The Perfect Assassin [Kindle Edition]

Ward Larsen (Author)

Book Description

One perfect shot will change the course of history. Christine Palmer, a young American doctor sailing solo across the Atlantic, makes an incredible discovery - a man narrowly clinging to his life in the frigid waters. But there is much more to this desperate survivor than meets the eye.David Slaton is a Kidon - a highly-trained, highly-precise, and highly-dangerous assassin. The Kidon is both the hunter and the hunted, and he and Christine are in grave danger. Will they win in this race against time?With the precision of a sharpshooter, author Ward Larsen weaves an intricate tale of espionage and intrigue.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Larsen's competent debut has many of the right ingredients for a successful spy thriller: plenty of action, technical detail that would do Tom Clancy proud, and a hero with almost superhuman skills. When Christine Palmer, an American doctor sailing solo across the Atlantic, retrieves the almost lifeless body of David Slaton in the middle of the ocean, Slaton commandeers her small boat and demands she deliver him to England. A member of Kidon (Mossad's special assassination team), Slaton is the sole survivor of a ship that sank with a super-secret cargo-a pair of unaccounted for nuclear weapons. Double agents within Mossad want to kill Slaton before he uncovers their convoluted plot to use the weapons to undermine Israel's international support. Needless to say, they're soon after Palmer as well. What's missing is that no character, except for Palmer, has an inner life.
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Review

First there was the Jackal, then Jason Bourne. Now meet David Slaton, the Kidon - a highly-trained Israeli assassin who is both hunter and hunted.

A gripping first novel. High octane action. Immerses you in the world and mind of the assassin. Nothing is what it seems.

A stunning blend of intrigue and espionage. A thriller of the highest order. Larsen's cast of characters keeps you riveted to the very end.

".plenty of action.technical detail that would do Tom Clancy proud"-Publishers Weekly

Winner, Royal Palm Literary AwardsGold Medalist, Military Writers Society of America AwardsSilver Medalist, Florida Book AwardsSilver Medalist, ForeWord Book of the Year Awards

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 614 KB
• Print Length: 360 pages
• Publisher: Oceanview Publishing (May 1, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003YFJ5P4
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,538 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

135 of 141 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This has it all May 11, 2006

By ellen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

72 of 75 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A promising debut novel January 2, 2007

By Debra Hamel TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

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

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read in awhile May 2, 2012

By Bruce Pettersen

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I do a lot of reading. I turn the news off after about 10 minutes and read for a couple of hours. If it's raining and I don't want to go anywhere, I read. I don't like paying a lot for my books and "The Perfect Assassin" was about at the top of the dollar amount. I usually depend on the reviews of others and in this case I was intrigued. I enjoyed the way the book started, he had you involved in the first few pages and it was never a put down book. I loved both characters. There were a couple of spots that weren't technically correct but they were easily overlooked by the story line. I highly recommend this book if you like spy novels. This one was well written I think I'll read some of his others. I read a bunch of Bob Mayers and enjoyed those also but then tired of his writing. So this was a nice change. Thanks for reading this and if you choose to buy this novel you won't be disappointed. BruceThe Perfect Assassin

More About the Author

Bestselling author Ward Larsen is a two-time winner of the Florida Book Award. His first thriller, The Perfect Assassin, is currently being adapted into a major motion picture by Amber Entertainment. His work has been nominated for both the Edgar and Macavity Awards. A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Larsen flew over twenty missions in Operation Desert Storm. He has also served as a federal law enforcement officer, airline captain, and is a trained aircraft accident investigator.