The Mark of the Assassin [Paperback]

Daniel Silva (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Villard Books (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449003329
• ISBN-13: 978-0449003329
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,164,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

He has been called his generation's finest writer of international intrigue and one of the greatest American spy novelists ever. Compelling, passionate, haunting, brilliant: these are the words that have been used to describe the work of #1 New York Times-bestselling author Daniel Silva.

Silva burst onto the scene in 1997 with his electrifying bestselling debut, The Unlikely Spy, a novel of love and deception set around the Allied invasion of France in World War II. His second and third novels, The Mark of the Assassin and The Marching Season, were also instant New York Times bestsellers and starred two of Silva's most memorable characters: CIA officer Michael Osbourne and international hit man Jean-Paul Delaroche. But it was Silva's fourth novel, The Kill Artist, which would alter the course of his career. The novel featured a character described as one of the most memorable and compelling in contemporary fiction, the art restorer and sometime Israeli secret agent Gabriel Allon, and though Silva did not realize it at the time, Gabriel's adventures had only just begun. Gabriel Allon appears in Silva's next nine novels, each one more successful than the last: The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, and Prince of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules, and The Defector. Silva's forthcoming novel, The Rembrandt Affair, will be published on July 20, 2010.

Silva knew from a very early age that he wanted to become a writer, but his first profession would be journalism. Born in Michigan, raised and educated in California, he was pursuing a master's degree in international relations when he received a temporary job offer from United Press International to help cover the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. Later that year Silva abandoned his studies and joined UPI fulltime, working first in San Francisco, then on the foreign desk in Washington, and finally as Middle East correspondent in Cairo and the Persian Gulf. In 1987, while covering the Iran-Iraq war, he met NBC Today National Correspondent Jamie Gangel and they were married later that year. Silva returned to Washington and went to work for CNN and became Executive Producer of its talk show unit including shows like Crossfire, Capital Gang and Reliable Sources.

In 1995 he confessed to Jamie that his true ambition was to be a novelist. With her support and encouragement he secretly began work on the manuscript that would eventually become the instant bestseller The Unlikely Spy. He left CNN in 1997 after the book's successful publication and began writing full time. Since then all of Silva's books have been New York Times and international bestsellers. His books have been translated in to more than 25 languages and are published around the world. Silva continues to reside in Washington with his wife and teenage twins Lily and Nicholas. When not writing he can usually be found roaming the stacks of the Georgetown University library, where he does much of the research for his books. He is currently at work on a new Gabriel Allon novel and warmly thanks all those friends and loyal readers who have helped to make the series such an amazing success.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Thriller..., March 17, 2001

By 

Christine "loves to read" (Setauket, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mark of the Assassin (Mass Market Paperback)

A commercial jetliner is blown out of the skies over Long Island. A body is found during the recovery operation with three bullet holes to the face -- "the mark of the assassin" has just surfaced but his identity remains a mystery, even to the most notorious underground figures. Enter Michael Osbourne, a senior CIA "case worker" (the preferred term for "spy").. Osbourne recognizes the assassin's mark as that of the man who killed his former lover and many high profile political figures. As he gets closer and closer to finding the killer's identity, Osbourne becomes more entangled in the assassin's web, and unknowingly, places his life, and that of his entire family`s on the line.

Silva masterfully includes all the cookie cutter elements that genre fans want in a really good read: a solid (and very visual) education of international locales, inside details of covert activities, rapid pace story telling, masterful plotting, lots of chasing, twisting and turning...but he adds something even more spectacular: a romantic undercurrent that humanizes the roles of the protagonist AND antagonist. Silva beautifully weaves in two riveting love stories right under the surface of the main plot.

I have a couple of pet peeves (Elizabeth's whining throughout the first half of the book was particulary annoying) but they were immediately squashed as I raced throughout the night toward the last page.

If you enjoy fast-paced spy thrillers that take you on a whirlwind of espionage action all around the globe, then this is the book for you. The pace is relentless and the writing is flawless.

Enjoy.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A solid spy tale, but not as good as his other work, May 28, 2006

By 

Art (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Mark of the Assassin (Mass Market Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoy Silva's Gabriel Allon novels. This book does not rise up to the same level. While the plot moves quickly, I felt like I had already read the book before. The main character is a supper CIA agent, who lacks the depth of character of Gabriel Allon. He is a plastic imitation of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan character. The assassin was your typical cold-blooded former KGB 1000% evil type. The deeply secret international cartel that controlled the senior members of the CIA and other parts of world governments was unbelievable and contrite. Silva's other books are known for their historical research and unique characters. Since this book was set in modern times, Silva was unable to flex one of his primary strengths. From now on, I will stick to the Gabriel Allon books and skip the CIA super agent tales. While there was nothing really bad about the book, it never really rose above the level of being an average run of the mill pulp spy novel.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrorism or Big Business?, August 9, 2002

By 

Cory D. Slipman (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mark of the Assassin (Mass Market Paperback)

An American jetliner is shot down from the sky off of Long Island by a hand held Stinger missile by a two man team in a small boat, killing all aboard. The boat is discovered to be the tomb of a dead Palestinian terrorist with links to the militant group the Sword of Gaza. He had been shot 3 times in the face, the signature of premier assassin Jean Paul Delaroche, known as October.

The attack had been orchestrated by a group called the Society, a clandestine group of wealthy businessmen, intelligence experts, career military men and criminals. The goal of the Society was the maximizing of profit by promoting world chaos. Mitchell Elliott, multi millionaire industrialist and owner of Alarton Defense Systems was a prominent member. Through years of political contributions, Elliott was able to control policy decisions of America president James Beckwith. Elliott now stood to make a fortune by supplying the nation with a missile defense system.

Michael Osbourne, top CIA agent and Middle East terrorism expert is called in to investigate the tragedy. Osbourne, now married to beautiful and high powered lawyer Elizabeth Cannon, years ago, witnessed the killing of his girlfriend Sarah by Delaroche.
Osbourne suspecting that the Sword of Gaza was not involved in the plot, starts to investigate Elliott and Delaroche. His speculation is confirmed when his wife's best friend, Susanna Dayton, investigative reporter for the Washington Post is found murdered. She had been working a piece that exposed the dirty dealings of Mitchell Elliott.

Eventully Delaroche is commissioned by the Society to dispatch Osbourne, which begins a cat and mouse game across the globe between hunter and hunted.

Silva does an admirable job in crafting an exciting ad revealing tale of international intrigue. I would suggest reading this novel prior to his follow up book The Marching Season,which I unfortunately did not do.