O'Farrell's Law — Brian Freemantle

On the eve of a vital CIA assignment, an agent''s hesitation leads him to the brink of disaster

His grandfather was a lawman too. That''s how Charles O''Farrell rationalizes his work. He keeps a picture of his ancestor by his bed, a faded sepia portrait of a short, plain-looking man made remarkable only by the long-barreled Colt strapped to his hip. His grandfather killed to make the frontier safe - O''Farrell has the faded newspaper clippings to prove it. In the service of America, O''Farrell kills too. But his killings never make the front page.

A trained CIA assassin, O''Farrell lives like a machine, operating according to a perfect routine because routine keeps him sharp. Routine keeps killers from getting killed. But now, as he readies his next hit, a terrible twist will disrupt his once meticulous process. Doubt has begun to creep into Charles O''Farrell''s mind, and in a business where even the smallest hesitation can spell certain death, doubt is very dangerous indeed.