Customer Reviews

A World of Assassins

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Neil Davies' first novel is a must-read. I've always been a fan of sci-fi and murder mysteries both - and this tale delivers the thrills. This author's smooth, fast-paced writing style, along with the suspenseful plot and colorful, dangerous characters, kept me turning the pages.

The futuristic planet, Dirve, and the aliens our hero - Detective Inspector Tom Gates - encounters are vividly brought to life by compelling descriptions and situations.

I found Gates' character intriguing as well: a detective who used to be a former assassin? The premise grabbed my attention right away.

But what I appreciate most about Mr. Davies' talent is the story's unpredictable plot and realistic, believable dialogue - two essential ingredients for a novel, no matter the genre.

Well done!

It really stinks to be a human prostitute on the planet Dirve. First, all humans are relegated to a near-slum community in a distant corner of the capital. Second, the Dirves really, really hate the smelly humans. Third, while it is against the law, some extra-kinky Dirves, whose endowments are significantly larger than the human version, take pleasure in having sexual relations with prostitutes, even though there is nothing at all pleasant for the prostitute in the encounter. And if all of that isn't enough, the human prostitutes are being murdered and no one outside of the human colony cares.

Prostitutes aren't the only ones getting killed though. Anyone who tries to start a business of his own, not exactly illegal, but supremely frowned upon by the Dirvens, is also at risk. Even though Dirven police are pretending to solve the murders, no one really cares.

In a series of coincidental events, Detective Tom Gates is sent to Dirve to solve the murder of the humans. The Dirvens don't want Gates on their planet, but since tourism receipts have started to be affected with the unsolved crimes, they let him in.

More than just a murder mystery, A WORLD OF ASSASSINS, written by first-time author Neil Davies, is also an investigation of race relations on an intergalactic level. In fact the study of futuristic relations was so interesting, that I would have liked to see Davies spend a little more time fleshing out each character.

Having said that though, the novel had a really good plot, one that kept us guessing until the very end. In addition to following the trail of a trained-assassin murderer (whose methods are instantly recognized by Detective Gates, who happened to train in the same assassin-training camp as the murderer), the novel also follows the vices of humans and dirvens alike. From murder, greed and intolerance, the story is far more than a one-layered science fiction murder story.

This is a great book !! It's well written & completely original which in this day & age, is a truly amazing feat. The story itself can be appreciated on many levels - it's a thriller, it's a drama, it's a mystery & it can also been seen as an intergalactic tale of race relations gone bad, somewhat mirroring our very own societies here on planet earth. It's all of these things & yet much more. It's a book that really made me think but most of all it's a book that I really enjoyed. If you're looking for something new & different to read, buy this now. Highly recommended !!!!!