The brotherhood of the rose - David Morrell (Mortalis #1)

Saul the Jew, Chris the Irish Catholic. Both are orphans, lonely and insecure. Raised in the same institution, they are united by a bond stronger than that between most blood-brothers, a bond forged by their shared devotion to Edward Franciscus Eliot, the man they call their foster-father. Eliot, disillusioned chief of counter-espionage, CIA, dedicates his life to training a small cadre of young men, all orphans, to be assassins — graduates of the ‘killer-instinct’ school. In return, they must dedicate their lives to him.

Once their training is complete the ‘brothers’ are sent round the world to kill, professionally, ruthlessly, never seeking to question Eliot’s absolute authority and power over them. That is, until Saul kills several billionaires including a friend of the President, and Eliot engineers the ultimate betrayal — a betrayal which pits the ‘brothers’ in a duel to the death against the man they thought of as ‘father.’

THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE is an epic, fast-moving adventure which circles the globe in a non-stop rush of action, pursuit, discovery, and reprisal. Gripping in its absolutely authentic detail, magnificent in its intricate, high-speed plotting, unprecedented in its conclusion, it is a novel that ranks at the top of its genre.