Bad guy arms dealer, beautiful woman, and a painter. Toss in covert ops, lots of guns, and a big chase around the world. Here's the spoiler, bad guy dies, hero gets the girl. Not one of my favorite David Morrell novels. Nothing beats his Brotherhood of the Rose trilogy.
Once Chase Malone waged war. Now he creates beauty, living as a reclusive painter in Mexico. Until a rich man hires Chase to do his wife's portrait. And Chase finds out what beauty is really all about. Derek Bellasar is an international arms merchant who lives in a fortres-like mansion on the Riviera. Sienna is his wife and the woman whose incredible beauty Chase Malone must somehow capture on canvas. There's only one problem: Every time Bellasar has one of his wives painted, she dies. Suddenly, Chase is fighting a one-man battle against Bellasar and a private army of highly trained killers. At stake is Sienna's life--and more. Because the CIA has been using Chase to keep a blockbuster biological arms deal from going down. And with a man's evil threatening to devastate the world, Chase Malone must save a woman, save his life, and practice the art of war...
Espionage, drugs, the CIA, a beautiful woman who is the target of killers, this one has it all. And our hero, the man who must try to protect her, is a painter of portraits.
The perfect airplane book.