Book #3 in the Nick Mason series, "An Honorable Assassin," has a been a long time in coming and definitely worth the wait. Mason is a contract killer. Although he's so clandestine and undercover that there aren't really any contracts. No records are being kept. In fact, he doesn't even know who he works for. Whoever it is, they are not good people. You see Mason is trapped. In the first book he got an early release from prison with some heavy strings attached, that he had to start killing people on behalf of a crime lord who was responsible for Mason's early release. Mason may be doing bad things but he's essentially a good guy. A good guy in a nasty situation.
When I was discussing this new novel with Steve Hamilton I mentioned a favorite series of mine that also features a contract killer. It was a series written by Lawrence Block. During my excitement in talking about the Block books I misspoke and gave an incorrect name for Block's hit man. What I meant to say was Keller, as in John Paul Keller. That is such a great series. Instead of saying Keller I said Tanner. The Evan Michael Tanner series is another one by Lawrence Block. Tanner is a guy with a weird problem, he has lost his ability to fall asleep. He stays awake all of the time. That series left me feeling exhausted-I identified with Tanner's situation. But alas, I did say the wrong name during the interview. I meant to say Keller. I have no doubt that Steve Hamilton noticed my error but he was too polite to mention it. I wish he had, we could have edited that part out. I did not notice my blunder until the program was airing on the radio and I was flummoxed; oh my, I could not believe I screwed that one up! Interviews can be like Navajo rugs, the imperfections are merely part of the beauty, right?
