cover image The Price of Sanctuary

The Price of Sanctuary

Gaylon Greer, . . Medallion, $24.95 (316pp) ISBN 978-1-60542-058-5

In Greer's unconvincing fiction debut, two hit men pursue history professor Shelby Le Cervoisier after she unwittingly assists a rogue element of the U.S. Caribbean Basin Task Force assassinate Haiti's military dictator. One professional killer goes to Arkansas, the other to Arizona, her two most likely destinations. Luckily for Shelby, who flees with her sister to Arkansas, the assassin sent to that state, Hank Perkins, kills only targets he believes deserve death. After getting to know Shelby, Hank decides to help her instead. Meanwhile, the second killer, a sadist known as Vlad the Impaler, closes in. At one point, Hank wonders how Shelby's privileged background “equipped her to survive rape and torture, execute her abusers, and collaborate to assassinate a head of state?” The book never gives a satisfactory answer. Others might be able to pull off a story involving a hit man with a heart of gold, but Greer, the coauthor of a number of real estate investment books, fails to do so. (June)