Circle of Assassins

by Steven Rigolosi

Five desperate strangers answer an ad that promises to help them rid an unwanted person from their life. A criminal mastermind named "A" makes each of them a provocative offer via an advertisement in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0977378748
• ISBN13: 9780977378746
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Ransom Note Press
• Length: 229 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.8" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Strangers on a Train...times 5

It's the post-office box rather than a railway car that brings these aggrieved potential killers together, but otherwise the tautly twisted tale proves worthy of Hitchcock. In a genre that too often glues cardboard characters to paper-thin plots, "Circle of Assassins" fleshes out a psychologically and morally complex story, told by distinctly different narrators. Are the motivations of the assassins as righteous as they appear? Are their intended victims unredeemable? Just when you think you've answered your own questions... Well, let's just say that good and evil can both be subjective. Thanks to this thoroughly original, intelligent and thought-provoking page-tuner, the next time I'm about to wish someone dead, I'm going to take a closer look into my own soul first.

Remove the deterrent, and then what happens ...

It's an interesting notion that the deterrent for most folks to commit murder is the fear of getting caught. If you remove that obstacle, will everyone rush out and kill their enemies? I began reading this book while waiting for Small Claims Court to begin, a particularly suitable place to contemplate revenge, and CIRCLE OF ASSASSINS proved distracting. Each murderer is assigned another's murderee. The mastermind is very clever, he/she knows that the murderee needs to be perceived as a villain, not a victim, so he/she presents instructions to each murderer and requests justification for the crime. The idea is unquestionably amusing, but how would the book unfold? There are five potential murderers, with five grievances and five potential victims. Cleverly the author doesn't give every story equal time. Once one is fully involved in these stories (which does take a while), the author introduces interesting changes to the main thrust of the story, surprising the reader and morphing the storyline--the reader eagerly flips pages. I did get lost a few times (there are plenty of details), but nowhere near enough to lose track of the story. Then the author completely changes the rules. It's riveting. The writing is clear and straightforward; the reading is very fast. I did put the book down in order to attend court, but when I picked it up later, I read it straight through. Would I have stayed up until the wee hours in order to follow the story? You betcha. One question which concerns readers of crime fiction only vaguely is whether the murderers will be caught, because, by and large, it's one of the rules of the genre that murderers are identified and punished. But, in this case, will the murderers be caught, and if they are, will that serve justice? You'll have to read CIRCLE OF ASSASSINS to find out. Theresa de Valence, Mystery Fiction Reviewer

I was up all night

Once again Rigolosi has proved his incredible story telling talent by provoking insomnia... Yup, I was up all nite enjoying this deft rollercoaster of a read, and just had to get to the surprising (and I mean surprising) ending! But what I enjoyed as much as the twists and turns of the plot and its imaginative premise (wouldn't you like to have a stranger bump off your most hated enemy?), was its social satire. From the agonies of a feminist English professor at a "midlevel" college yearning for the Ivy Leagues forced to deal with a dean who (horrors) wants students to read the classics, to a Main Line matron with a sexual deviant son-- Rigolosi shows that he really gets our contemporary culture. Actually, I should say I was up LAUGHING all night!

cleverly crafted mystery and much more

This fast-paced, page-turner has an amazing bomb-shell turn of events in the middle of the book. In fact, had the book stopped at that point, I would not have been disappointed--that's how remarkable the revelation regarding a part of the mystery. I was treated to still more riveting plot beyong the midpoint, and was well rewarded with an even bigger twist at the end. Highly recommended!

What a twisted plot, I loved It!

Great read with unexpected plot tunrs. This book is full of very different characters some with noble causes others not so much. I was excited all the way through to find out what happens in the end... lets just say the title is perfect.