stephen Leather thriller, THE LONG SHOT, ex-SAS Sergeant Mike Cramer is instrumental in foiling an assassination plot against the U.S. President and the British Prime Minister. Along the way, he's horrifically tortured by a fiendish, female, IRA terrorist in a manner that would have broken lesser literary and cinematic tough guys. But Cramer prevails.

Here, in THE DOUBLE TAP, Cramer is dying of stomach cancer. Wishing to go out fighting, he volunteers to act as the bait to entrap and liquidate a faceless international hit man that attracts the attention of the SAS after he kills a friend of the Prime Minister, who demands action. Thus, Mike assumes the identity of a reclusive millionaire businessman known to be on the assassin's short hit list. With the help of SAS trainers, Cramer practices quick-draw techniques in the hope that he can swiftly out-gun the Bad Guy, who specializes in double taps, i.e., a first shot to the head and a second to the chest close-up with a hand gun. Unknown to Cramer and the SAS, however, the former has another predator on his track, IRA soldier Dermott Lynch, out to avenge the execution of his wife, an IRA bomber, years before during an SAS raid on an IRA safe house in which Sergeant Cramer participated. Who'll get to Mike first?

THE DOUBLE TAP is decidedly better than THE LONG SHOT. In the latter, Cramer shared hero duties with an FBI agent, and, consequently, readers' loyalties might understandably be divided. Moreover, the potential repercussions of THE LONG SHOT were more international than personal, and the plot as a whole consequently perhaps less engaging. Leather remedies both shortcomings here with a leaner and meaner plot while at the same time providing a clever end-game twist that fools Mike and his SAS controller.

It's a shame Leather thought it necessary terminate Cramer's career. One can only hope that he was buried with all due honors in the parallel universe of literary fiction.