Assassin of Secrets [Paperback]

Q.R. Markham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2011

An elite spy risks his biggest asset to defeat an insidious international organization hell-bent on selling the most sensitive state secrets to the highest bidder.

Jonathan Chase, the CIA's top field agent, is sworn to protect and serve the United States at all costs. But after a brutal period of captivity during the Korean War, Chase developed an agenda of his own: to use his mastery of war to create peace.

His new target: the Zero Directorate, a cabal of rogue assassins who have embarked on a campaign to systematically interrogate and kill seasoned secret agents from across the globe.

But the Directorate has set an elaborate trap, and for Chase the whole mission involves an inescapable paradox. As the world's preeminent operative, the closer he gets to the cabal, the closer the cabal gets to their primary target.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brainy and enticing ... a narrative hall of mirrors in which nothing and no one are as they seem and emotion is a perilous thing to have ... A dazzling, deftly controlled debut that moves through familiar territory with wry sophistication." (Kirkus (starred review) )

"Quirky, entertaining ... fine writing keeps the enterprise firmly on track, and the obvious Ian Fleming influence just adds to the appeal." (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )

"Hardcore, old school spy fiction for a generation raised on ass-kicking Bourne flicks. Q.R. Markham's thrilling debut is just like his spy hero: ambitious and audacious. More, please." (Duane Swierczynski, Edgar-nominated author of Severance Package and Fun & Games )

"A fantastic, gleeful, chrome-plated-slick debut of a novel. In Jonathan Chase, Markham has created the perfect cliche-shattering super spy while honoring the progenitors. Dangerously sharp, and genuinely fun--and very, very, very smart. I want more books like this. I want more books from the mind of Mr. Markham!" (Greg Rucka, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Run and Queen & Country )

About the Author

Q. R. Markham has been a laundry truck driver, a door-to-door salesman, a rock 'n' roll bassist, and more. Currently, he is a co-owner of an indie bookstore in Brooklyn. This is his first novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Mulholland Books; 1 edition (November 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031617646X
• ISBN-13: 978-0316176460
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 61 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Plagiarism of the worst sort November 8, 2011

By Lawrence Block

Format:Paperback

There are plenty of good sentences in this book, but they're all the work of other writers. The author must be seriously disturbed; he quite deliberately stole everything in the book. And no, it's not an homage, not a tribute album. It's theft, and quite transparent; it should be off-sale by now, but it may take Amazon a while to take it down. The author, it turns out, has made a habit of this sort of thing throughout his "career." Let us not encourage him.

21 of 29 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars "Originality is nothing but judicious plagiarism." ~ Voltaire November 10, 2011

By Gordon M. Verber VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Unfortunately, this turned out not to be very judicious, but simply a blatant stealing of other peoples work.

It beggars belief that the publishers - Little, Brown & Company in the US, and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK - did not recognize this for what it is: A compendium of snippets from other's books stitched together to make a whole.

The publishers stand as discredited as the "author."

The Amazon quoted "Editorial Reviews" can only be an embarrassment to the reviewers e.g. "'Brainy and enticing ... a narrative hall of mirrors in which nothing and no one are as they seem and emotion is a perilous thing to have ... A dazzling, deftly controlled debut that moves through familiar territory with wry sophistication.' (Kirkus (starred review) );" though I suppose one should take with a grain of salt any reviewer who would make the gaffe "...in which nothing and no one are as they seem..."

Yes, 'twas familiar territory indeed.

There are real authors out there, so why did this patchwork of stolen writings rise to the top of the publisher's heap?

31 of 44 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY...PLAGARISM November 8, 2011

By R. S. Partida

Format:Paperback

It was just announced that the publisher is planning on withdrawing this publication, as it has been determined that many passages have been lifted from other books.

Publisher's website has withdrawn all information on this book.
[...]

Please do not support plagarism.