Heart of the Assassin

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.

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.

Publishers Weekly

Set in a future American divided into two major regions, Edgar-finalist Ferrigno's final entry in his Assassin trilogy (after Sins of the Assassin) nicely ties up the wildly diverse plot lines that have motivated his many characters. New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Mecca have all been nuked by the Old One, a 150-year-old Muslim fanatic trying to become the Muslim messiah who will lead a new caliphate. The only person who can stop him is Rakkim Epps, a fedayeen warrior whose historian wife, Sarah, is masterminding an effort to unite America by finding a piece of the true cross, buried somewhere in the D.C. nuclear hot zone. The Old One is aided by Baby, a brilliant blonde bombshell who's married to the Colonel, a powerful warlord. One can read this volume as a stand-alone, but to enjoy the vast breadth of what is truly a remarkable achievement, one should start with book one, Prayers for the Assassin, and read the series in order. (Aug.)

Robert Ferrigno was born in South Florida, a tropical backwater rife with mosquitoes and flying cockroaches.

After earning college degrees in Philosophy, Film-Making, and Creative Writing, he returned to his first love, poker. He spent the next five years gambling full-time and living in a high-crime area populated by starving artists, alcoholics, thieves and drug dealers, becoming friends with many people who would later populate his novels.

He used some of his winnings to start a punk rock magazine called The Rocket, where he interviewed the Clash, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, etc. The success of The Rocket got him a job as a feature writer for a daily newspaper in Southern California, where he took the adventure-and-new-money beat.

Over the next seven years he flew jets with the Blue Angels, drove Ferraris, and went for desert survival training with gun nuts. He ultimately gave up his day job to become a novelist, and his first book, The Horse Latitudes, was called "the fiction debut of the season" by Time magazine.

His most recent novel, The Wake-Up, was described by Kirkus Reviews as "Sharp, fast, and slick. Ferrigno can read like Raymond Chandler on speed, with pages turning and adrenaline pretty high throughout."

Prayers for the Assassin is his ninth novel.

He lives in Washington State with his family.