Customer Reviews

The Perfect Assassin

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ward Larsen's 1st work is great - Has all the components to please just about anyone - Spy thriller, assassins, romance, race to avoid disaster, redemption...Larsen's David Slaton reminds me a little of David Silva's Gabriel Allon - both have had personal tragedies in their lives, both are proud of their ancestry, both excellent agents. It also does, as someone referred to, remind me of a Tom Clancy work, without the detailsdetailsdetails - in other words Perfect Assassin is a complete reader's dream. You will enjoy it.

Sailing solo across the Atlantic westward from France Dr. Christine Palmer, just finished with her third year of residency, pulls aboard a man clinging to a cooler amid the flotsam of a shipwreck. Christine's stumbling across the man in the middle of the ocean is a bit of needle-in-a-haystack good luck that she comes to wish had never happened. Her unexpected passenger--whose name, we eventually learn, is David Slaton--soon commandeers the boat and orders her to sail to England. It is, for Christine, the unpleasant start of a harrowing adventure that will see the two of them running simultaneously from Scotland Yard and from rogue elements within the Israeli secret service.

Ward Larsen tells his story from multiple points of view, his principal characters given just enough back story to make them sympathetic. Perhaps the most compelling of the lot is the Yard's Inspector Nathan Chatham, first introduced in chapter eight, a charming technophobe who is clever and quirky enough to anchor his own series. It is a pleasure, too, to watch our hero outsmart his adversaries using the training of a lifetime of service in Mossad. We certainly come to like Larsen's characters enough to want them to prevail, but it's also true that we are never really made to worry about them. Christine and David are placed in peril repeatedly in the book, but we never doubt that they will both come out safe in the end. Part of the reason for this may be that the bad guys never emerge as fully realized characters. There is no flesh-and-blood villain to root against.

Larsen's debut novel may not pack the sort of suspense that will keep you turning the pages too late at night, but it's a solid spy novel and a good quick read. I'll look forward to seeing more from this author.

-- Debra Hamel

Larsen is a Daniel Silva wannabe but, unfortunately, he comes up short. But his miss is not great and perhaps this promising writer, after a few more efforts, will someday achieve the status he seeks. The problem with "The Perfect Assassin" is that it's one of those thrillers which essentially amount to a 300-page chase to capture a misunderstood assassin who is really a good guy. And it's one of those breathless books in which several months' worth of activity takes place in a few days. The thin plot is predictable and is laden with laughable coincidence after coincidence which enable the hero to survive throughout the book. One of those coincidences is the female character who JUST HAPPENS to be sailing a boat across the Atlantic when the so-called assassin is about to drown, and WHO JUST HAPPENS to be a doctor, which will enable her to save his life later on, and so on. You know the kind of book I'm talking about -- think a poor Robert Ludlum. However, I did enjoy the book and read it through to the very predictable end. Not the best thriller I've read, but not the worst, either.

This is really an excellent book. If you like Vince Flynn and the like you will enjoy this author. It grabs you on page one and turns out to be a true page turner, just can't put it down. I hope the author returns and uses "David Slayton" again.

A solid page turner. It maintains a tight storyline and rapid pace, with well developed characters. If you like Vince Flynn or Stephen Hunter as I do, you're unlikely to be disappointed.

"The Perfect Assassin" by Ward Larsen is really quite a good book, even though its plot structure is far-fetched. The reader must simply suspend judgment about whether or not the event at hand could really happen or not. Such is the problem in fiction, but.......there must be a semblance of realistic action and consequence. There are too many coincidences to make a reader comfortable. You know, it's one of those stories where you find yourself questioning the author.

The characters are quite well-drawn, however, especially the 2 primary characters who find each other in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. They are both a little odd, but in their own way also real. In a nutshell, the book is a bit of a thriller, as the author tries to worry you about nuclear weapons in the hands of the wrong people.

I actually liked the book, although it does not fit any definition of literature. It's a good read for a long flight or a harmless way to wile away some time on the beach. I was not surprised with the more-or-less sappy-happy ending.

Well, I read it, enjoyed it, and give it a 3 for effort and creativity.

Ever since Day Of The Jackal I have very much enjoyed assassin themes. This one is quite good. David Slaton was a top Mossad Kidon. His role is believable. He was assigned to accompany two South African nuclear devices which were being moved by sea to Israeli control for safekeeping due to the turbulent political situation in South Africa. The boat was scuttled in the Atlantic. David was the only survivor. He was rescued by Christine Palmer, a young physician who was sailing solo across that part of the ocean. Then plots begin to surface. Who destroyed the ship and why? Was it an accident or something more sinister involving the nuclear devices? The plot moves along well. The only problem I have with this book it that the key piece of the puzzle turns out to be a group of well placed people in the Israeli government whom are orchestrating everything. From "terrorist" attacks against Jews to be blamed on the Arabs as well as possible use of the nuclear devices to thwart a peace accord. I think this central theme went too far to be believable. But, it's still a good quick read.

I found this book very well written and easy to get into. For a premier novel, Ward Larsen has done an excellent job.

A good page turner. I am looking forward to another novel by Ward Larsen.

THE PERFECT ASSASSIN has it all! This book is packed with action, suspense, thrills, assassinations and even romance.

I enjoy the author's style in that he doesn't have to describe every scene with unnecessary details to complete a book. If you enjoy reading an on-the-edge-of-your-seat story, then I recommend this book. It's well-written and captivating. Brilliant first book Sir.