Robert Wilson, The Hidden Assassins

The Hidden Assassins

Robert Wilson

Harcourt, November 2006, $25.00

ISBN: 0151012393

In Seville, Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon investigates the brutal murder of a naked male, whose mutilated corpse was uncovered at the city's dump. The victim's face was removed by acid and his wrists surgically carved off. Falcon, in spite of his mantra to stay distant struggles with the images. However, this makes him realize his not exclusive relationship with Laura must end,, because he wants restaurateur Consuelo Jiminez back in his life.

At the same time that the cop deals poorly with the homicide and his personal life, an explosion rocks the city. An apartment building and an adjacent kindergarten lay in ruins. Many die, as first responders try to rescue those they can. The residents of Seville are in a state of panic, when it is learned that in the basement of the rubble is a mosque. While the local and national law enforcement and media assume Islamic terrorism, Falcon begins to see a different venue that connects the bombing with the defaced corpse. Though alone, he soon begins peeling one layer at a time, a monstrous conspiracy, that if executed could devastate the west leaving many dead, but the clock is running out on him.

In his third appearance (see THE SILENT AND THE DAMNED and THE BLIND MAN OF SEVILLE), Falcon is at his best as he struggles with the gruesome murder, the explosion, and has no time to repair his personal life. The investigation is top rate, as the Inspector begins to slowly connect the dots that soon make him doubt the prevalent theory on the bombing, and leads him towards a more horrific conclusion that something bigger is coming. Readers will appreciate his efforts to prevent a monstrous disaster in this tense conspiratorial thriller.