Series: Assassin | Publication Date: August 31, 2010
WHO WILL DOMINATE THE FINAL BATTLE FOR AMERICA—A FEARLESS SHADOW WARRIOR OR AN ISLAMIC MASTERMIND?
2045: The Islamic Republic and the Bible Belt—the warring nations that arose after the apocalyptic and economic collapse of the United States—are rife with intellectual and social decay, and to the south, the Aztlán Empire threatens encroachment. For genetically enhanced soldier Rakkim Epps, reuniting the factions and regaining America’s former global standing rests on the discovery of a sacred relic lost in the contaminated ruins of Washington, D.C. In this deadly wasteland of diseased zombies and daring treasure hunters, Epps will ultimately face his archenemy, a dying Muslim fanatic who has brilliantly drawn Epps into an explosive showdown, with Epps’s own survival and the fate of the world at stake.
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This is the culminating novel in Ferrigno’s post-apocalyptic Assassin trilogy, following Prayers for the Assassin (2006) and Sins of the Assassin (2008), which was recently selected as a finalist for the Edgar Award. Key leaders are planning to reunite the U.S., long divided into an Islamic Republic and a Christian Bible Belt. Elite Muslim warrior Rakkim Epps’ wife, Sarah, believes the path to reunification lies in retrieving a relic of Christ’s cross kept in a safe room beneath Washington, D.C., an area long looted by scavengers known as zombies who are willing to risk contamination from nuclear fallout in order to retrieve and sell treasured items. Also interested in reuniting America is the Old One, a 150-year-old despot who has achieved near immortality through genetic engineering. Now, though, his time is running out as his body begins to reject enhancements to his system. He sends his ruthless, voluptuous daughter, Baby, to recruit Rakkim into his plan to achieve world domination. Ferrigno wraps up his provocative trilogy in grand style, alternating scenes of inventive mayhem with sweeping indictments of spineless politicians and fanatical extremists. --Joanne Wilkinson
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
I was born in South Florida, a tropical backwater rife with mosquitoes, flying cockroaches and the sweet stink of life. My youth was spent stealing science-fiction paperbacks from the local mini-mart and cutting tunnels through the palmetto thickets behind my house with a machete. Later, I regularly burned down those palmettos for the pleasure of seeing the fire trucks arrive, sirens blaring.
After earning degrees in Philosophy, Film-Making and Creative Writing, I thought that I would be happy as a college professor, writing dense, literary novels which I would assign to my students. I found, however, that being a professor was mostly a matter of going to meetings, and that I hated reading, let alone writing dense, literary novels. Instead, I went back to my first love, poker.
The next five years I gambled full-time, living in a high-crime area populated by starving artists, alcoholics, and drug dealers. I was comfortable there, and became friends with many people who would later populate my novels, the loveable, but dangerous sleazeballs as they have often been described. After a time, I got restless and used some of my winnings to start a punk rock magazine called The Rocket, where I interviewed the Clash, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, etc. The success of The Rocket got me a job as a feature writer for a daily newspaper in Southern California, where I took the adventure-and-new-money beat.
Over the next seven years I flew jets with the Blue Angels, drove Ferraris and went for desert survival training with gun nuts. More importantly, the newspaper taught me to train my eye and ear, to observe, to research, and how to use direct, concise language to create a character, and set a scene. The newspaper was a great gig but I wanted to write novels. I quit my day job.
My first novel, THE HORSE LATITUDES, (1991) was called the fiction debut of the season by Time magazine. It was, however, only May. I have since written seven more novels. My work has been described by the Washington Post as "Quentin Tarantino territory, with drugged-out and sometimes violent people in search of sensory overload, but what makes it all not just bearable, but often compelling, is Ferrigno's scorching wit and his relentless moral sense."
I love writing crime thrillers. At their best they are an honest portrayal of the human heart, within the context of love, humor, ambition, greed and betrayal. Just like life, the good guys are usually tainted, and the bad girls are smarter than anyone. While I can no longer understand a word of my undergraduate thesis on the philosophy of British logical positivist Ludwig Wittgenstein, thanks to researching my novels, I can steal a locked car within thirty seconds, effectively clear a jammed Mac-10 machine gun, and make crystal methadrine from ingredients found in any supermarket. I wouldn't have it any other way.
A trilogy is hard. Authors tell us this. Readers know it. That which surprises us, thrills us, or captivates us in part I has grown old by part III. Though imperfect, "Heart" keeps the pages turning and kept me up late to find how this all works out. Lots of characters moderate their craziness in this episode. But crazy is still here. Wait till you visit the Bridge of Skulls.
Ferrigno has created a world that still makes us wonder, what if.
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I have been waiting for this book ever since I finished the last two in the trilogy. The character development is first-rate and it results in you cheering for the heroes - even for some of the more unlikely heroes. These books kept me thinking, wondering and frankly, the whole idea is truly scary; however in some ways, they are hopeful as well as thoughtful. The world today is scary, yet the possible world in these books is truly freightening. Anyone who reads this trilogy will re-think some of their fears, prejudices, and even their opinions about the world today. I give the book and the trilogy my absolute recommendation.
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Though Robert denies it, this series stands with other immortal works of speculative social analysis and commentary like 1984 and Brave New World. But, first of all, Robert's prose is breezy and fast-paced--a pure pleasure to read. He communicates very effectively.
As always, there is genius in his menagerie of odd and distinct characters; the brave, the smart, the beautiful and the evil. They are all infused with humanity springing from Robert's keen observation of human quirks and foibles.
But the easy-reading and compelling characters are icing on the cake. The real debt the reader owes this series is the prescient realization of a world where the hole in our souls--unfilled by spiritless, dumbed-down education, reality TV and relentless commercialization and marketing--can be filled by the certainty of religion. We have a human need to fill ourselves with something; there is luxury and relief in falling backwards into the comforting arms of fundamentalist religions, including Islam. If you think the fragmentation and overthrow of the United States can't happen here, then you're not paying attention to the current lessons of Iran, Holland and Britain.
In 2000, Robert wanted to write a more significant book--as if it might be the last book he writes; one that would define his literary legacy. It took courage to do this and I applaud that courage. This series should be read and discussed and enjoyed...if you haven't indulged yourself yet, then I urge you to do so. As I said above, these 'Assassin' books are thought-provoking and easy to read. You can't ask more from a novel. Five Stars.
Ken Coffman is the author of Hartz String Theory, Steel Waters and other novels.
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