cover image Gun Men

Gun Men

Gary Friedman. William Morrow & Company, $22 (286pp) ISBN 978-0-688-11545-6

This compelling first novel utilizes the techno-thriller format to address a controversial subject. A madman attacks students at a California elementary school with an assault rifle, and even before the victims are buried, a spokesman for the National Association of Gun Owners apears on television defending the right to bear arms. Vietnamese refugee Tran Van Duong, who lost his daughter in the massacre, hires professional hit man Elliot Brod to take an eye for an eye by killing the NAGO spokesman. In return, NAGO sends its security chief, Jamison Conners, after Brod. Friedman describes contemporary assassination techniques, heavily dependent on computers and electronics, with an expertise and energy reminiscent of Frederick Forsyth's in The Day of the Jackal. His vivid depiction of a U.S. in which ``gun men'' roam the streets unchecked further enhances his work's appeal for fans of the genre. (Mar.)