PEOPLE DIE

A freelance hit man with MI6 and the CIA on his client roster lands on a hit list himself, without a clue as to why, in Wignall's smashing debut. JJ Hoffman has a lucrative life as a top assassin with a golden rep on both sides of the pond. His routine is disrupted when he finds his Paris handler in a sex-death frame-up, then discovers that his contact number has been disconnected. Cut loose and now a target, he races to his girlfriend's Geneva apartment too late to save her. American Ed Holden, who's also a target, says he has info that may save them both and arranges a meeting in Vermont through London-based CIA agent Tom Furst, the only one they both trust. When JJ learns the meeting is at a Vermont bed and breakfast run by Susan Bostridge, the wife of a rogue U.S. agent he shot two years ago, he balks, but soon finds that he has no other option. Arriving in Vermont days before Ed, he meets Susan and becomes attached to her and her two kids, who seem to forgive him for killing their dad. Things get stranger when Holden arrives and spills his plan to derail their pursuer, who is revealed to be a former client attempting to cover up an action gone wrong. Crisp, lean prose with assault rifle impact zips the reader across international borders and delineates quirky, engaging characters. The plot is worthy of the best British spymasters, making Wignall an author to watch. Agent, Jonny Gellar. (Apr.)