Book #2, in the Judd Ryder and Eva Blake series

I enjoy a good thriller and since Gayle Lynds is the reigning queen and very popular on the fictional espionage scenes and heard so many good words on this book I simply couldn’t let it pass without reading it. “The Assassins” continues the story of retired military spy Judd Ryder and CIA recruit Eva Blake. I assure you there is no need to read book #1 first in order to get right into the action that brings us from Washington D.C. to Marrakech and to Baghdad.

The synopsis in a few words: six world class assassins in an agreement of convenience rob Baghdad museum and escape with each a piece of a priceless limestone tablet…. But that goes horribly wrong when they begin to turn on each other… only one will be left standing…..An interesting premise…...but did it give the punch I expected…..hummmmmm.

Overall:

There is a lot going on in this fast paced and generally entertaining thriller filled with relentless action, explosions, gunfire and all the old-school spy vibe you may want. The story is rather suspenseful and holds a good tempo in most places but drags in others. I like the short chapters Ms. Lynds utilizes in her book. A rather good move, this keeps minds open to move on. We have long-winded moments that are rather flat and distracting places where I would have gladly skipped, thankfully they were few. Enjoyable are the sharp dialogue and the banter between assassins which are well-done and entertaining. The characterization is good all players excel in their roles.

Not a bad book but not my favourite thriller of all time.

The Copper Bracelet  --  a collaboration serial thriller

-- conception by Jeffery Deaver

Book 2 of The Watchlist aka the Harold Middleton series

 

Other authors involved:  

Gayle Lynds, David Hewson, Jim Fusilli, John Gilstrap, Joseph Finder, Lisa Scottoline, David Corbett, Linda Barnes, Jenny Siler, David Liss, P.J. Parrish, Brett Battles, Lee Child, Jon Land, James Phelan

 

 

This book is a collaborative effort among various crime thriller novelists, with Jeffery Deaver fronting the project (he created the main protagonist, Harold Middleton, and he also writes the first and last chapters).  I don't know all of these other crime thriller authors, though I think some of them were part of the first book's writing... and some are new names.

I was just as intrigued with it as I had been with The Chopin Manuscript (my review), though I had been worried that the book would be a big mess with so many minds and so many ideas trying to take precedent. And despite The Chopin Manuscript getting slightly out of control towards the middle and the ending, it was still a very enjoyable piece... if you can ignore a lot of the mess.

Whether this book was really a big haphazard, narrative mess, or if it was just me, being distracted at all the wrong times while listening to the audiobook, I can't be sure. But I sure as hell had a hard time following what was going on with so much going on within moments of events.

It's a pretty good concept that has potential to last a few more books, honestly. Harold Middleton is pretty much the leader of a group of Volunteers who are tasked with helping keep the world a safe place by going after potential terrorist threats and the like. And, of course, in The Copper Bracelet, there's a lot of action, and traveling, and secrets, and secret reveals, and death, and destruction, and betrayals, and torture, and... there's just a LOT going on in this book.

Like I said already, I had no idea where the book was going with all the things happening for a good long time.

Still, I had fun with this one. Even if it was a lot of confusing fun.

And once again, Alfred Molina did excellent with his narration; though I can't help but feel that it was better in the first book.

The Altman Code is a fast-paced thriller, while written in the same vain as Robert Ludlum’s novels, the writing is actually better than much of Ludlum’s work. The novel starts off with an intriguing premise. When Covert-One agent Jon Smith goes to rendezvous with another agent in Taiwan to get a ship manifest implicating the Chinese of nefarious acts, the agent is killed, and the ship destroyed. Smith is left with a message from the agent that the President’s father, thought to be long dead, is alive and has been in a Chinese prison camp for the past fifty years.

In typical Ludlow fashion, conspiracies abound. There are all sorts of treachery at work. The novel fails because of the lack of believability in many aspects of the plot. There are things to like about this novel, and it is entertaining. If some of the plot holes could be tightened, then this could have been a very good novel instead of just a decent one.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street

Julia Austrian suddenly lost her sight after her first big concert as a concert pianist. Coming from a somewhat privelidged world where they always have had money her mother and she travel worldwide and she plays and enjoys her life. This all changes when her mother is murdered, seemingly for her jewels, in London, just as Julia gains her sight back. The trauma causes her sight to go away again but the event cascades into a mess of politics, while her uncle competes for the title of President of the United States of America and his dealings are none too above-board. A roller-coaster ride of a book, I found it entertaining but occasionally a little jumpy, would make a great film.

Write Good or Die - Scott Nicholson, Gay... FREE atm @ Amazon

Just FYI to whoever might find this interesting... I'm still trying to figure out if the title is tongue-in-cheek. (God, I really, really hope so... ^_^)