Customer Reviews

The Assassin

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The genre of Westerns seems to be slowly riding off into the sunset. Westerns had their heyday during the mid twentieth century when Louis Lamour's novels were bestsellers, and everyone watched soon to be classic shows like Gunsmoke and The Rifleman. John Wayne also rained supreme at the box office. Unfortunately, few Westerns appear on bookshelves today. Personally, I enjoy a good Western. That's the main reason I wanted to read Rye James's novel The Assassin. It is a great addition an old genre.

The title refers to protagonist Matt Beck's profession. He is a professional gunslinger. Interestingly, he always kills his victims in self-defense. Beck has his own code for living; it's his way of coping with his unusual career. The reader's first glimpse of Beck's cold nature occurs in the opening scene of the novel when he deals with one of his victims. The man begs for his life, but killing him is just part of the job for Beck. Such a cold man might seem like an unsympathetic protagonist, but Beck is utterly fascinating.

There is an element of mystery in The Assassin. When Beck rides into Galena, Arizona, his reason is unclear. It is a rainy night, so he could simply be seeking shelter. Of course, that is not the reason for Beck's stop in Galena. He has a job in town. That means someone has to die. The question that hangs throughout most of the novel surrounds his victim. Beck doesn't reveal the identity of his target until near the end of the novel. James does a great job of building the suspense around Beck's target. There are several possible victims, and Beck never tips his hand. The most important part of his job is the mind game that comes before the gunfight.

The plot is actually deceptively simple. Beck has a job to complete in Galena. Someone has paid him to kill someone, but no one knows the intended victim's identity. Beck doesn't even know who paid him to do this job until the end of the novel. The identity of Beck's employer provides another element of suspense. In fact, this provides one of the best plot twists in the entire novel. As Beck lingers in Galena, the residents wonder and worry about his intended target. An interesting subplot develops when the mayor hires another gunfighter to kill Beck. The resolution of the situation is reminiscent of an episode of Maverick. The final shootout is thrilling and action-packed. Even though the plot is fairly simple, James has done an excellent job of building and maintaining suspense throughout the novel.

The characters in The Assassin are intriguing. Matt Beck is much more than a gunfighter; he is a very complex character. The potential victims are equally intriguing. Everyone seems to have something to hide in Galena, particularly among the town's elite. Galena is a town where corruption suns rampant, so it is hard to guess who is most likely to be the target. When Beck does finally reveal his target, it doesn't come as a shock. The reason for the job is much more surprising.

The Assassin feels like an old-fashioned Western. It has a solid plot and fascinating characters. Rye James is clearly a fan of the classic Westerns. In The Assassin, he tips his hat to this great American genre.

I normally don't read what you'd typically call "westerns". But I read about this book in one of the kindle discussion threads and picked it up. It was fantastic. I've recommended it a few times in the discussions. The characters were fascinatingly complex and the story was hard to put down. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone and look forward to reading more of Mr. James' stories. Thanks for a great read.

This is a very compelling novel. The characters are well written. Rye James does a great job of giving us insight into these characters. Great plot and imagery. The Assassin is an easy read that is hard to put down. No matter what genre of books you normally read, I highly recommend this western driven novel. You will find yourself wanting to read another novel by Rye James as I did!

Very badly written, perhaps because we live in the places written about we see the errors and mistakes and others do not, but it is so filled with myth and innaccuracies that its hard to ignore.

a see-through plot combined with slow moving and boring dialogue sombines to make this a sloppy mire to wade through. I foud myself skimming pages jsut to get through frilly unrealistic dialogue and ended up hoping all the characters would be killed off.

The plot tries to build a mystery of who Beck is in town to kill but its so badly written that not only don't you care who he kills you don't care if he gets killed or the whole town dries upa nd blows away.

If you've never seen a weatern tv show or movie and never ever read a western book or play or short story then you might be drawn into the tale, but any child in the modern world will see all the twists and turns of the story coming a mile away, its the same old thing.

This book is a great first novel. I was very entertained by it and liked it. Be prepared however if your reading a western to hopefully read about a great part of the country, or beautiful scenery, or how a cowboy feels best when he is on the range. Even if your looking for a little horseplay and real cowboy work type things(Main character runs a ranch loses some strays due to cattle rustlers etc...) This is all about story, gun play and wit. You want action? You got it here. I realy liked it because it is a good western but also takes a bit of a new angle and leaves out some of the rif raf. Good book. I must say as far as indie authors go I surely have competition. Or I just am not even up to par. be ware though if you use the read to me feature alot on your kindle this book will be hard to follow in the conversations.