A Bloody Business

Book excerpt: History meets comedy meets hitman Martin Williams often finds himself in deadly historical events, with a good chance his mark will die without any intervention. But professionals don’t leave things to chance, and Martin is a motivated worker for his paymasters, the Firm. Follow Martin’s lethal career across four decades, three continents, and thousands of cigarettes. Along the way, Martin will find himself on a sinking RMS Titanic, crawling through mud in the middle of the Great War, holding the sold stocks that trigger the Great Depression, embroiled in a home-grown Communist workers’ revolution, and relaxing on a peaceful Pacific atoll the day after Pearl Harbor, to cover half the adventures within. But as time progresses, the world descends into the Cold War, and Martin finds himself increasingly in the crosshairs of equally skilled practitioners for rival organizations. Tiring of espionage, he begins to eye retirement. But will the Firm allow their prized employee to fade into obscurity? Or will they send Martin to join his previous assignments in the ground?