Crucible — James P. Sumner

Meet Adrian Hell. Having spent most of his adult life in the military, he is well trained and highly skilled in all forms of warfare and weaponry. He saw out his career heading up an elite Black-ops unit that officially didn't exist. When he left, he realized he was born to do one thing, and so he became a professional hitman, traveling North America and putting bullets in bad people. In Crucible, he takes a job in the sun-soaked city of Heaven's Valley, a paradise of sin and the jewel of Nevada. His contract? Kill a man who has taken money from the local mafia. Sounds easy enough, and with a large payday for a job well done, Adrian doesn't think twice about taking it on. The thing that makes Adrian Hell so good at his job is that he doesn't just pull the trigger. He researches. He asks questions. He plans out every aspect of his hit meticulously. He is, quite simply, the best at what he does. So when he starts asking questions about his new contract, he soon discovers there's much more to it than he first thought. Maybe even more to it than what his employers realize... His target works for a government defence contractor, and he's into something much bigger than just his deal with the mafia... It doesn't take long for Adrian to find himself standing alone, up against the mafia, terrorists and a private army â€" all after the same thing, but all unaware of each other. They only know one thing's for certain: Adrian Hell is a threat that must be eliminated! In this adrenaline-fuelled action thriller, our anti-hero assassin is pushed beyond his limits, tested to breaking point and left with no choice when confronted with tremendous odds and faced with a potential disaster that threatens the free world... he must use his pistols and his sharp tongue to do the only thing he knows how to: fight back!