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Louis Morgon #2
L'Assassin
From the critically acclaimed author of Le Crime, published in hardcover as A French Country Murder, comes this electrifying sequel featuring former CIA operative Louis Morgon and his partner-in-crime-solving, Jean Renard, the gendarme of their small French village.
Louis Morgon is living a quiet life of good food, good wine, and good friends. When his house is burglarized, he thinks nothing of it. But the burglar and the motive for the burglary are not as simple as they seem. And the consequences of the seemingly trivial break-in will lead Louis and his loved ones to the end of the earth---and quite possibly to the end of their lives.
Louis Morgon is living a quiet life of good food, good wine, and good friends. When his house is burglarized, he thinks nothing of it. But the burglar and the motive for the burglary are not as simple as they seem. And the consequences of the seemingly trivial break-in will lead Louis and his loved ones to the end of the earth---and quite possibly to the end of their lives.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 2008
34 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Peter Steiner
11 books38 followersPETER STEINER is the author of five books in the Louis Morgon series, A French Country Murder (Le Crime), L'Assassin, The Terrorist, The Resistance, and The Capitalist.
A new novel The Good Cop will come out September 1, 2019. This book takes place in Weimar Germany in the 1920's and early thirties.
A New Yorker cartoonist, Steiner lives in Connecticut and spends part of each year in France, in a village not unlike the one featured in the Morgon novels. You can see more at plsteiner.com. and see his most recent cartoons exclusively at plsteiner.com/blog.
A new novel The Good Cop will come out September 1, 2019. This book takes place in Weimar Germany in the 1920's and early thirties.
A New Yorker cartoonist, Steiner lives in Connecticut and spends part of each year in France, in a village not unlike the one featured in the Morgon novels. You can see more at plsteiner.com. and see his most recent cartoons exclusively at plsteiner.com/blog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 22, 2018
With L'Assassin, Peter Steiner has penned a spy-vs.-spy novel of a different sort. The key players used to have a working relationship as parts of US intelligence, but they're now much older and they didn't necessarily part on good terms. That would be an understatement.
Louis Morgon is an ex-CIA field guy, old, long retired, and living as an ex-pat in a small village in France. In his past, he'd experienced a career-ending blow-out with (now ex-) Secretary of State Hugh Bowes. Bowes carries a grudge about it, to say the least, but Morgon doesn't realize the extent of the hatred until a seemingly minor burglary occurs at his house in the village. The real cat & mouse occurs when the burglary is eventually seen as the beginning of an elaborate plot by the still-powerful Bowes to identify Morgon as a terrorist and an enemy of America.
L'Assassin is my first Steiner book and it's good enough to have made me into a big fan of his writing. His narrative has a real 'literary' feel to it, deftly painting pictures of Morgon, his family, his lover, acquaintances, the village, his travels, etc. The dialogue is very believable, especially in the passages where one or more characters is speaking in English when it's not their native language. It's a pleasure to read a thriller that takes its time (in under 300 pages) not only developing an interesting plot but also fleshing out characters that you come to care about. That's pretty good writing!
Louis Morgon is an ex-CIA field guy, old, long retired, and living as an ex-pat in a small village in France. In his past, he'd experienced a career-ending blow-out with (now ex-) Secretary of State Hugh Bowes. Bowes carries a grudge about it, to say the least, but Morgon doesn't realize the extent of the hatred until a seemingly minor burglary occurs at his house in the village. The real cat & mouse occurs when the burglary is eventually seen as the beginning of an elaborate plot by the still-powerful Bowes to identify Morgon as a terrorist and an enemy of America.
L'Assassin is my first Steiner book and it's good enough to have made me into a big fan of his writing. His narrative has a real 'literary' feel to it, deftly painting pictures of Morgon, his family, his lover, acquaintances, the village, his travels, etc. The dialogue is very believable, especially in the passages where one or more characters is speaking in English when it's not their native language. It's a pleasure to read a thriller that takes its time (in under 300 pages) not only developing an interesting plot but also fleshing out characters that you come to care about. That's pretty good writing!
September 4, 2021
Quite good. A malevolent and powerful NatSec official unleashes an intricate plot against a former subordinate who has figured out how unscrupulous he is. The official has tried once but was thwarted and now he frames his target as an internationally connected terrorist. The plot gets played back against the official because the target, a former spy, is smarter than he is. Why is it that fiction - including spy fiction - is more revealing about the inadequacies of American intelligence and policy making than the news analysis?
Well written and has the great line from the very sympa French police chief that “I have never known innocent people to pay in advance” when the CIA comes to his little town.
Well written and has the great line from the very sympa French police chief that “I have never known innocent people to pay in advance” when the CIA comes to his little town.
September 20, 2025
L'Assassin is the second book chronologicing the travails of retired CIA agent Louis Morgon. A bungled burglary sets in motion a complicated revenge.There is no love lost between Louis and his former boss, Hugh Bowes, who has every intention of disrupting Louis' quiet retirement in the French countryside. The cat and mouse game of blame and assassination takes Louis to Algeria,Canada, and the heart of danger,Washington,DC. This is another fun book with a sly wit and heart. Love Louis Morgon!
April 13, 2020
A penetrating look at justice in the world of spy’s, intrigue, revenge.
I was amazed at how the author set the plot up to show how Louis Margon was able to play the evil designs of his murderous enemy
Into a trap created by evil hate, anger and corruption. The poignant description of Northern French coastal region gave the story a surreal setting. Enormously entertaining.
I was amazed at how the author set the plot up to show how Louis Margon was able to play the evil designs of his murderous enemy
Into a trap created by evil hate, anger and corruption. The poignant description of Northern French coastal region gave the story a surreal setting. Enormously entertaining.
April 6, 2018
Excellent
I’ve been looking for a book like this one. A book that holds a story I want to swallow all at once and taste slowly at the same time. Very few writers know how to cook up such a story. Here is one who has done so and serves it with the promise for seconds.
I’ve been looking for a book like this one. A book that holds a story I want to swallow all at once and taste slowly at the same time. Very few writers know how to cook up such a story. Here is one who has done so and serves it with the promise for seconds.
July 8, 2021
While the first Louis Morgon was an exceptionally fine read, L'Assassin is even better, with more depth, suspense, emotion and complexity.
While the background of the first book is briefly covered, reading this series in order will add much to its enjoyment and is highly recommended.
While the background of the first book is briefly covered, reading this series in order will add much to its enjoyment and is highly recommended.
August 4, 2021
Good plot and development. Loved the international descriptions; the French flavor. Will read more of his series.
Read
June 29, 2015Today’s Book of the Day comes from fellow University of Miami alum (had to plug it) Peter Steiner. Peter was first known to me as a cartoonist for The New Yorker for 25 years before he turned novelist. If you’ve read a copy of The New Yorker, you had to have seen his work.
“L’Assassin” is set in France and is the second novel in the Louis Morgon international thriller series. The first novel was fantastic. This one is even better. Are we so obsessed with terrorism, we frame an innocent man for personal revenge? This novel gives a plausible, “Yes.”
It is a smart series. There is incredible plotting and a cast of unforgettable characters. Here are the elements: Ex-CIA officer, terrorist accusations, Osama bin Laden associate, a traitor to the U.S., mass manipulation, cat and mouse. I think you have the picture. I don’t want to give too much away in case you want to read it. All is not as it seems, though. It starts as a simple burglary, but it is never simple, is it?
Reading this, you can tell that Steiner enjoys what he is doing and the fun transfers irresistibly across the page.
From the publisher:
“In this exceptional follow-up to the highly praised Le Crime, ex-spy Louis Morgon is in France living a quiet life of good food, good wine, and good friends. When his house is burglarized, he thinks nothing of it. But neither the burglar nor the motive for the burglary is as simple as it seems. And the consequences of the seemingly trivial break-in will lead Louis and his loved ones to the ends of the earth – and quite possibly to the ends of their lives.”
L'Assassin on Killer Nashville
My Other Reviews on Killer Nashville
“L’Assassin” is set in France and is the second novel in the Louis Morgon international thriller series. The first novel was fantastic. This one is even better. Are we so obsessed with terrorism, we frame an innocent man for personal revenge? This novel gives a plausible, “Yes.”
It is a smart series. There is incredible plotting and a cast of unforgettable characters. Here are the elements: Ex-CIA officer, terrorist accusations, Osama bin Laden associate, a traitor to the U.S., mass manipulation, cat and mouse. I think you have the picture. I don’t want to give too much away in case you want to read it. All is not as it seems, though. It starts as a simple burglary, but it is never simple, is it?
Reading this, you can tell that Steiner enjoys what he is doing and the fun transfers irresistibly across the page.
From the publisher:
“In this exceptional follow-up to the highly praised Le Crime, ex-spy Louis Morgon is in France living a quiet life of good food, good wine, and good friends. When his house is burglarized, he thinks nothing of it. But neither the burglar nor the motive for the burglary is as simple as it seems. And the consequences of the seemingly trivial break-in will lead Louis and his loved ones to the ends of the earth – and quite possibly to the ends of their lives.”
L'Assassin on Killer Nashville
My Other Reviews on Killer Nashville
December 24, 2016
Another fine French-set intrigue, and the motivations of the highly placed and totally evil guy is so chilling at the end of 2016. Louis Morgon is still paying for the past, for a deed he does not remember doing, and facing loss, too. The book made me think, made me reflect, and, yes, kept me turning the pages. Spy/counter-spy taken to Algeria, too, which I loved reading about!
February 10, 2013
L'Assassin: A Thriller (Louis Morgon #2) moves at a much faster pace than #1 [Le Crime]. Le Crime introduced Louis Morgon, his friends and enemies and lays a good foundation for what follows. I liked it well enough to give L'Assassin a chance and I'm glad I did. L'Assassin is almost all story and very little background. What background there is concerns Louis' time in the CIA. Le Crime casts Louis as a liason between the State Department and the CIA. L'Assassin hints at Louis doing fieldwork for the CIA. The story moves from Louis' home in St. Leon sur Deme to Algiers, Brittany, the USA, Canada and back to Brittany. Louis' old nemesis, Hugh Bowes, has set Louis up to appear as an important terrorist and sicced several anti-terrorist government agencies on him. I found Louis' escape from the United States pretty amusing and his final [?] meeting with Hugh Bowes, under the guns of the CIA and French authorities, was inventive to say the least. Give this pair a try.
September 13, 2008
Louis Morgon is an intriguing hero, a former CIA operative living in a small French village who really just wants to be left alone. Unfortunately, he once got crossways with Hugh Bowes, a former U.S. Secretary of State who carries a grudge a long, long way.
What seems like a minor burglary at Morgon’s country house turns out to be a scheme mounted by Bowes to make American anti-terrorists believe Morgon is allied with Osama bin-Laden. The suspense builds as Morgon uncovers the outlines of the plot in increasingly-frightening detail after detail.
While Morgon and his friend, local gendarme Jean Renard, unravel the diabolical plan, his lover Solesme Lefourier struggles with terminal cancer. Their poignant relationship serves as the perfect counterfoil to the nastiness coming his way from Washington, DC. It's a fast-paced novel of intrigue that reflects the dangers of our modern, terrorism-obsessed society.
What seems like a minor burglary at Morgon’s country house turns out to be a scheme mounted by Bowes to make American anti-terrorists believe Morgon is allied with Osama bin-Laden. The suspense builds as Morgon uncovers the outlines of the plot in increasingly-frightening detail after detail.
While Morgon and his friend, local gendarme Jean Renard, unravel the diabolical plan, his lover Solesme Lefourier struggles with terminal cancer. Their poignant relationship serves as the perfect counterfoil to the nastiness coming his way from Washington, DC. It's a fast-paced novel of intrigue that reflects the dangers of our modern, terrorism-obsessed society.
April 6, 2010
Not tightly plotted like an American thriller, but atmospheric and thoughtful, like the best new Euro mysteries such as Fred Vargas and Pierre Magnan. The author is also a painter,and it comes through in his decriptions. You feel like you're traveling to the south of France, the Brittany coast, Algeria, Washington DC. There are occasional sour notes where something doesn't feel or sound right but they're rare and brief. I found the plot believable and the characters seemed like real people to me, for the most part. Worth reading.
December 7, 2012
Louis Morgan, retired from the CIA, lives in a small village in France and wants nothing to do with his past life, until a dead stranger shows up on his doorstep. Fraught with mystery, compassion and wit, this series continues Louis' fight with an old adversary through the next two novels, involving his estranged children in the USA as well as his friends in France. Well written and definitely worth the time to get acquainted with Peter Steiner.
September 15, 2009
Wonderful in its evocation of rural France: 4-stars.
Weak as far as plot is concerned (too much suspension of disbelief is needed): 2-stars.
Whoever is as powerful as the villain in the story has a so many opportunities to settle scores (for instance simply hiring a hitman) that the convoluted way in which he coaxes governments to exact revenge (revenge for what, btw?) is, well, just too much.
Weak as far as plot is concerned (too much suspension of disbelief is needed): 2-stars.
Whoever is as powerful as the villain in the story has a so many opportunities to settle scores (for instance simply hiring a hitman) that the convoluted way in which he coaxes governments to exact revenge (revenge for what, btw?) is, well, just too much.
June 23, 2010
what a nice break from novels about affairs! Louis Morgan, an ex-pat in France, is wrongfully accused of terrorist activity by his arch-nemesis. wished that the son and daughter weren't such stock characters and the ending hadn't taken on a completely different pace from the rest of the book. otherwise, a neat little thriller.
August 2, 2010
A former aging spy, run out of the service for unexplained reasons, is living quietly in France. His longtime girlfriend is dying of cancer when his nemisis, who has since become Secretary of State, tries to set him up for assassination as a terrorist. However, the tables are ultimately turned. First half of the book quite slow. Nice depictions of life in desolate, western France.
January 28, 2012
I've read all the books by Peter Steiner in reverse order. It seems like the right thing even if it doesn't make the kidnappings in the correct sequence. I like all of his books even though "The Terrorist" should have been the last book. It's nice that a 67 year old is spry enough to do the things he has done.
December 17, 2015
Second book about Louis Morgon, and we get to know the characters a lot better.
The plot thickens, and even though a bit of it is far fetched in a contemporary crime novel, the story never falls apart - even though it involves the President of the United States.
The plot thickens, and even though a bit of it is far fetched in a contemporary crime novel, the story never falls apart - even though it involves the President of the United States.
November 7, 2008
An interesting mystery/espionage novel about an former CIA who retired to France and the former secretary of state who has a grudge against him.
Pretty good, entertaining, exciting
Pretty good, entertaining, exciting
June 10, 2009
Futuristic dystopia in France, which you don't see much of. Had a nice noir feel to it.
July 18, 2013
It you get by the why of it all, then the who, when, what and where is good.
October 12, 2010
This is a fascinating series which I highly recommend. You will never look at the news in the same way again.
January 6, 2011
Just as good as A French Country Murder. Great plot. Horrid villain. Insightful description of difficult family relationships. Enjoyed every word.
January 9, 2011
Again, I love the small French village
community he describes.
community he describes.
March 3, 2011
interesting twists and turns. hard to tell who to trust...
December 17, 2017
"French Country Murder" is a cut above the rest, but this second
book is even better. French country life + complex mystery tale=
a good read.
book is even better. French country life + complex mystery tale=
a good read.
May 6, 2011
I much preferred the original.
December 2, 2011
Interesting twist on international intrigue.Think like a double dealing double dealing spy & there is no problem otherwise this twists in on itself.
January 7, 2012
Pleasant read. Second of the Louis Morgon books. A bit preposterous but I enjoyed it for what it was. Fast, in-between reading something more literary.
July 14, 2013
Interesting main character, OK plot but secondary characters are very thin.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews