Review: The Godfather meets Léon: The Professional
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 13, 2013
Assassination of a Dignitary is not my first Carolyn Arnold novel, though I think it says a lot about the quality of her storytelling that I came back eagerly for more. She is excellent at telling a fantastic cop tale, so much so that even real police officers have commended her on her attention to detail.In Assassination of a Dignitary, the detectives may be secondary characters, but Arnold has proven she can take on an expansive and intricate cast and still weave a splendidly tricky web around them. There's the great deception embodied in the character Ray, the assassin, and shown in his secret life with the Italian Mafia that his perfect suburban family is unaware of. Then there's the twisted and disturbed Mafia Don's son, and his insatiable lust for power...which he'll kill, torture, and taunt to achieve. Throw in a kidnapped family, corrupt politicians, hidden agendas, dirty bribes, and a lot of spilled blood, and you have an ex-assassin's worst nightmare.It's a spectacular blend of The Godfather meets Léon: The Professional, with a good dose of gritty detective work thrown in. If you love a nail-biting thriller that'll keep you on your toes all the way to the end, then I highly suggest you get this book. At the very least, it'll have you breaking out your mafia movies!