The Assassin

Selena McCaffrey #1

by Rachel Butler

Selena McCaffrey knows what it’s like to fight for your life, to hone your body until it’s sharp and to never let down your guard–for anyone. A beautiful artist with a dark, painful past, Selena also knows how to keep secrets. With a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson and a double-edged dagger packed in her bags, Selena is leaving Key West for the American heartland. She’s going to kill a man.

Fourteen years ago, a chance encounter plunged Selena into the grasp of a criminal mastermind, William Davis, who became her protector and twisted father-figure. Now William has ordered her to move in next door to a Tulsa cop investigating a triple homicide. A man of quiet strength, Detective Tony Ceola is closer than he knows to bringing down William’s criminal empire. But as Selena slowly gets to know her new neighbor, her past starts slipping away and a choice appears before her eyes: between the man who trapped her in a world of violence and lies–and another who can set her free.…If she doesn’t kill him first.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Suspense, Fiction, Romance, Adventure, Romantic

384 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 2005

About the author

aka Marilyn Pappano

Reviews

[TinaNoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selena McAffrey is just one of the names she uses. By the time she was fourteen, she had lived with three sets of foster parents, had been called by several names, had been beaten, mistreated, taught to steal and was bring groomed to be a whore.

But one night in an alley, she met her savior. A man who killed her assailant, sent her to school, allowed her to indulge her passion for art. She owed him her life. But he wanted to own her soul.

The underlying mystery in this book is quite interesting. Selena McCaffrey is asked by her benefactor to assassinate a man. Selena's background has been sufficiently established to be a neglected and abused one that she accepts the affection of a man who is also emotionally abusing and manipulating her.

That Selena's quest to kill police detective Tony Ceola is somehow related to him ongoing investigation of a vigilante killing drug dealers is a give. How the two relate is the real mystery and has quite a pay off in the end.

I have two big quibbles with the book:
1) It took some time getting started and was somewhat repetitive. I wanted the action already!

2) Selena was too wishy washy in some ways. I wanted her to be more decisive, more kick ass.

There are two other books in the series that look like they'll answer some questions about Selena's background and her real parentage. And her romance with Tony heats up, so they look promising. I'll have to check them out.

[John Mccrackin]

This is cool

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Joanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may be overly tired, but i did NOT see the twist coming omg.

[Bernd Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hat mir gefallen

[Amber Galindo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending was little predictable, but the rest of the story was pretty good. It starts off a little slow but really picks up fast.

[ElaineY · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot had all the potential of a great romantic suspense but unfortunately Butler is not a skilled storyteller for me. The years between 14 year-old Selena's rescue from rape and her eventual summons to meet with her saviour is completely ignored and the grown up Selena I meet is very well able to protect herself but I have no idea why this woman is what she is - obsessed with Davis.

Butler tells us Davis has been grooming Selena to take over his drug business when the time comes yet Davis has ignored Selena once he saved her. He pays for her education, and her expenses but he's never shown any personal interest in her yet Davis is described as a villain who is obsessed with possession and power. His treatment of Selena is very contradictory to what we are told - that he wants to own her completely, wants her complete obedience, to even to the point of murdering for him but he's not there in her life to ensure all that. We also don't know much about Selena apart from her abused childhood which is only glossed over which makes it difficult to truly know her, much less feel for her.

Det. Tony Ceola, though, is a nice Italian cop with a nice family. Ok, he's got this kid sister who's sleeping with a creep but overall, Ceola is someone any normal woman would bring home to meet Mom and Dad. His reaction upon being confronted with Selena's duplicity is to be expected and unfortunately, I was not sufficiently moved by Selena's character to feel she deserves him.

Suspense-wise, this book was a total letdown. There were several occasions that could have made this book a page-turner but Butler never delivers. Too many pages taken up with Selena ruminating over her unmet needs where Davis is concerned turned this book into a frustrating read.

[Netha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selena, seorang pelukis memiliki galeri di key west
terbuang sejak masih kecil, selena dibesarkan oleh "paman" wiliam
namun ternyata dia hanya dimanfaatkan.
sebagai balasan atas jasa2nya selana diharuskan menuruti segala perintah wiliam termasuk membunuh.

suatu ketika selena diminta untuk membunuh anthony ceola. seorang detektif tulsa.
selena memulai misinya dengan pindah ke tulsa & menjadi tetangga tony.

masalah jadi pelik ketika selena & tony saling jatuh cinta.
jelas aja selena tidak mampu melaksanakan perintah wiliam.
apalagi setelah selena mengetahui dirinya dimanfaatkan habis2an oleh wiliam & ternyata wiliam davis hanya nama kedok.
wiliam mempunyai nama lain & merupakan seseorang yg memiliki pengaruh yg kuat yg harusnya dipergunakan untuk memberantas kejahatan. ini malah kekuasaan itu disalah gunakan.

hmmmmmmmm kalo menurutku nih ya
sebenarnya buku pertama ini bagus tp ceritanya terlalu muter deh. too long & too mbundeti.
sejak awal sudah terasa chemistry selena & tony tp entah kenapa aq ngerasa pdkt mereka tuh rada aneh. terasa terlalu dipaksakan walo ga ngilangin chemistry yg terasa.
endingnya suprise banget.
di akhir2 cerita nongol tokoh kunci lain.
di ending juga terungkap jati diri selena sebenarnya.
selena bukanlah selena mccafrey juga bukan gabriela sanchez seperti yg diduganya.
dia punya identitas lain. dia bukanlah selena the assassin nya wiliam, jg bukan gabriela yg teraniaya...............

[Alina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. It was neither bad nor am I probably ever gonna read it again but overall, it was good enough.

The story is interesting and the case of the murders and Selena's dilemma all made for a nice, suspenseful read.

I also totally liked the surprising turn of events at the the end of the book.

However, I didn't like the way that Butler resolved the conflict between Tony and Selena. It felt way to hush-hush, like she didn't really know how to do it or had only a few pages left to do it, so it felt rushed and wasn't really satisfying. Also, the explanation why she shot him during the big confrontation was a bit vague, at least I didn't really understand why she had needed to do it.

It could have been worse...

[T.M. Carper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book that is the first in a series. I picked up when I visited a different local library original based on the title and the fact that there was a blurb from Lisa Gardner. I loved it. Great characters, lots of twists, and plently of action and suspense.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this much better than a 3.

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, not too shabby. Little twists kept it interesting, dragged on for just a teensy bit. 2nd book looks promising

[Anandh Sundar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is the first one in the series, with a predictable end. Still, the novelty of the plot deserves a good rating. Nice one starring a female detective.

[Karen Desmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

4

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book. However, you would think Selena would know the difference between a clip and a magazine.

[LadyTechie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book was not what I was expecting it was still a good read. Great action, relationships and a great story.

[Jodie J. Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been a long time since I read this, but there was lots so suspense and romance. I enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone interested!