Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors

Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors
AuthorRex Feral (pseud.)
LanguageEnglish
SubjectHow-to
GenreNon-fiction
Published1983 (Paladin Press)
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
Pages130
ISBN9780873642767

Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors is a book written under the pseudonym Rex Feral and published by Paladin Press in 1983. Paladin Press owner Peder Lund claimed, in an interview with 60 Minutes, that the book started life as a detailed crime novel written by a Florida housewife, and that the format was later changed to appeal to Paladin's reader base accustomed to the publisher's non-fiction books on military, survivalist, weapons and similar topics. The book portrays itself as a how-to manual on starting a career as a hit man, fulfilling contracts. However, after a number of lawsuits claiming that the book was used as a handbook in several murders, the publication of the book was stopped. It marked "the first time in American publishing history that a publisher has been held liable for a crime committed by a reader."[1]

  1. ^ "Paladin Press Pays Millions to Settle 'Hit Man' Case". Publishers Weekly. May 31, 1999. Retrieved September 4, 2018.