As usual, I’m reading the newly re-released Quarry’s out-of-order. No matter, it’s sometimes fun to wander through a book as a prequel.Quarry has just set himself up as the assassin target’s best friend as he follows the hitman/woman to the target and then offers (for a substantial fee) to remove the hit from the target.
Collins has a sense of humor, and Quarry lists those types of targets who are the easiest for assassins (in order of ease): the self-important man, the man who feels the world revolves around him, e.g. politicians who can’t believe the world will go on without him. “Everybody knows it’s easier for a politician to grasp the possibility of a nuclear war ending the world than to understand that a bullet through his brain, say, could end a brilliant political career.”) Then there is anyone sitting on the board of a corporation, “there isn’t one of those assholes whose last words wouldn’t be, ‘there must be some mistake.’ “ “Religious people are easy marks, too. They all think the fix is in.”
Another quote that I liked: “She had the expression of the disillusioned social worker: compassion slowly curdling to boredom or worse.”
One of the better in the Quarry series, especially as it mixes genders in the hit business.
