Killer -- Dave Zeltserman

Leonard March gets out of prison after 14 years, not bad for a guy who killed 28 people as a hit man for Sal Lombard. Naturally the families of the men March killed are furious that he's out, and they're all suing him. Lombard and his mob aren't so happy, either, since March informed on them to get his light sentence.

March says he just wants to get on with what's left of his life, and he takes a job as a janitor, tries to get in touch with his kids, and avoids the public as much as he can. He's always looking over his shoulder, wondering who might be back there with the intention of killing him.

March tells his story in the first person, and Zeltserman arranges it in alternating sections that take place in the past (narrated in present tense) and in the present (narrated in past tense). The sections in the past are the action sections, and they detail a number of March's kills. The sections in the present carry the story forward, but if you've read any crime novels, you know that somehow the two will intertwine in some way by the end.

Things get complicated for March when he gets involved in an attempted hold-up, taking out the bad guys in an action that brings him unwanted publicity. He also meets a beautiful woman named Sophie, who seems to like him, though he suspects her motive might not be exactly what she claims.

The whole book is told in tightly controlled prose that's perfectly suited to the subject matter. Killer is another bang-up job from Zeltserman, and a noir novel in the grand tradition. Don't miss it.