Wildly Crafty

Circle of Assassins is the second in a clever series of books known as Tales from the Back Page.  Each book starts with an advertisement placed in a fictional newspaper published on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.  The first in the series, Who Gets the Apartment? (2006) has four young Manhattanites fighting over a luxury penthouse apartment that a con-man rents to each of them for $600 a month – all at the same time.  
 
In Volume 2 Circle of Assassins, the author posits that an ad placed in that same newspaper will encourage five average, yet disgruntled New Yorkers to take the law into their own hands.   The carefully written advertisement asks its reader to decide – for entertainment purposes only – which person they would most like to see dead and why.  Through later correspondence the mastermind behind the ad works out a simple  yet extremely effective solution.  Why not have each of the circle eliminate one of the other targets?  There is no connection between killer and target, so little chance of being caught and each of the circle would symbiotically benefit when their target was eliminated.
 
Using a non-linear narrative, author Steven Rigolosi begins with the exploration of the lives and psyches of the five assassins.  Why are these people primed to kill complete strangers?  How can they be sure that the advertisement isn’t a hoax?  Will they really go through with the murders, or will they have second thoughts?  Who are their targets and what makes them so deserving of death?
 
The author does a fantastic job of writing in multiple viewpoints. He elegantly captures each character by writing their corresponding vernacular, which allows him to give voices to characters as varied as a highly educated college professor and a semi-literate telephone company lineman.  
 
This book will probably be most successful with readers who enjoy dark, psychological thrillers.  Those who prefer a plot-driven story line or a stricter adherence to the standard mystery formula will be less pleased.  
 
Stephen Rigolosi is no stranger to the publishing world, he is the director of market research and development at a Manhattan based publisher of scientific texts.  Circle of Assassins is his second novel.  In the works are at least two more books in the Tales from the Back Page series.