Alexander Hawke, Lord Hawke, descendant of the notorious pirate Blackhawke, was first introduced in Hawke. Orphaned as a child and raised by his grandfather, he single-handedly restored the family fortune, heads a large corporation, and engages in amazing acts of derring-do to save the world from evil. When this sequel opens, Hawke is about to marry Dr. Victoria Sweet, a woman with about as many accomplishments on her resume as on his. She’s the daughter of a United States senator, a child neurologist, and a published author. That she’s gorgeous and sexy is a given. Babes can’t help being attracted to these testosterone-charged hunks. So what’s the problem?

Heroes like this fly solo. Remember James Bond’s barely happened marriage? (Note to wannabe superhero lady loves: if you’re hoping to live to a ripe old age, steer clear of these guys.)

Sure enough, immediately after leaving the church on her husband’s arm, Vicky is shot and killed by a sniper. By the time pursuers reach the top of the hill above the church, the sniper is gone leaving his rifle and scope behind.

Someone is targeting high level ambassadors in the U. S. diplomatic corps. The killing method varies among the victims; the only tie is some variety of flower left behind.

Snay bin Wazir is a native of Mozambique who amassed a great fortune through both legal and illegal means. For a brief time he was feted in London circles, but his tasteless renovation of a venerable hotel destroyed his reputation. His father-in-law, the Emir, a fanatical Muslim who plots to destroy Western civilization and religions, has pressured Snay to embark on a campaign of terror. Snay has assembled a cadre of female assassins, hashishiyyun all beautiful and seductive who have been given code names of flowers. (Contrary to the Emir’s delusion, females are not the deadlier sex. Crime statistics prove that males are eight to nine times more likely to kill than females.)

With world peace in the balance, Hawke cannot allow himself to wallow in grief. Soon he is on the search for the perpetrator of these dastardly crimes before a worse catastrophe can befall the Western world. Meanwhile, his friends are looking into possible Cuban links to Vicky’s murderer.

As indicated by this synopsis, there are three story lines in Assassin with resulting frequent shifts in focus. With all the dashing around, character development pretty much gets lost in the shuffle. There are the stereotypical good guys and bad guys and not much more. The only character who gets much depth is the bad guy, Snay bin Wazir. Yes, he’s behind all these murders, but you can’t blame it all on him because he’s got this really nasty father-in-law who’s making him do it and all he really wanted was to be the Big Man in London but nobody appreciated him.

In spite of all the action and the rapidly rising body count, Assassin has trouble maintaining its momentum through the entire book. The narrative flags in the middle and never recovers the pace of the opening chapters. I only stayed with it till the explosive end because I was reviewing it ... and because I was secretly hoping that Snay would get away with it.

If you read and loved Hawke, you’ll probably want to read this sequel because it’s more of the same. If you want more than an outlandish plot and tissue-thin characters, you’ll probably be wise to look elsewhere.

--Lesley Dunlap