The Mark of the Assassin

Michael Osbourne, Book 1

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

When a commercial airliner is blown out of the sky off the East Coast, the CIA scrambles to find the perpetrators. A body is discovered near the crash site with three bullets to the face: the calling card of a shadowy international assassin. Only agent Michael Osbourne has seen the markings before - on a woman he once loved.

Now, it's personal for Osbourne. Consumed by his dark obsession with the assassin, he's willing to risk his family, his career, and his life - to settle a score...

©2003 Daniel Silva (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The prose is slick, and readers will find themselves racing through these pages as the body count grows and the conclusion nears. The Mark of the Assassin is a worthy effort from a rising star." (Amazon.com review)

My first read of Silva

It was an okay book. Not great but not bad. Slow as hell in the beginning but overall pretty good. I'm going to try another one of his titles and see if it's any better. One thing is for sure, Michael's wife Elizabeth... biggest pain in the ass I've ever heard. Someone should have shot her in the book.

Great Story. POOR PERFORMANCE.

As a new fan of Daniel Silva I was disheartened when Christopher Lane started narrating. About a chapter in, I realized I would have to listen to characters that were either sniveling pretentious children throughout, a female assassins hi sounded like a whiny hooker, a protagonist sounding like Joe from Family Guy with a Stewie-sounding character thrown into the mix here and there for the English flair. The entire performance was anguish - happy that the story kept me. That said, if Christopher had been the performer in additional books, I’d have given up the series, indeed.

Classic Silva

Great book. As a fan of the Gabriel Allon series I found this as a refreshing alternate universe. The characters and scenes are as meticulously defined in the usual Silva manner. US political intrigue and end of the Cold War dramatics help to drive the story and make one want to rush to see what unfolds next.

Mr. Lane performed a masterful job as reader. The differentiation between the characters helped with the immersion into the world of Michael Osbourne.

Drivel

Awful narration. Gave up on this one when the fourth rate James Stewart impersonation began. What do these guys think a listener will do when they hear that? Wait for the John Wayne character to come along? Not me, I'm off. This narrator joins a growing black list of story tellers to avoid. Rubbish.

Not Silva's best work

Generallly i always enjoy Daniel Silva's books, and have read many. This was by far my least favorite - and probably one of his earliest, from style and story line.
The plot was way over complicated and many superfluous buts of information that seemed to just confuse the reader but not deepen the story. The style is good, and as ever Silva gave great depth of characters - but in some places - perhaps too much.

Not as good as the Gabriel Alon series

Would you consider the audio edition of The Mark of the Assassin to be better than the print version?

Not sure if it'd make a difference in print; but Christopher Lane's performance was exceptional. The most enjoyable of all narrators for Daniel Silva's books; even without the British accent

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not really, enjoyable but predictable

Any additional comments?

Too many characters involved. I guess I'm used to the way the Gabriel Alon's series integrates the characters from one book to the other, without having to expand so much in each book. I'm still a Daniel Silva fan, no matter what.

Disappointed

I normally love Silva's books. I struggled to like the characters in this book. They did not seem real.

Not my favorite Silva novel

I am very much a fan of most of Daniel Silva's novels, but not this one. I'm glad this wasn't the first of his that I read/listened to, or it might have been my last.

Excellent Reader

A good narrator makes all the difference. Can carry you through the minutiae of an unabridged volume.

Silvia's usual mastery.

Transitioning from his Israel centered series he builds up gradually to a tense climax. All's well that ends well yet he leaves a tag for possible sequels. Held attention to the very end.