A Necessary Evil

By Robert Stricklin

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0971936285
• ISBN13: 9780971936287
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Jumpnjupiter
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.5" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

The hitman from hell

What I enjoyed about this novel -- besides its dark and gritty plot -- was the striking clash of cultures it depicts -- sophisticated urbanite vs. seamy underworld character, or booksmarts vs. streetsmarts. In one corner you've got a misguided, white-collar antihero who, in a moment of weakness, buys into the notion of hiring a hitman to avenge his wife's unpunished murder. In the other corner, you've got a sadistic, predatory contract killer who turns on his own client. It's Death Wish meets Crimes and Misdemeanors meets Cape Fear, but scarcely derivative. What sets this story apart is its deconstruction of society's fascination and romanticism of organized crime. Did I mention that it's pretty suspenseful stuff? A cut above your run-of-the-mill crime thriller, this one makes for compelling and thought-provoking reading.

Spellbinding

A Necessary Evil is a flat-out, first-rate thriller that not only takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride, but also on a dark journey into the fragile psyche of a crime victim. The protagonist is a widower who thinks he wants revenge -- until he realizes the consequences. By then, it is too late to seal the Pandora's Box he has opened by hiring a hitman who is not only intent on carrying out a contract, but also desperate for the payoff. This leads to a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with only one possible solution. How this all unfolds is a guilty pleasure from start to finish. Definitely one of the best things I've read in some time.

Great thriller

I really enjoyed this book and the characters. I was hooked from the start and it just got more and more suspenseful. Not only is it a harrowing tale of murder and its consequences, but also a thought-provoking study of human behavior. I highly recommend it.

Great, suspenseful book!

I really enjoyed this book and found I couldn't put it down. I especially liked the twisted "relationship" between the main character and the hitman. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a good thriller.

A suspenseful thriller

As a fan of crime thrillers, I found this novel impossible to put down. It grabs you from the first page, just gets more intense with each chapter, and haunts you after it's done. The plot concerns a widower who is so devastated by the acquittal of his wife's murderer that he impulsively hires a hitman. But when he changes his mind, there are deadly consequences as his contract killer engages in a cat-and-mouse game of extortion, terror and homicide. The writing is crisp, the characters intriguing, and the suspense never wanes. This is one of the better books I've read in the past year, and one I would definitely recommend.