THE JOB

Alan Korkunc is a notorious Kurdish assassin who is perhaps not strong or mean enough to work in New York City. Known as the ''Black Stone'' back in Istanbul, he has recently escaped from prison after being convicted of murdering a Turkish businessman. Now in a cockroach-infested Manhattan apartment, without his accustomed bespoke tailoring, he prepares for a new assignment against an old enemy of the Kurdish people. But his instructions are not to wipe out the big-wig himself, but his two little daughters and the lovely woman they call ''Mommy''. Although Alan doesn''t understand English, or any other gibberish that turns the Big Apple - he thinks ''Mommy'' is one of the prettiest names for a woman he has ever heard. As the infamously heartless killer makes his cool, controlled preparations, he has not reckoned on New York''s bustling anonymity and its squirting jam donuts, nor on the distractions of an elderly neighbour who shares her tinned sardines with him in his lonely hours. A mix of satire, intrigue and odd-ball lethal suspense, THE JOB is a deft tale of light and shadows which hits unexpected targets of human emotion.