Azrael

By William L. DeAndrea

Allan Trotter goes head to head with the Angel of Death.

Allan Trotter's counter-espionage service began at birth: His father, the head of an ultra-secret intelligence wing of the US government, deliberately conceived him with a gorgeous Russian spy. Raised to navigate a crooked world, Trotter was immersed in deception, danger, and narrow escapes. He's a perfectly honed agent, but he desperately wants a normal life.

Trotter is pulled out of his life of seclusion, though, when the Russian spy outfit Cronus sends their Angel of Death, Azreal, to a sleepy town in Upstate New York to knock off innocent people. The aim? To scare back a stray agent: Petra Hudson, now the happy CEO of a media conglomerate worth billions, who has put her spying past behind her -- or so she thinks. Ignorant of her mother's double life, Hudson's daughter, Regina, a newspaper editor, has unknowingly alerted the Agency. And since fighting Cronus is the one thing that can give Trotter's life meaning, when he learns that Regina -- a kindred victim of the organization -- is at risk, the stakes feel even more crucial.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784084011

William L. DeAndrea

William L. DeAndrea (1952–1996) was born in Port Chester, New York. While working at the Murder Ink bookstore in New York City, he met mystery writer Jane Haddam, who became his wife. His first book, Killed in the Ratings (1978), won an Edgar Award in the best first mystery novel category. That debut launched a series centered on Matt Cobb, an executive problem-solver for a TV network who unravels murders alongside corporate foul play. DeAndrea’s other series included the Nero Wolfe–inspired Niccolo Benedetti novels, the Clifford Driscoll espionage series, and the Lobo Blacke/Quinn Booker Old West mysteries. A devoted student of the mystery genre, he also wrote a popular column for the Armchair Detective newsletter. One of his last works, the Edgar Award–winning Encyclopedia Mysteriosa (1994), is a thorough reference guide to sleuthing in books, film, radio, and TV.