EVIL, BE GONE is a tale of political ambition taken too far. This suspense thriller introduces a new hero, John "Lilly" Lelankevitch, to the genre.
When a presidential candidate's quest for the White House is jeopardized by his wife's plans to go public with his infidelities, his ambitious and powerful father, a former Deputy Director of the CIA, goes rogue and recalls from retirement an exceptionally skilled assassin to abduct and eliminate his daughter-in-law. The supportive sentiment that the loss of his son's wife would elicit from a sympathetic voting public, at a crucial point in the campaign, compels the candidate's father, a former White House aspirant himself, to force Lt. Colonel John "Lilly" Lelankevitch to operate against a very personal code. Lelankevitch, a Vietnam vet and former Agency operative, had built and employed psychological defenses that allowed him to take the lives of other human beings when he saw or felt the presence of evil in those targets. Now, Lilly's decade-long peaceful retirement with a loving wife and young son is blown apart when his boy is kidnapped. The boy's safe return is contingent on Lelankevitch accepting and carrying out this assignment to kill again. But will Lilly kill an innocent? Or will the resurrection of this trained killer result in a new campaign against evil in every form?
Excerpt
"John [Lilly] Lelankevitch took off sprinting towards his revived son. He slipped and stumbled through the mud and the tall grass, but nothing was going to keep him from his boy. Fred Calhoun had the good sense to know this and quickly put his hands out to stop both Vicky Wisniewski and Gary Thompson from trying to intercept the fugitive. With just a nod of the veteran FBI agent's head, they understood that there was a reunion that had to occur before they could attempt any apprehension of their suspect. After witnessing the fate of Leo Riley, Special Agent Calhoun knew that he, for one, did not want to come between this father and his son."
"....With tears streaking down his mud-caked face, John Lelankevitch gently picked up Josh as though he was taking an injured sparrow in his hands. Pulling the boy to his chest, the sobbing former Marine buried his face in the crook of his son's neck. As if to soothe and reassure his upset father, Josh weakly lifted his small arms and laid them over the man's massive shoulders. The little boy closed his eyes and managed a frail smile, his countenance brightening in recognition of the protection that his special father's embrace afforded him. Lilly leaned back slightly, careful not to withdraw from the boy's arms, smiled through his tears and kissed his son on the cheek. He believed that his family's nightmare was over."
This book reminded me a little of the "Taken" series so I immediately thought of Liam Neeson as the perfect star to play John Lelankevitch. A Vietnam vet who learned how to kill for his country, first had to deal with the issue of murder. He realized that if he could actually see evil intent, he was able to move decisively to take the enemy down... And he became a master, but always, always, he said the mantra, "Evil, Be Gone..." to ensure he could actually kill the individual.
He had continued somewhat in the same business when he was hired into a firm where he had been working, in retirement for ten years... But there were people who remembered his expertise and were now calling upon him to do jobs that were not exactly clear in the evil versus good decision.
This time they wanted him to kill an innocent... And to ensure he did it, they kidnapped his son. Fortunately their first attempt failed, but on their second try, they were successful. In dealing with the safety of his family, John was forced to share his background activities with his wife, who had known him only as a beloved husband and father. Now he had to introduce her to danger, by moving her into a safe house while he dealt with the kidnappers...
The startling plot of who is to be murdered was a new twist to the presidential election process and proved to be an excellent look at both the personal life of potential candidates, as well as what it means to be part of a "political family" where the power of the office overrides anything else.
The portrayal of Lilly Lelankevitch was both as a hero in his decisions to fight evil, but most telling was that, once he had left that life and was asked to go back, he had to work himself into the mind-frame of once again being a killer... Still, could he kill an innocent?
At a time when turmoil in Washington is in the daily news, Robert John Estko has written a plausible and exciting thriller. His character is "hero-stuff" with his love of family and country overriding commands given, when they are "evil" orders... It is a thoughtful, intriguing concept while at the same time an exciting good fighting evil page-turner... It is highly recommended for your consideration...
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