Season of the Assassin [Hardcover]

Thomas Laird (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2003

Tough, taut, and terse, this crafty crime novel challenges Chicago police detective Jimmy Parisi—the sharp, no-nonsense cop who first appeared in Cutter—with two terrible crimes separated by three decades. Thirty years ago, in the 1960s, seven student nurses met death at the butchering hands of an assailant who went unapprehended by the investigating officer Jake Parisi, Jimmy’s father. While Jake did uncover prime suspect Carl Angelin, he soon found himself without any witnesses; they’d all disappeared. Then so did Angelin. Now a frighteningly similar massacre has occurred, and Jimmy Parisi is racing against time and Angelin to locate the sole surviving witness of the original massacre, who’s been hidden by the FBI in a remote mental hospital. Only she can finger Angelin and bring justice to the seven victims and Jimmy’s tragically dead father.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The two major American traumas of the '60s-J.F.K.'s assassination and the Vietnam War-collide in Laird's second, less gruesome, thriller (after 2001's Cutter) to feature Chicago police detective Jimmy Parisi. Jimmy investigates the killings of two young nurses, which hark back to a similar unresolved case-the tortures and murders of seven nursing students in 1968-handled by his late father, Jake, also a police detective. Jimmy sees so many coincidences between the cases that he and his erudite partner, Doc Gibron, are sure it's the same suspect, Carl Anglin. The narration switches between Jimmy, in the present and near present, and Jake during the earlier case. Both men suffer the same frustrations in trying to nail down the slippery Anglin. As in Cutter, Laird's pacing is good, and he brings Jimmy and his rogue suspect to life; the other characters aren't as well formed. A witness to the original crimes, kept in drugged isolation by the Feds all these years, revives miraculously with an unbelievably cogent testimony. The alternating viewpoints make for countless repetitions, partly because the father and son tell the same story and partly because their obsessions cause them to rehash events and motives. Although Anglin's supposed connection with the Kennedy assassination becomes clear early on, Laird keeps the suspense churning as leads fall apart.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

'This well-paced, first thriller [has] an engaging narrator... and a new twist.' - Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; First Edition edition (January 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786711248
• ISBN-13: 978-0786711246
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,289,198 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You might not want to read this book at night, February 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Season of the Assassin (Hardcover)

As the title says you might not want to read this book at night. Not because it is scary though, but because you'll lose great amounts of sleep doing so. The characters in this book are very well written and you can relate to them so well that while in the process of reading the book, it is hard to put the book down because you want to know how certain characters will deal with certain situations or if they will be alright. The storyline is amazing. I don't usually like to read books twice in a row but this book was so good that I have already started reading it again. I didn't read Cutter but as soon as I can find a copy of it, I'll read that one too. This book is simply amazing and it's one of the best books I've read in a long time.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Season of the good book (title recomended by a close friend...), April 26, 2006

By 

R. Null - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Season of the Assassin (Hardcover)

After spending a few month's in Tom Laird's high school english class, I can clearly see that his writing and teaching styles are remarkably, almost frighteningly similar. Seriously, "Season" is a well written, bluntly honset, and satisfingly page turning. If you are looking for an entertaining, slightly graphic, pulpy detective story, look no further.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding, July 11, 2003

By 

carol hartford (San Francisco area) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Season of the Assassin (Hardcover)

This book is exceptional in all respects. Parisi is a wonderful character. The dialogue is hard with nothing wasted.

The characters are the kind you respect. Parisi is worth bringing back again and again. Very well written.