The Perfect Assassin by Ward Larsen Wins the Silver Medal in the Florida Book Awards

(PRWeb) March 20, 2007 -- The Perfect Assassin has been awarded the Silver Medal in the Popular Fiction category of the Florida Book Awards. Written by Sarasota native Ward Larsen, The Perfect Assassin is published by Oceanview Publishing, an independent publisher headquartered in Massachusetts.

An annual awards program that recognizes, honors, and celebrates the best Florida literature published in the previous year, the Florida Book Awards is coordinated by The Florida State University Program in American and Florida Studies, and co-sponsored by the Florida Center for the Book, State Library and Archives of Florida, Florida Historical Society, Florida Humanities Council, Florida Literary Arts Coalition, Florida Library Association, "Just Read, Florida!," Governor's Family Literacy Initiative, Florida Association for Media in Education, Florida Center for the Literary Arts, and Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.

All awardees will be recognized at the Annual Banquet of the FSU Friends of the Library on March 23 at 7 p.m. in Tallahassee. For information about this event, contact Julie Phinney, Strozier Library, (850) 644-5211.

In The Perfect Assassin (Oceanview, $22.95), Christine Palmer, a young American doctor sailing solo across the Atlantic, makes an incredible discovery -- a man narrowly clinging to his life in the frigid waters. But there is much more to this desperate survivor than meets the eye. David Slaton is a Kidon -- a highly-trained, highly-precise, and highly-dangerous assassin. The Kidon is both the hunter and the hunted, and he and Christine are in grave danger. One perfect shot will change the course of history. Will they win in this race against time?

With the precision of a sharpshooter, author Ward Larsen weaves an intricate tale of espionage and intrigue in The Perfect Assassin, also an award-winning finalist in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category of the "Best Books 2006" Book Awards.

Susan Greger, Publisher at Oceanview, stated, "It is a great honor to be recognized along with esteemed authors such as Carl Hiaasen, Brad Meltzer, James Born, and Tony D'Souza. We at Oceanview wish to extend our sincere congratulations to Ward Larsen and all of the Florida Book Awards winners."

Ward Larsen is a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who flew combat in Operation Desert Storm. Currently a captain for a major airline, Ward lives with his family in Florida. For information about Ward Larsen, please visit www.wardlarsen.com. Oceanview Publishing (www.oceanviewpub.com) is an independent press headquartered in Ipswich, Massachusetts, whose titles include Shadow of Death by Patricia Gussin, South Beach Shakedown by Don Bruns, Death Angel by Martha Powers, Trash Talk by Bob Gussin and the forthcoming Ladykiller (April 15, 2007) by Lawrence Light and Meredith Anthony, and The Castro Gene (May 15, 2007) by Todd Buchholz. For more information or to request an interview, please contact Maryglenn McCombs at (615) 297-9875.

# # #