The African state of Zimbala has a new leader, but someone wants him dead - and the only man who knows details of the hit is being hunted by UNACO's top agent on an illegal mission of personal vengeance. Can UNACO stop their top assassin from killing his nemesis?

Alphonse Mobuto has ruled the state of Zimbala for forty-five years. On his death, the Presidency passes to his eldest son, Jamel. Determined to introduce democracy and rid Zimbala of his father's oppressive regime, Jamel faces retribution from those who once benefited from it.

In New York to deliver an important speech at the UN, Jamel is an obvious target for an assassin's bullet. The time and place of the assassination are known by only one man, Jean Jacque Bernard, an international terrorist and now a CIA operative.

Clearly a case for UNACO. But deputy director Serge Kolchinsky realizes he has a potentially explosive situation on his hands. For he discovers crack team member Mike Graham has gone AWOL. Graham is in Beirut on a strictly illegal mission of personal vengeance - to track down and kill Bernard...

Fast-paced and compulsive, Time of the Assassins is the fourth novel to be written by Alastair MacNeill from a detailed story outline by Alistair MacLean. Although MacLean died in 1987, it is hoped that his many fans will find that these novels offer the same pace and excitement as the bestsellers by the master himself.