Bleeding Hearts: A Jack Harvey Novel Rankin, Ian

Jack Harvey is a hired killer with a conscience problem — which, in his line of work, is a dangerous thing to have. When a job in London goes sideways, he's forced to question who's giving the orders and why. The trail leads him across Europe, from Seattle to Prague, chasing shadows and double-crosses while trying to stay alive long enough to figure out who's playing him. Ian Rankin — best known for his Edinburgh detective Rebus — wrote this under a pseudonym in the '90s, and it shows a different side of his craft: tighter, meaner, stripped of sentiment. It's Cold War espionage by way of noir, all paranoia and moral grey zones. If you like your thrillers bleak, intelligent, and uninterested in tidy endings, this one's worth the ride.