First Chapter Review: Night of the Assassin by Russell Blake

I downloaded this book to my Kindle for free back in February 2012. It currently sells for $3.47 on Amazon.

BLURB: Night of the Assassin is the gritty, edge-of-your seat prequel to King of Swords. A no-holds-barred, breakneck-paced thriller, Night charts the early years of El Rey - known as the King of Swords - a super-assassin responsible for some of the world's most spectacular and daring executions.

Framed against the backdrop of present-day Mexico's brutal narco-trafficking violence, Night of the Assassin chronicles the making of a monster - a cold-blooded, ruthless killing machine. Raw, disturbing, edgy and unflinching, this epic saga defies convention to create a roller-coaster of intrigue, suspense and thrills that will leave even the most jaded thriller aficionados gasping for breath.

Best if read after King of Swords, Night was written to provide background on El Rey, with the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the events in King of Swords.

COVER: Perfect. Just what I would expect. I can't decide, however, if I like this one or the blue paperback  cover with a different image and background best. I like how you see the profile of the target on this cover, but I like the background images on the blue one better.

FIRST CHAPTER: Sylvio Contreras is the number one warload in Sonora and the head of the Zapata cartel. He is celebrating his fiftieth birthday aboard his yacht, Contessa, docked in the harbor below the Grand Bay Hotel in Barra de Navidad.

Alberto, head of his security detail, is anxious that this quiet night will erupt into chaos. El Rey is sure to prove him right.

KEEP READING: I'm on the fence over this one. I like the premise of it. Though I didn't read King of Swords, the idea of getting inside the head of a ruthless killing machine made me want to give this one a whirl. Unfortunately, I got buried in a mound of details and backstory that made the opening of this thriller painfully slow. Everything from the weather to Contreras's background to security details and how El Rey carefully plans to carry out another spectacular and daring execution, make this a beefy first chapter. Perhaps if this chapter were seen solely from El Rey's point of view instead of it trying to encompass Alberto's concerns and the luxury of Contreras's life alongside El Rey's putting his plan into action, some of the details could have been avoided or, at bare minimum, used to show how the assassin used this information to his benefit. The first chapter is pages and pages of narrative, some of which I admittedly ended up skipping because I wanted to get to the action.

The next chapter brings the reader twenty-five years into the past. I want to give this book a bit more time before I make my final decision on whether to keep going because I really like the idea behind it.

File Size: 367 KB
Print Length: 181 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1480238279
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Reprobatio Ltd (August 19, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B006M5L5JC


I downloaded a free version of this book to my Kindle. This review contains my honest opinions, which I was not compensated for in any way.