The Marching Season

Rating:
Summary: Warmed over Higgins
Review: The Unlikely Spy was good historical fiction because it linked its story to accurate historical events. The Mark of the Assassin was fun pulp. But with the Marching Season, you wonder whether Silva has anything left to say. It's just a rewrite of Assassin in a different setting with some predictable variations in the plot. Boring.

Jack Higgins is the master of Irish political thrillers. What Silva would like to be.

Rating:
Summary: best silva yet
Review: This book is fabulous. we passed it around the whole family. we are big fans, and all agree it is the the best silva yet! thank you for writing thrillers and keeping up the genre!

Rating:
Summary: Daniel Silva Strikes Again!
Review: This book was an excellent followup to "Mark of the Assasin".
The Society,a group dedicated to making money from destabilization in the world is once again in the picture. They call upon October to do a contract killing on behalf of the Mossad Chief in the Middle East. October is given an assigment to
assasinate Senator Cannon, Osbourne's father in law. It is uo to Osbourne to stop him. The book has an excellent plot and plenty of action. There is never a dull moment in this book. Osbourne and October struggle all over the world. The ending of the book is also very good. This is another quality product from Daniel Silva. I am now waiting for "Kill Artist" to turn paperback. Do
not miss the "Marching Season".

Rating:
Summary: Terrific!
Review: This is a great sequel to Mark of the Assassin. The characters are terrific. The focus on the conflict in Northern Ireland is insightful, educational and very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is not only a fast-paced thriller, but amazingly accurate if you know anything about Northern Ireland. It captures the people, the place, and an extraordinary sense of what is going on. You will love this book and it is a wonderful history lesson right out of today's headlines. It is amazing Silva saw the future so accurately when he wrote this book. It has all come true. I have read all his books and this one is my favorite. Congratulations and keep on going!

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This is the first book of Silva's I have read, but not the last!

Rating:
Summary: OK read
Review: This is the first Silva book I have read and I picked up this book based on reviews I read on internet that its a worthy read. The story started off promising but stalled in the middle. The ending regained my interest, but if I had never read this book, I would not have missed much.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent and Logical Sequel To The Mark of the Assassin!
Review: This is the third of Daniel Silva's books that I have read and all I can say is that THE MARCHING SEASON is perhaps the best sequel I have read in any of the genres I read in. At the very beginning of this book I did not think I would end up saying this, but here I am, saying it in spite of my initial reservations.

To be sure, this book starts off more slowly than I would have expected or liked. However, that is where the skill that Daniel Silva possesses reveals itself. Without a doubt, here is a relatively new author who is already a master of pacing, tension, plot, scene, character development and everything that is needed to craft a finely wrought spy novel.

Michael Osbourne is reprised from THE MARK OF THE ASSASSIN as are his wife, his liberal father-in-law, retired U.S. Senator Douglas Cannon and other members of the government and the CIA. Also returning for a not so welcome guest appearance is Jean-Paul Delaroche, aka October, the Assassin who unsuccessfully attempted to kill Michael Osbourne in the previous installment.

The internal machinations of the U.S. and British governments, as well as the possible goings-on inside both the IRA and the various Irish Protestant paramilitaries are also revealed here and in fine detail. Another master stroke that Silva employs throughout this story is that he doesn't ever really get preachy. With some authors, their natural biases come out in their writing. Not so with Daniel Silva. He simply tells the story and writes about the people he populates the book with.

Is there moral outrage on Silva's part? I would have to guess yes. No normal person could ever condone the terroristic acts that are carried out in the name of one misguided cause after another around the globe. If he shows that outrage, it is when he talks about how various splinter factions have risen out of the ashes of the fires of terrorism to scuttle the Irish peace process. He also writes damningly of THE SOCIETY, a super secret extra-national intelligence organization that continues to stir the pot around the globe for its own greedy interests. These are the folks you can tell Silva despises; the globalists with no loyalties to any nation or flag. They are only loyal to their own financial interests.

Although Silva continues to be spare with his information on Jean Paul Delaroche, he provides just enough material to keep the reader plunging along in headlong pursuit of the final denouement. This is what makes October so interesting and ultimatley almost sympathetic. For throughout the international chases, October is a man who maintains his own sense of values and morality. Michael Osbourne may not agree with October's view of the world or himself, but ultimately, the respect, while grudging begins to grow. How Silva brings this all about is what makes this an exceptional spy novel.

If you have not discovered Daniel Silva, you are in for a real treat. Start with THE UNLIKELY SPY and then read THE MARK OF THE ASSASSIN, followed by THE MARCHING SEASON. Only the last two are directly related but, if you read them in the order I have listed, you will get to follow Silva's rapid development as a writer and see his promotion into the ranks of spy-thriller masters.

I recommend these books unreservedly to all fans of well-crafted spy fiction. Read them and you too, will be telling your friends about Daniel Silva.

Thank you, Mr. Silva for many hours of reading enjoyment. I hope you'll keep Michael Osbourne as a central figure in your future novels. I think he still has more to say.

Paul Connors

Rating:
Summary: Nonstop read
Review: This one flew as I finished it in only three sittings.

The action never stopped. The players were most realistic and it was easy to get involved with all of them.

Cat and mouse kept me on edge of my seat. The twists and turns and red herrings made it impossible to put down.

The characters were well drawn and I will go back and read his earlier books. The ending was spectacular and what a surprise. The resolution leaves plenty of room for continuation of these characters and I look forward to a follow up.

This is a thriller drama at its best.

Rating:
Summary: A new spy hero
Review: This was a well-written book and as current as today's headlines. I did think the title was a little misleading because it had very little to do with the situation in Northern Irealnd, specifically the yearly conflicts over the Protestant marches through Catholic neighborhoods. It was very timely however. This was definitely a page-turner though it left me wishing that I'd read the previous book first. It was nice having an older main character. Michael, at forty-eight, is a rarity, but I'm sure middle age readers will appreciate that a man of that age can be handsome, charming, and deadly efficient at his job.