Acts of the Assassins
Shortlisted for the Goldsmith’s Prize
A charismatic cult leader is dead. One by one his followers are being assassinated. Enter Gallio.
Gallio does counter-insurgency. But the theft of a body he’s supposed to be guarding ruins his career. Years later, the file is reopened when a second body appears. Gallio is called back by headquarters and ordered to track down everyone involved the first time round. The only problem is they keep dying, in ever more grotesque and violent ways. How can Gallio stay ahead of the game when the game keeps changing?
Acts of the Assassins is about one man’s struggle to confront forces and events beyond his understanding. No matter when they may have happened.
‘Brilliantly original and absurdly compelling … it’s a book you’ll read in one, frantic gasp.’
– Observer
‘Richard Beard is one of those rare writers whose novels are at once radically inventive and brilliantly entertaining. Mysterious and affecting. Set in a Roman world that boasts air travel and motivational speakers giving talks in luxury hotels, it is as joyously original as it is a page-turner to read.’
– Daily Mail
‘The Acts of the Assassins is…spectacularly successful. It is thoughtful and clever and brutal and true… It is a Chinese puzzle box of a novel. A garden of forking paths. A page-turner. A modern classic.’
– Book Munch
‘Extraordinarily funny…confident and enchanting’
– Guardian
‘One of the strangest and most interesting novels written this century… Brave and gripping.’
– Catholic Herald
‘One of this year’s most gripping and unusual thrillers.’
– Mariella Frostrup
‘A darkly funny, virtuoso performance… so cleverly done it almost winks at the reader.’
– Sunday Times
‘Controversial, thought-provoking, funny and challenging, Acts of the Assassins is a delightfully fantastic and utterly compelling tale.’
– Sunday Business Post
Published in USA by Melville House as The Apostle Killer
‘Darkly mysterious… A smart, sly, unpredictable novel.’
– The Wall Street Journal
‘Beard’s sharp humor drives this mind-bending, time-compressing tale.’
– Publishers Weekly
