Mark Rubinstein MD is a practicing psychiatrist in New York City and an author. Before turning to fiction, Rubinstein coauthored five medical self-help books: “The First Encounter: The Beginnings in Psychotherapy,” “The Complete Book of Cosmetic Facial Surgery,” “New Choices: the Latest Options in Treating Breast Cancer,” “Heartplan: A Complete Program for Total Fitness of Heart & Mind,” and “The Growing Years: A Guide to Your Child’s Emotional Development from Birth to Adolescence.” His first novel “Mad Dog House” was named a finalist for the 2012 ForeWord Book Of The Year Award for suspense/thriller novels. His latest novel “Assassin’s Lullaby” is about a former assassin turned contract killer.

“Assassin’s Lullaby” – in every life, there lurks catastrophe. So believes Eli Dagan, a thirty-nine-year-old man whose traumatic past led to his service as an assassin for the Mossad. He now lives in New York City, where under various assumed names he is a contract killer. The story begins as Eli is walking down the street, always on alert mode “Knowing his life depends on stealth, Eli Dagan moves warily with the tide of pedestrians streaming along East Forty-Second Street.” He is on his way to a meeting with Anton Gorlov, the head of the Brooklyn-based Odessa mafia, who has a new and challenging assignment for him. Gorlov wants to leave the country permanently, so all loose ends must be eliminated. He is willing to pay $1 million for a task that is divided into two parts. The job involves extreme measures along with unprecedented danger for Eli, who has lived a ghostly existence over the last ten years. Eli knows this assignment has its dangers, but deep inside he wonders if it is a way to make up for the past. For the first time since his pregnant wife and parents were killed by a suicide bomber years earlier, he is facing challenges that will reconnect him with his damaged past and may yet offer hope for a new and better life. Questioning the meaning of his life, he wants out but this is the only life he has known and for a brief moment, he gets a glimpse of a better life. His story ends on a hopeful note and even though he is still not sure of what the future holds for him, he remains optimistic.

Sometimes assassins are viewed as inhuman and incapable of feeling any emotions, but Mark Rubinstein makes Eli Dagan seem almost human with fears and insecurities, just like everyone else. The character development is excellent and it gives Eli’s background on what drove him to chose the life he did; he started killing only evil people as revenge for what happened to his family years ago but now he just kills for profit and power. He wants to leave the country, to start over somewhere else but the pull of what he has become is too hard to resist. The language is at times poetic and beautiful, “The bare sycamore branches sway in the wind and cast dancing shadows on the street” and a sharp contrast to the subject matter. Highlights include Chapter 41 because of the detailed description of the fight scenes and Chapter 74 when Eli ponders his last victim’s final words “Death waits for us all, and I have no fear of it” and resigns himself to receive whatever life brings him. The chapters are short and to the point, which helps the pacing of the story. Some of the details of Eli’s hits might be too graphic for some readers but they convey a CSI-like narrative. With themes of nature vs. nurture and good vs. evil, “Assassin’s Lullaby” is a fascinating novel and hard to put down because it gives readers a rare view inside the mind of an assassin for hire including his internal conflicts and fears: “Is killing evil people no more than an anemic attempt to try forgiving himself for the life he’s led because he can never be absolved from his crimes, his sins that are too many to count?” It is recommended for readers who enjoy suspense thrillers that revolve around an anti hero and in this case even though Eli is an assassin, readers can sympathize with his plight and in the end might even root for him to get his life together.

“Because it seems there’s no coming back from what he’s become and there’s no way to renounce a life brimming with bitterness, with grief, and with rage so monstrous it consumes his every waking moment.”

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.