Sins of the Assassin: A Novel

by Robert Ferrigno

Book Overview

In the second book in the award-winning trilogy that began with Prayers for the Assassin, shadow warrior Rakkim Epps battles radical fundamentalist forces in a futuristic America, now a divided... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416537651
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Scribner
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Ferrigno Hits Another Bullseye!

SINS Of The ASSASSIN is the second installment of a planned trilogy (Come on Ferrigno, why are you going to leave us with only three books?) and it's even better than its dazzling predecessor, PRAYERS For The ASSASSIN. Those of you who aren't familiar with the Assassin saga should understand that by the mid-21st century the world has been turned upside down. Western Europe is an Islamic basket case while America itself has been broken by nuclear attack, civil war and ecological disaster. In addition to the territorial acquisitions of Canada and the encroachment of the ascendent Aztlan Empire of Mexico or breakaway republics like the Mormon Free State and a Cuban dominated Florida, two political configurations now dominate what used to be the United States: the Islamic Republic of America and a loose confederation of the former southern states familiarly called the Bible Belt. Both are second rate powers, one waiting to destroy the other while Russia and China and new economic powerhouses like Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa strip them bare through exploitive trading privileges and concessions. In this bizarre world of our near future lives Rakkim "Rikki" Epps, a genetically enhanced former "shadow warrior" of the Islamic Republic's elite Fedayeen special forces. Rakkim doesn't have the time or inclination to make sense of the bewildering religious and political forces responsible for the mess in the world...he is too busy fighting them. In PRAYERS we watched Rakkim curtail the maniacal ambitions of the Old One (an ancient Arab billionaire somewhat reminiscent of Hasan-i-Sabah, the 12th century leader of the Ismaili sect of the Assassins), helping to expose him, not Israel, as the one behind the nuclear attacks on Mecca as well as New York and Washington. In this latest installment we see him deep undercover down in the Bible Belt, hoping to infiltrate the army of a Kentucky warlord who is believed to be close to unearthing an old US weapons system, which he plans to sell to the Chinese. Whereas the original novel showed us the nightmare of the Islamic Republic of America: a place where Disneyland lies in ruins for those to remember the immaturity and wickedness of their forefathers, where Mt. Rushmore has been defaced, where Jews are hunted down, Catholics have been ghettoized and homosexuals hang as putrid ornaments from the Golden Gate Bridge; SINS Of The ASSASSIN gives us a glimpse of a chaotic Bible Belt that seems to have also gone insane. New Orleans has long ago drowned in the perennial hurricanes that lash at the Belt's southern shores. Diseases and plagues infect much of the region. Outside of the capital of Atlanta, central authority is literally a joke, with power being held by warlords, various militias and drug barons. The South has become a place where indentured servitude is common and Waco reenacments draw huge crowds. Robert Ferrigno put much time and research into his books, he also creates complex characters

A Chilling Vision of a Possible Future

The second novel in a planned trilogy, "Sins of the Assasin" picks up three years after the end of the previous novel, "Prayers for the Assasin". That novel painted a future in which a civil war has torn the USA apart in the Isalmic Republic of the North and the "Bible Belt" of the South. Rakkim Epps, a former special forces "Shadow Warrior" for the Islamic Republic and hero of the first novel, is living in hiding with his wife, Sarah, and their son. The Old One, a brilliant, ruthless billionaire with aims on establishing a worldwide claiphate and who almost took over the Republic, has escaped after his part in the events that led to teh Civil War are exposed. On a cruise ship in the Pacific he plots to take over both the Islamic Republic and the Bible Belt, again trying to use a reunited Islamic America to establish a global caliphate. And in the Bible Belt, a charismatic leader known as "the Colonel" has stumbled upon a secret from the old USA which could upset the fragile peace between the two American nations and plunge the world into chaos. Ferrigno's first novel in this series was fantastic, painting his shattered Islamic Republic of America is small strokes, with the glimpses of the changes forming a larger picture. One of the most interesting parts of the novel was the idea of the "Bible Belt", the loose union of states that pretty much comprise the old Confederate States. They are only mentioned and not visited in the first book, which focused on the theocratic Islamic Republic that was trying to balance religian and Sharia law with some freedom for it's citizens. Here, the Bible Belt. their culture, their govenrnment, their religion and their people are all thrust to the forefront, and with those same small touches, Ferrigno paints a portrait of a ruined American south, ruined by global warming, corrupption, religious fervor and international meddling. Rakkim is sent into the Belt on a top-secret mission to stop the Colonel from discovering A secret weapon of some kind that the old USA hid at the bottom of an old mine. He takes with him a 19-year old genius who can analyze and nuetralize the weapon. His journey takes him from Texas to Georgia and Ferrigno presents us with a polar opposite of the Islamic Republic. In the Belt, law & order hardly exist at all, as local warlords intimidate the weak national government. It's basically what would have happened if the South had won the first Civil War, really, with a distrust of centralized power and a fierce Christianity rule. It's as frightening a place as the Islamic Republic, but for different reasons, and Rakkim and Leo have expectations shattered and form strange alliances as they move towards their target, while the Old One continues his plan. The central story here is Rakkim's. He is different than in the first book, and still haunted by the climax of that novel. He is at turns incredibly kind and ruthlessly brutal, and this dichatomy is being to wear at his

Heroin packaged as a book

Seldom does an eagerly anticipated sequel meet the hype. Even less frequently does it exceed the original, especially when the latter received numerous awards and hit all of the bestseller lists. Such an anomaly is Robert Ferrigno's Sins of the Assassins, the second volume in the Assassin Trilogy. Epic in scope, cinematic in its plotting, startling in its violence and ultimately realistic despite its futuristic setting, Sins features the return of Rakkim Epps in a post-nuclear U.S. In Prayers for the Assassin, Epps uncovered the true backdrop behind a so-called "Zionist" attack on Washington, New York and Mecca. The attacks triggered a second U.S. Civil War that eventually split the country into a moderate Islamic Republic and a Christian-oriented Bible Belt. With help from his long-time friend Sarah, Epps exposed "the Old One" as the instigator of the nuclear attacks. The Old One, bent on establishing a global Islamic empire with North America as its cornerstone, was stopped dead in his tracks by Epps and Sarah but escape to live another day. In "Sins", another, darker day has arrived. The United States is more fragmented than ever as the Christian Bible Belt is racked by warring factions; the Islamic Republic has become increasingly radicalized as Sharia law spreads; and the Aztlan Empire (Mexico) and Canada are encroaching on the old southern and northern borders. Worse, word of a legendary super-weapon buried in a remote mountain area -- a highly-classified DoD project in the old U.S. regime -- threatens to unravel the fragile truce that exists between the Islamic Republic and the Bible Belt. Epps is tagged for a secret mission by the president of the moderate Islamic Republic to retrieve the weapon. Any hope for a "re-United States" hangs in the balance as a variety of international players -- including China, the modern global superpower -- race to control the weapon. Epps is one of the Islamic Republic's elite "shadow warriors," a tiny cadre of special operatives groomed for commando activity behind enemy lines and genetically enhanced for night vision, fighting skills and agility. Compounding Epps' troubles, however, he's ordered to bring Leo -- an unathletic, unworldly nineteen year-old scientific genius -- with him on his nerve-wracking mission into the Bible Belt. Leo's job will be to quickly interpret the weapon's technology and to perform other classified tasks to which even Epps is not privy. Along the way, Epps grapples with his own religious beliefs. As the violence escalates, he becomes convinced that somehow, some way, the spirit of Darwin -- the ultimate assassin controlled by the Old One -- has entered his being. Epps struggles to maintain control over his own schizophrenic existence as he and Leo weave their way through the Bible Belt's fragmented territories of religious cults, militias and corrupt officials. As Rakkim and Leo wend their way to the mountain and the weapon within, they face not only the combined forces

You'll lose sleep with this one

A great follow up to the first book. This, the second of three, keeps you turning pages with the continuing story of Rikki and friends fighting for the good in a future America you never anticipated. Travel to the Bible Belt, find secret weapons, fight science-enhanced soldiers, discuss religion and politics. One of the best thrillers in years. I can't wait for the final chapter. A smart, wry commentary on all of the foolishness of the present day.