***
Creasy, an aging, disillusioned mercenary, accepts a change-of-pace job as the bodyguard for an 11-year-old girl, taking it personally when she is kidnapped by the Italian Mafia. Character-driven thriller that is really less about the action than tough-guy Creasy's emergence into the larger world of human contact. Quinnell takes his time, and if he isn't particularly perceptive here, he does succeed in bringing Creasy off as likable and easy to root for -- and even touching as he learns to relate first to the little girl then to a woman whose status as a divorcée severely limits her social prospects. Nevertheless, Creasy eventually goes into revenge mode, with violent and satisfying results. Followed by The Perfect Kill (1992) and three additional sequels. Adapted twice to film, first in 1987, then in 2004.
Creasy, an aging, disillusioned mercenary, accepts a change-of-pace job as the bodyguard for an 11-year-old girl, taking it personally when she is kidnapped by the Italian Mafia. Character-driven thriller that is really less about the action than tough-guy Creasy's emergence into the larger world of human contact. Quinnell takes his time, and if he isn't particularly perceptive here, he does succeed in bringing Creasy off as likable and easy to root for -- and even touching as he learns to relate first to the little girl then to a woman whose status as a divorcée severely limits her social prospects. Nevertheless, Creasy eventually goes into revenge mode, with violent and satisfying results. Followed by The Perfect Kill (1992) and three additional sequels. Adapted twice to film, first in 1987, then in 2004.