The year is 2045 and a warrior battles to save America from an Islamic mastermind in this smart and violent futuristic thriller from New York Times bestselling author Robert Ferrigno.

Time is running out for the Islamic Republic and the Bible Belt, the two warring nations that arose when the former United States split apart after an economiccollapse left tens of millions unemployed and desperate for leadership. Weakened by their endless conflict, both countries are now threatened by the expansionist dreams of the Aztlan Empire (formerly known as Mexico) to the south, which has steadily encroached deep into the regions once called California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Riven by intellectual and social decay, both the Islamic Republic and the Belt are at the brink of collapse.

The only solution is to reunite the countries and regain America's former power and global standing. And there's only one man who can do it: Rakkim Epps, genetically enhanced shadow warrior and hero of the two previous books in Robert Ferrigno's astonishing Assassin Trilogy.

Time is also running out for Epps's archenemy, the Old One, the sly, immensely rich Muslim fanatic who seeks to create one world under his domination. Now more than one hundred and fifty years old, he is dying and unhappily knows it. His solution is to reunite the Islamic Republic and the Bible Belt his way, and his plan involves his voluptuous but deadly daughter, Baby, and none other than Rakkim himself. The Old One is aided by his sadistic, carbon-skinned enforcer, Gravenholtz, whom Rakkim failed to kill in an earlier encounter and who now wishes to kill Rakkim and those he loves.

Meanwhile, there is a rumor of a discovery of a sacred relic in the contaminated ruins of Washington, D.C., a radiation zone peopled by diseased zombies and daring treasure hunters. It is into this deadly wasteland that Rakkim must secretly travel and retrieve the icon if he is to defeat Gravenholtz, Baby, and the Old One, and have even a chance to unite the two halves of America.

A stunning stand-alone read, Heart of the Assassin is a feast of cinematic violence, brilliant plotting, and futuristic scene-setting. Completing Ferrigno's Assassin Trilogy, Heart of the Assassin confirms his position as a master of thriller fiction.

"Set in a future American divided into two major regions, Edgar-finalist Ferrigno's final entry in his Assassin trilogy (after Sins of the Assassin) nicely ties up the wildly diverse plot lines that have motivated his many characters. New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Mecca have all been nuked by the Old One, a 150-year-old Muslim fanatic trying to become the Muslim messiah who will lead a new caliphate. The only person who can stop him is Rakkim Epps, a fedayeen warrior whose historian wife, Sarah, is masterminding an effort to unite America by finding a piece of the true cross, buried somewhere in the D.C. nuclear hot zone. The Old One is aided by Baby, a brilliant blonde bombshell who's married to the Colonel, a powerful warlord. One can read this volume as a stand-alone, but to enjoy the vast breadth of what is truly a remarkable achievement, one should start with book one, Prayers for the Assassin, and read the series in order. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

In the third volume in the wildly entertaining epic trilogy that begins with "Prayers for the Assassin," a retired shadow warrior and his wife battle to save a futuristic America controlled by an Islamic regime.

Robert Ferrigno was born in South Florida, a tropical backwater rife with mosquitoes and flying cockroaches.

After earning college degrees in Philosophy, Film-Making, and Creative Writing, he returned to his first love, poker. He spent the next five years gambling full-time and living in a high-crime area populated by starving artists, alcoholics, thieves and drug dealers, becoming friends with many people who would later populate his novels.

He used some of his winnings to start a punk rock magazine called The Rocket, where he interviewed the Clash, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, etc. The success of The Rocket got him a job as a feature writer for a daily newspaper in Southern California, where he took the adventure-and-new-money beat.

Over the next seven years he flew jets with the Blue Angels, drove Ferraris, and went for desert survival training with gun nuts. He ultimately gave up his day job to become a novelist, and his first book, The Horse Latitudes, was called "the fiction debut of the season" by Time magazine.

His most recent novel, The Wake-Up, was described by Kirkus Reviews as "Sharp, fast, and slick. Ferrigno can read like Raymond Chandler on speed, with pages turning and adrenaline pretty high throughout."

Prayers for the Assassin is his ninth novel.

He lives in Washington State with his family.