Book# 0.5 in the Assassin series

This prequel to “King of Swords” is a raw and unflinching thriller introducing El Rey, one of Russell Blake’s most brutal characters.

The book opens with the deadly El Rey as he carries out his latest job- the assassination of a drug cartel boss. Then the story switched to his childhood where we find out how he was groomed to become the most notorious and deadliest assassin known to date. The story is framed against the backdrop of Mexico drug trafficking and in the midst of a bloody war of power.

The world of Drug cartels depicted in this book is very scary but fortunately the author spares us the many gory details. As the story keeps moving it tells us how El Rey setups his hits and how he manages to get away. No doubt, the plot is fast-paced, one that kept me on the edge waiting for his next move. It is definitely an action filled thriller that grabs attention from the first page and holds it all through. Although violent, I loved this cold blooded killer; El Rey is all what I expected from this kind of character. Mr. Blake excels in moving his plot between characters and scenes and pulling us into the environment of a deadly killer.

The story is well-written, moves along without getting bogged down and is an easy and captivating read. ( )

Night Assassin: Assassin Series Prequel opens the doors to El Rey's earlier days. It tells how he became the man, the most deadly assassin. The story is told in the third person, which makes it feel like someone is whispering the story in your ear, while you're watching on.
It definitely is an action thriller, with lots of violence as would be expected with El Rey's trade. I must admit, since he's knocking off drug cartel members, he's almost like a cult hero. It will be interesting to see where his life will go as the series continues. ( )

"The marines, for whatever reason, couldn't be bought off."

That line sums up part of the book for me. The stated purpose of the story is to explain how the assassin El Rey got to be who he is. But it doesn't. It explains how he learned his skills, but aside from a brief, summarized romance, we get very little insight into the man himself. In brief, El Rey, for whatever reason, becomes a hard, cold, amoral killer.

The plot itself is not bad. It keeps moving, with detailed setups for El Rey's crimes, and detail about the types of weapons he uses, if that's your thing. It's unfortunately not mine, so while the plot was fast moving, it didn't carry me along.

A lot of the elements are tried and true thriller material, and the prose is at times a bit heavy-handed. Aside from El Rey, there's not much question who's good and who's bad, and there's a pretty heavy burden of cliches.

If you're looking for an undemanding beach or airplane thriller, pick this up. If you want something with a little more character and psychology to it, keep looking. ( )

"The marines, for whatever reason, couldn't be bought off."

That line sums up part of the book for me. The stated purpose of the story is to explain how the assassin El Rey got to be who he is. But it doesn't. It explains how he learned his skills, but aside from a brief, summarized romance, we get very little insight into the man himself. In brief, El Rey, for whatever reason, becomes a hard, cold, amoral killer.

The plot itself is not bad. It keeps moving, with detailed setups for El Rey's crimes, and detail about the types of weapons he uses, if that's your thing. It's unfortunately not mine, so while the plot was fast moving, it didn't carry me along.

A lot of the elements are tried and true thriller material, and the prose is at times a bit heavy-handed. Aside from El Rey, there's not much question who's good and who's bad, and there's a pretty heavy burden of cliches.

If you're looking for an undemanding beach or airplane thriller, pick this up. If you want something with a little more character and psychology to it, keep looking. ( )