Shadow of an Assassin

by Mike Phipps

Detective Angela Callahan is used to taking on the tough cases. The brutally disturbing cases that no sane cop would ever want and, the fiendishly clever ones that those same cops can't solve. For the last five years, these cases have included tracking down and putting away serial killers. Methodical, maniacal, never stopping until they are caught or dead, killing machines. And so far, she's gotten them all.

Her latest case is a strange one. Members of San Francisco's most violent street gang are being murdered by night. One at a time, each by a single, fatal stab to the heart. Seventeen victims so far. Angela has been put on the case along with a new partner, with orders to get it closed as quickly as possible. But she soon realizes that there is much more going on here then meets the eye. As Angela begins to unravel the hidden secrets of the gang, she discovers that there is something deep and dark going on right here in her own city. Playing major parts in it are a dirty Politian who will stop at nothing to achieve his dreams and a government organization that no one is supposed to know even exists. Throw in the fact that she can trust no one, not even her own department and she finds herself facing peril and betrayal at every turn. And the only way to survive may be to put her own life, in the hands of a cold-blooded killer.

In this riveting thriller, a scrappy San Francisco detective must put everything on the line in an attempt to stop a vengeful killer's murderous rampage that could destroy the political world as we know it.

302 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2014

About the author

Mike Phipps is a native, fourth-generation San Franciscan and Board Member of the Friends of the Cable Car Museum. He is a graduate of both the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University History Departments. For thirty years he has taught California and United States History, as well as Western Civilization, at local secondary schools and colleges. As a Director of the Friends, he has given lectures and written historical articles for the museum. Recently his article, “Hallidie’s Folly: The Story of the Clay Street Hill Railroad Cable Cars,” appeared in the Winter 2009 edition of The Argonaut