A Friendly Place To Die

“A Friendly Place To Die” by Michael P. Faur, Jr.  In this 1966 thriller from Signet, we meet Cord, a young soldier captured during the Korean War and sentenced to die in China. He escapes with the help of a Chinese major, but wounded by farmer later. Monks from a monastery find him and nurse him back to health, then over the next 12 years educates and trains him in Gung Fu. During this time he has vowed vengeance on the Chinese officer who murdered his buddies captured with him during the war. With the death of his Master also comes news of Mao Ling’s presence in America. He is there to assassinate Fidel Castro at the U.N. General Assembly. He helped to escape from China, and given an address of people who can help him locate the assassin, and fulfill his vow. But nothing is as it seems. The Chinese agents have infiltrated deeper than suspected, and perhaps Cord was supposed to fail from the beginning. Will he figure it out in time, before he is killed? There is even a suspicion that he may be the infiltrator. There is a lot of good action, and plenty of twists in this action thriller. Cord makes a good spy, and capable in escapes and fights. I was not able to discover any information about the author, or find other books by him, which makes me wonder if this is a pseudonym? 

 

A Dangerous Stage

Protection For Hire #2: "A Dangerous Stage" by Camy Tang.

Tessa Lancaster has a history. Half Japanese, she was an enforcer for her uncle’s yakuza until she went to prison for someone else’s crime. There she was led to the Lord, and wants to change her life when she’s released. Working part time for a women’s abuse shelter, she takes on jobs as bodyguard when they come available. She is highly trained in martial arts and MMA. In the second novel in the Protection For Hire series, a contestant on a singing contest hires her when his daughter mistakenly discovers the contest is rigged. Gangsters want their secret back, and her dead. When they discover Tessa is their bodyguard, they hire a female Thai assassin to take her out. Who – or what – is the Double Zodiac?