Only Lars Brent can make the wonder drug he invented. It's easily worth a trillion dollars, but Brent has no hopes of cashing in. Two reasons: The drug's the best poison ever and he's the world-class killer using it.
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This story moves around the globe more than Randall Jarmon's novels usually do. The Canadian scenes occur in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Quebec City. Other scenes take place in Belgium, in France, in Alabama, in Florida, and in Washington, D.C. Mostly, though, this is a Canadian story playing out in or near Vancouver's fictionalized Little India district. That's where the hero lives.
Lars Brent, code named Needles, is a thin Canadian scientist who looks barely able to withstand winter winds. Yet he's a counter-assassin, who kills with a revolutionary poison and with cold-blooded cunning. He soon will hunt three deadly contract killers, doing so while fully aware treachery awaits him. His hunting also will be distracted by love. He quickly discovers a co-worker from long ago, Mila Rossi, is now divorced. She's a scientist, herself, and very much his intellectual peer. Brent even thinks Rossi might well be the world's smartest woman. Her cleverness just might save his life before the story's over.The two worked together years ago inventing poisons at a tiny, secretive Pentagon weapons laboratory in Alabama. When they unexpectedly meet again, Brent and Rossi are instantly attracted to each other.
She insists they take things slowly, however, since they need to set an example for her two teenagers. She also wants to know if Brent has changed.The teens already aren't so sure about Brent. Another bad marriage seems far too much for their struggling family to endure. Also, what's to be said for a Canadian man who can't play hockey?
If you've raised teenagers, we think you'll especially love these two---and particularly the daughter. She'll soon appoint herself the unofficial supervisor of her mother's love life. The foregoing might give you a sense of what could happen, but expect the unforeseen to take place often. We're guessing large portions of the plot will not turn out as you'd thought. If so, we think you'll like every unexpected development. We certainly did. Randall Jarmon meant this to be a standalone novel. We're not so sure it will be. Charlie Hexler, Louise Haranya, and the Dragon Lady seem to deserve stories of their own. The delightful teenage daughter might, too, but only after she's grown up. Of course, she thinks she already is so, even without having a driver's license yet.
Mikvelk Publishing, LLC
