by William J. Smith

ISBN: 0-7414-1447-3

Take a deep breath. 

Close your eyes. 

Imagine the one human being in the world you feel closest to; the one human being you feel most bonded to. It might be your mother or father. It could be your friend, lover or child. Who is it? Get a clear picture in your mind of that person.

Now extend your imagination further. Stretch it to its limits.

Pretend you are a constituent of a clandestine government alliance. Throughout your career you have accepted and without question carried out highly secretive missions. Often this has involved taking a person's life. You do the work for the greater good of mankind, regardless of how it scars your soul. You do it because you have a specialized set of skills, and a patriot's commitment to duty. Someone must do it and that someone is you! 

As usual you have been assigned and accepted a mission. But, this time, it is more complex. The mission is to assassinate that person you are closest to. 

Recall their picture. Now blast it to ruination in your mind.

Could you assassinate that person? 

There is no easy answer.

Duty says that you must. 

Love tells you to abort the task. 

What will you do?

In THE LAST MISSION Darren Black has to make this choice.Part of an elite Marine Force Recon unit thirty years in the past, Darren Black's closest friend and fellow Marine, Mike Nolan is taken prisoner in South East Asia. Transformed over time, through a complex series of events involving torture, love treachery and revenge, Nolan defects to the opposition. It is a logical progression, an understandable combination of seduction and circumstance, which create his crossing. He becomes an active but publicly suppressed figure in Asian battle. Nolan eventually evolves to a being of obscurity, simply, another tragedy of war. The powers that be perceive his legacy, best melted into the footnotes of history. However, that is not to be. The years pass. Unexpectedly, Nolan surfaces as a venus-fly-trap of political intrigue. Darren Black is assigned to assure that Nolan dies unnoticed. The question is will he carry out his orders or, will he let his friend walk? Either way, for Darren Black, it is THE LAST MISSION.