Status
Available
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Fawcett (1999), Edition: Reprint, 432 pages
Description
Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:CIA Agent Michael Osbourne stars in this suspenseful series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Allon novels. 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�?� A PEOPLE PAGE-TURNER O
User reviews
LibraryThing member ZoharLaor
A fast paced mystery which starts out a bit slow (but well paced) and keeps your reading with twists and a surprise I didn't see midway through.
To be fair though, the setup alone is half the book.
The story starts with an act of terrorism. A jet liner is shot out of the sky using an land-to-air
Three shots to the face are the mark of the assassin and CIA agent Michael Osbourne knows it - he has encountered it before while working in the field.
Michael believes that the jet liner was not shot down by Arab terrorists but by someone else and this makes him a target.
What Michael doesn't know is that a group of rich and powerful world policy manipulators have targeted him for assassination and sent the world's best assassin to do the job; an assassin who justifies his work and morality by the famous Wild West well reasoned defense of "he needed killin'".
Mix those elements with political intrigue, a wife, medical issues, international locations, twists, turns and a few surprises - and you got yourself a winning combination.
The book has well developed characters, great plotline and it kept me interested until the last, as well as a theory which is thought provoking, if nothing else.
"The Mark of the Assassin" was a good, quick read with several references to Silva's first novel "The Unlikely Spy" which I found entertaining - even though this is a separate story and has almost nothing to do with the first novel.
At the time of this review, the under the book's title it said "Gabriel Allon" in parenthesis - this is not a Gabriel Allon book.
To be fair though, the setup alone is half the book.
The story starts with an act of terrorism. A jet liner is shot out of the sky using an land-to-air
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shoulder missile, the shooter is a terrorist known to the authorities who is found dead next to the empty missile tube shot in the face three times.Three shots to the face are the mark of the assassin and CIA agent Michael Osbourne knows it - he has encountered it before while working in the field.
Michael believes that the jet liner was not shot down by Arab terrorists but by someone else and this makes him a target.
What Michael doesn't know is that a group of rich and powerful world policy manipulators have targeted him for assassination and sent the world's best assassin to do the job; an assassin who justifies his work and morality by the famous Wild West well reasoned defense of "he needed killin'".
Mix those elements with political intrigue, a wife, medical issues, international locations, twists, turns and a few surprises - and you got yourself a winning combination.
The book has well developed characters, great plotline and it kept me interested until the last, as well as a theory which is thought provoking, if nothing else.
"The Mark of the Assassin" was a good, quick read with several references to Silva's first novel "The Unlikely Spy" which I found entertaining - even though this is a separate story and has almost nothing to do with the first novel.
At the time of this review, the under the book's title it said "Gabriel Allon" in parenthesis - this is not a Gabriel Allon book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member theportal2002
Started off kind of slow but picked up. From the middle to the end of the book I could not put it down. A very good read.
LibraryThing member SanctiSpiritus
I hate to denigrate any work of Daniel Silva. However, this work is not on par with his other literary successes. Especially the Gabriel Allon series. However, the plot is quite good. An American flight is downed by a stinger missile and hell breaks out in the Middle East. The conspirators start to
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erase their tracks to the crime, and need the help of a soulless assassin. I remain glad I read it. Show Less
LibraryThing member reeread
My first Daniel Silva novel - looks like I'm in for a treat as I track more down. Intriguing plot. Makes you wonder what dirty deals are really being done at the highest levels of power in politics and the corporate world and how many innocent people suffer because of them.
My one beef was that
A good page turner with lots of twists and turns.
My one beef was that
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Elizabeth had the most trouble free IVF procedure and result I've ever read about, certainly given the circumstances surrounding it ie. husband not present for the implantation but tangling with terrorists overseas and is being hunted down by an assassin, (so is she), has discovered close friend murdered, kills assassin's assistant at close quarters and witnesses husband's shooting. A good page turner with lots of twists and turns.
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LibraryThing member Papa51
First-time reading silva....good start...good story and characters and kept me turning the pages...looking forward to the next one.
LibraryThing member buffalogr
Seemed like a long book; but, wasn't very much actually. Book involved Washington DC political actions, money, power and ego--it seemed like every time I turned it on, somebody was getting whacked. The book postulated an international secret society that viewed itself as the global ruler and their
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political goals involved murder and mayhem. Hmmmm... Show Less
LibraryThing member FKarr
not as good as Unlikely Spy; too brief and most characters too weakly delineated
LibraryThing member utbw42
I've been wanting to read Silva's books for a while, and I'm glad I did. Exciting book, moved quick....great read. I'll be tearing into more Silva books in the future.
LibraryThing member raizel
All that's missing is a secret underground laboratory, but of course we wouldn't know about it if it was truly secret. Silva is not afraid to kill off his characters, so suspense continues to the end. A lot of people are introduced very quickly, but I was able to keep track of who was who. A
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commercial airplane shot down by a terrorist, an attack in a major European airport---it all felt too familiar even though it was published in 1998. Show Less
LibraryThing member RonWelton
On July 17, 1996, shortly after takeoff from New York’s Kennedy International Airport, Trans World Airlines Flight 800, a Boeing 747-100 ( N93119) jetliner bound for Paris exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 230 people aboard. At the time of the incident, many believed that the Airliner
The novel has much that one would expect from a spy/thriller. There is an evil cabal of billionaires, "The Society for International Development and Cooperation;" a highly skillful assassin, Delaroche, bastard son of a KGB general; and his demi-assassin, Astrid, granddaughter of Kurt Vogel whom we met in The Unlikely Spy; allusions to real CIA actions, Operation Phoenix; and plenty of sex and violent action. What separates this from being a run-of-the-mill thriller is Silva's skill in developing characters that are believable and human. The protagonist, Michael Osbourne and his wife, Elizabeth, are portrayed sympathetically. We can understand their frustrations and pains. Even the assassins command some of our sympathy. Delaroche and Astrid are cold killers, but Delaroche is an accomplished painter and Astrid has been trapped by circumstances. The people of this novel whom we love to hate are the billionaire manipulators working to serve their own greedy ends.
Daniel Silva is a skilled craftsman and this work demonstrates his art.
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had been shot from the sky by a missal fired from a boat off Long Island's shore. In 1998, when The Mark of the Assassin was copyrighted, some terror evoked by the incident lingered. Daniel Silva used that as the inciting incident for his novel having it require a malleable President Beckwith to take decisive action and allowing a corrupt politico, Chief of Staff, Paul Vandenberg and a powerful manipulative industrialist, Mitchell Elliott to set in action a series of assassinations which make up this thriller. The novel has much that one would expect from a spy/thriller. There is an evil cabal of billionaires, "The Society for International Development and Cooperation;" a highly skillful assassin, Delaroche, bastard son of a KGB general; and his demi-assassin, Astrid, granddaughter of Kurt Vogel whom we met in The Unlikely Spy; allusions to real CIA actions, Operation Phoenix; and plenty of sex and violent action. What separates this from being a run-of-the-mill thriller is Silva's skill in developing characters that are believable and human. The protagonist, Michael Osbourne and his wife, Elizabeth, are portrayed sympathetically. We can understand their frustrations and pains. Even the assassins command some of our sympathy. Delaroche and Astrid are cold killers, but Delaroche is an accomplished painter and Astrid has been trapped by circumstances. The people of this novel whom we love to hate are the billionaire manipulators working to serve their own greedy ends.
Daniel Silva is a skilled craftsman and this work demonstrates his art.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998
ISBN
0449225313 / 9780449225318