This is covered in flashback in the book, but essentially, Warner was drummed out of the British Secret Service for being ‘trigger happy’.
Returning from an assignment in the Middle East, he found his wife dead in their apartment. The killer was still there and in a gunfight, Warner killed him. This led to an enquiry into his conduct, as this was the second death at his hands, and the Service frowns upon James Bond tactics. Having been rapped over the knuckles, he felt pressured to resign. With no obvious career next move in mind, he was tipped off by a Secret Service colleague that a man in Egypt is looking for a bodyguard. He flew to Cairo and hung about in a sleazy hotel, his money fast running out, and waited to be contacted.
One evening, in a bar, he fell in with an American who later turned out to be a hit man. There was a brawl with the bar owner, who objected physically to his belly dancer wife flirting with the hit man. Warner was drawn into the fracas on the American’s side. He escaped unscathed but the American suffered a broken arm. Unable to use a rifle, he recruited Warner to stand in for him. There was a lot of heart-searching on Warner’s part, but his own aimlessness, his skills with guns, and the nastiness of the victim all combined to thrust him into agreeing to substitute for the American.
It has always seemed to me that lawbreakers make more interesting subjects than lawkeepers. What makes them break the law? Do they live in continual fear of arrest? Do they have moral issues? With Warner I have tried to answer some of these question, and create a well-rounded character, something I feel Ian Fleming never quite managed with James Bond, excellent though the stories were.
Thank you Lex Lander for this interesting look at how Andrew Warner, star of your book, found himself as an assassin.
Returning from an assignment in the Middle East, he found his wife dead in their apartment. The killer was still there and in a gunfight, Warner killed him. This led to an enquiry into his conduct, as this was the second death at his hands, and the Service frowns upon James Bond tactics. Having been rapped over the knuckles, he felt pressured to resign. With no obvious career next move in mind, he was tipped off by a Secret Service colleague that a man in Egypt is looking for a bodyguard. He flew to Cairo and hung about in a sleazy hotel, his money fast running out, and waited to be contacted.
One evening, in a bar, he fell in with an American who later turned out to be a hit man. There was a brawl with the bar owner, who objected physically to his belly dancer wife flirting with the hit man. Warner was drawn into the fracas on the American’s side. He escaped unscathed but the American suffered a broken arm. Unable to use a rifle, he recruited Warner to stand in for him. There was a lot of heart-searching on Warner’s part, but his own aimlessness, his skills with guns, and the nastiness of the victim all combined to thrust him into agreeing to substitute for the American.
It has always seemed to me that lawbreakers make more interesting subjects than lawkeepers. What makes them break the law? Do they live in continual fear of arrest? Do they have moral issues? With Warner I have tried to answer some of these question, and create a well-rounded character, something I feel Ian Fleming never quite managed with James Bond, excellent though the stories were.
Thank you Lex Lander for this interesting look at how Andrew Warner, star of your book, found himself as an assassin.
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| Amazon UK |
THIS TIME IT’S NOT FOR MONEY.
THIS TIME IT’S FOR BLOOD, PURE AND SIMPLE.
André Warner is a professional killer, ex-British Secret Service. Thirty-nine contracts have made him a wealthy man, and his fortieth is to be his last.
The hit goes smoothly enough, and the victim – a degenerate drug baron – is dispatched with minimal fuss and no traces left to incriminate Warner. He drives off into the sunrise to hang up his gun and retire to his home in Geneva.
Then into his life comes Gina, a hauntingly beautiful divorcee, fugitive from a bad marriage. The timing is perfect, coinciding as it does with Warner’s new beginning. They soon become lovers, and all seems set fair for a life together.
Their idyll is shattered when a former associate turns against Warner, and he faces exposure and arrest. Accompanied by Gina, he flees his Geneva home, only to run from the clutches of the Swiss police into the far deadlier embrace of a Marseilles crime syndicate whose boss has a score to settle on behalf of Warner’s last victim. Suddenly Gina is at risk through her association with him, and in trying to protect her he only makes matters worse.
His retirement plans in shreds, his life on the line, Warner is forced to stage a comeback. Only this time it’s not for money. It’s for blood, pure and simple.
About Lex Lander
LEX LANDER is a British born writer of crime thrillers, living and working in Montreal. Despite heavy business commitments - he is a partner in a Property Realtor business - he is currently finding time to produce two novels per annum. Lander is also the author of political thriller ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER JACKAL, published by Kaybec in 2013.
Hello Rachel
ReplyDeleteYou were on the blogging tour for my book END AS AN ASSASIN, Volume I of the Andre Warner, Manhunter series, organized by the PR agency, Authoright. As far as I am aware you haven’t reviewed it yet, and I wonder if I might prevail upon you to do so. If you haven’t actually read it, don’t be deterred by the title. There’s plenty of violence and mayhem, yes, but a strong romantic element too. Something to suit all tastes, I hope.
If you do/have read it, would you be willing to post a review on amazon.com and .co.uk? In return I will email you a free ebook of Volume II in the series, entitled I KILL. Naturally, I hope you will also review this book in due course, and can offer you another ebook freebie to make it worth your while.
I look forward to hearing from you and thank you again for joining the blog tour.
Best wishes
Lex Lander.