Weekly Reader: The Portable Nine by Pete Mesling; Nine Fascisnating Spies and Assassins Reveal The Honor and Dishonor Among Thieves and Killers

 

Weekly Reader: The Portable Nine by Pete Mesling; Nine Fascisnating Spies and Assassins Reveal The Honor and Dishonor Among Thieves and Killers

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Pete Mesling's crime thriller, The Portable Nine, uses its fascinating cast of nine spies and assassins to show the honor and dishonor among people who exist outside the standards of law and ethics. 

Davenport is one of an elite group called The Portable Nine. Whenever some government official or corporate executive wants someone to be removed they call people like Davenport. He is known as The Mad Marksman of Malta. A cool headed sophisticate with a love of Bach, Dickens, and his Cobra King Colt gun, Davenport hunts and attacks his target without losing control. Usually. This time he is unable to kill his target, a businessman named Max Brindle, and even develops an acquaintenship with him, enough of one that he actually feels guilty about doing away with him. 

As if that wasn't enough, someone named The Black Phantom sends Davenport a video telling him that they are offended that he went after Brindle. To offend The Phantom is not a good idea and could be disastrous. To show they mean business, the video shows the home of the loving aunt who raised Davenport exploding right on screen. So The Phantom knows not only who Davenport really is but will go after and kill anyone to get to him. Davenport knows that the Black Phantom is someone that he cannot possibly expect to face alone. Time to call the other eight members of the Portable Nine to assemble and face their enemy before they get whittled down to the Portable Zero.

The Portable Nine are an interesting bunch. Besides Davenport, they are: 

The Butcher-Lives up to his name. If he weren't a paid assassin, he would be an effective serial killer. He uses a hatchet to cut open victims and leave them bloody afterwards. But not before he goes into a spiel about why they need to die.

Twitch Markham- You would think that someone with various nervous gestures and obvious Anxiety Disorder would not make a good assassin (neither would I) but here he is. He's handy with a gun and was once as ruthless as the rest. But now his nerves are getting the better of him and he thinks that maybe it's time to pack it in. That is until he receives a note from a colleague.

Lovinia Dolcet-A frormer pornographic actress, she prefers to seduce her male victims before she kills them. So she mixes business with pleasure. Her weapon of choice are the Twin Delights, two skewers with pornographic images. When she uses the Twins, they are often the last things her victims see.

Abel Hazard-A rugged Australian, he usually rides his Kawasaki and hangs outdoors in the Outback. He literally lives without fear. No seriously. His amygdala which controls the fear response was surgically removed. He is an active sort who doesn't mind using muscle to bring down enemies, but the removal of fear also removes caution. That may make him a liability to the profession. 

Dr. Intaglio and Mr. Bonnet-The only Portable Nine members who work as a team. Mr. Bonnet is blind but is still capable on the field. Intaglio is his partner and serves as  Bonnet's eyes. Together they are inscrutable and unstoppable.

Robin Varnesse-The Grand Old Man of the group. An American, he has been living in wealthy retirement on the Isle of Man for so long that he acquired a local accent. He is something of a lady's man, remembering his love affairs with both women in the group.

Miranda Gissing-A sharp tongued wit and a lesbian, she loves the thrill of her job. She  particularly loves the cover up aspects like driving fast to make a murder look like a suicide or accident. She also had a string of affairs outside and within the Portable Nine.  

Our Antiheroes, Ladies and Gentlemen. They are a depraved seedy bunch. People you would never want to meet. But still like many characters that exist in shades of gray, they are fascinating and hard to forget.

There are various moments of intrigue and suspense once the Portable Nine are assembled. They have to work as a team when they are abducted and taken to the desert. They also face betrayal when a member turns traitor on them. (Turning traitor on trained killers was probably not the smartest idea in the world. No chance that they will survive to pocket the money.)

The betrayal hits because these are characters that have existed outside the law, outside any real human connections except within the Portable Nine. In a strange way, not trusting anyone else and knowing so much about each other, makes them trustworthy at least to one another. They have formed a strange sadistic surrogate family unit. A family that kills other people. Betraying them is like taking sides against the Family. At least the Phantom is outside the group. The real enemy ends up being within.

 That's why Davenport sends for them. In a world surrounded by villainy, he trusts the villains that he knows over the ones that he doesn't.  Unfortunately, this betrayal proves to be the most powerful sting.

Their own betrayal and mistrust destroys the team more than any Black Phantom ever could.