The Mark of the Assassin

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding spy thriller
Review: Mark of the Assassin is well worth reading, you cannot put it down. The sequel Marching Season is just as good. I can't wait for the next book with Michael Osborne as the central player.

Rating:
Summary: fast paced and full of actions
Review: The book is full of adventures, going to many exciting places with lots of killings. Two action men : Osbourne and Delaroche.I think if they were brought up the same, they would end up the same killer or good guys. Reminds me of a Robert Ludlum book. Although, I must say, there are too many unnecessary people, could do with less. At times, it's booging slow. Then you have to plough through it before it gets exciting again. If you want action, it's a good read, but should be more inventive. The plot is ,"you've heard it in the news", sort of thing, the twist in the end is not something new.

Rating:
Summary: Chillingly real
Review: Top notch entertainment. Make sure you have nothing important to do the rest of the evening as it's almost impossible to put down this riveting tale of behind the scenes big business and politics and the deadly games they play for money and power. Osbourne and Delarouche leap out at you from the pages of this fine novel of spies and assassins!

Rating:
Summary: A great "time-killer".
Review: Ever find yourself wanting to be entertained, desiring to be educated, but don't want to have to think too hard? Well, here's a fast read that will have you actually look forward to going to bed at night for an hour or so of reading before the lights go out. The geography is accurate, the dialogue is witty and crisp, and the vocabulary is educational. The character development, however, seemed to be somewhat superficial, and the plot was too revealing while it was developing. I would prefer the surprises in the plot to "hit me hard" at the end of each chapter, instead of slowly revealing themselves page by page. A reader will "know" how the book ends even before he finishes reading it, and that was somewhat disappointing to me.

Rating:
Summary: One of the very best
Review: Outstanding Author,have read all Silva's books to date;cant wait till his next one is on market.

Rating:
Summary: I had to force myself to finish this book.
Review: When I first saw this book at the bookstore, I thought it would be a good read. Was I disappointed. Like other reviewers, I thought the plot was weak, characters lacking substance, and the ending of the book was a joke. I wasted my money on this book. The climax of the book was a major let down. I kept looking for more action, but there was none.

Rating:
Summary: OK summer beach reading.
Review: A decent read if you're into something simple with a fair amount of action. One disappointing, and frankly sad, constant throughout was the continual referal to smoking--everyone had to do it: before sex, after sex, when the tensions mounted, or whenever there was any kind of mood swing--everyone had to light up. I guess I'll have to buy the next book if I really want to see the bad guys who were left standing really get what's comming to them.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: A lot of stereotypes here - the educated, mature CIA agent, his beautiful lawyer wife, a goodlooking international killer, a Ronald Reagan type of US President.... But otherwise, a good read. Mr.Silva pales in comparison to maestros Frederick Forsyth & John Le Carre. But the book is still a good read, & builds up to a nice climax. Read it!

Rating:
Summary: Good summer read!
Review: My first time reading Silva, I found "Mark" to be a quick and entertaining summer read. The action was compelling and his decsriptions of locations (having been to most) were dead-on. The ending seemed a little rushed and predictable - but most of this genre do. "Mark" is a page turner like early Clancy; lets hope his future work don't begin to bloat with extraneous detail as Clancy's has.

Rating:
Summary: Want a good read like The Unlikely Spy? It's not here.
Review: I was expecting a good spy novel like Silva's previous The Unlikely Spy, but it definitely wasn't in this book. The Mark of the Assassin is not much more than a cheap knock-off of a Tom Clancy novel -- it even has a whole lot of stock stereotypical characters (the traitor, the love interest, the religiously ferverant crazy person). And if dumb action, stock characters, and impossible situations won't sell this book, why not stick in a whole lot of gratuitous sex? This book is a let down and I'm not look forward to Silva's new book.