Rating:  Summary: Beach reading Review: Can you say, "a book wanting to be a summer movie?" It has all the trappings. Fast moving story, gratuitous sex, plenty of characters, politics, action, violence, and exotic locations. What it lacks is character development that makes you care what happens to any of these people. (And, lots of unlikely situations and responses to those situations.) But, hey!, if you're sitting on a beach and you don't want to engage your brain...it'll wile a few hours away quite nicely.
Rating:  Summary: Going to make a great movie Review: The Unlikely Spy was great--The Mark of the Assassin even better. A definite page-turner. I could not put it down, so I didn't. I am going to add Daniel Silva to my list of authors to watch for.
Rating:  Summary: pretty good Review: Less than satisfying ending, but worth reading if you like spy books.
Rating:  Summary: A very good thriller. Review: I read Daniel Silva's first novel _The_Unlikely_Spy_ and loved it. This second effort was not quite as good, but well worth reading. The element that made _The_Unlikely_Spy_ so enthralling is fundamentally missing here: the historical context. Since _Mark_of_the_Assassin_ is set in modern times, there is no equivalent here to the depiction of wartime London.However Silva does have a knack for transporting the reader, in this case geographically rather than temporally. His settings in France, England and the US genuinely make you feel like you are there.
Rating:  Summary: EXCELLENT THRILLER WITH FASCINATING CHARACTERS Review: I JUST FINISHED "THE MARK OF THE ASSASSIN AND FOUND THE NOVEL TO BE BOTH THRILLING AND EXILERATING. THE PLOT IS SIMILIAR TO LUDLEM'S BUT MUCH BETTER WRITTEN. I DO HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS READ THE BOOK. WHICH PERSON IN THE NOVEL IS THE CHARACTER " THE "DIRECTOR"? I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE BOOK TO ADVENTURE/SPY READERS.
Rating:  Summary: Those Nasty Republicans are At it, AGAIN Review: What a disappointment. Not only is this NOT as good as "The Unlikely Spy," Silva proves himself to be yet another politically motivated author who uses the celebrity status gained from a past book to advance his political agenda. Just look at the cast of characters: There's the President's manipulative chief of staff (just like Ronald Regan's Don Regan); there's the telegenic dimwitted Republican President who is the puppet and tool of the manipulative chief of staff (just as Ronald Reagan was portrayed); there's the evil First Lady who is controlling things behind the scenes (a la Nancy Reagan); there's the all-knowing media on the side of "good" versus "evil" (the Washington Post); and, of course, there's big business which is up to its collective eyeballs in "evil" because it wants to build and profit from a space shield (i.e., a not-so-subtle reference to Reagan's Star Wars). There's even a pair of terrorist killers who are portrayed as two nice people who are in love, victims of terrible childhoods. And, well, you get the idea. There's even a "Vince Foster Suicide." One of the immediate tipoffs to Silva's political views comes in his statements that (paraphrase) the previous Administration had a Cabinet as diverse as America yet this Administration had chosen Cabinet members solely from the Good Old White Boys Club. This transparant reference is to Clinton vs. Any Republican President. On top of this, the plot is tedious, predictable, and SLOW. You want to scream out on page 100, "Yo, Dan-O, we've got this figured out already. Enough. Just get on with it, will you?" Yet, despite all these problems, Silva has promise. I'm looking for a return to the style he set in his first effort, "The Unlikely Spy." As for this one, save your money.
Rating:  Summary: One of the best ever written Review: This was one of the best books I have ever read. Silva keeps the book going and adds the definite air of intrigue to the plot. A must read.
Rating:  Summary: A Damn Good Novel Review: Mark of the Assassin is a powerful suspense thriller that begins on page one and grips you all the way to the end. By comparison to other authors (Tom Clancy, John Grisham,) Daniel Silva has found a form that keeps the pages turning and the bed lamp burning. Overall, read this novel. It is worth the money!
Rating:  Summary: Derivative, contrived, improbable, and predictable. Review: Readers of "The Unlikely Spy" will be disappointed by Silva's latest work. Its derivative, contrived, and improbable with a tedious subplot about the protagonist's wife's infertility problems. Wouldn't even recommend this book for a long plane ride.
Rating:  Summary: Could of been better Review: "Mark of the assassin" Started with the potential to be a great book, but slip somewhere down the line. It was like the author either stoped caring or he didn't know where to go with it. I was highly disappointed in this novel.
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