The Enemy: Victor the Assassin, Book 2

By: Tom Wood

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Victor, a former assassin-for-hire, has joined forces with a CIA special unit. His first assignment: Three strangers. Three hits. Fast and clean. Victor's a natural for this.It should have been simple. But with each hit Victor is plunged deeper into an unimaginable conspiracy where no one, least of all the people he knows, can be trusted.With the stakes growing higher by the minute, Victor realizes he's been forced into playing a game he never expected. Because he's the next target. And there's no way out.

©2012 Tom Hinshelwood (P)2013 Tantor

The Enemy

Any additional comments?

The Killer and The Enemy are both about fifteen hours of listening and narrated by Rob Shapiro. These stories have been in my library for quite a while, so thought I should get to them! I’ve been looking for a Mitch Rapp character to follow ever since the death of an amazingly talented author, Vince Flynn. Tom Wood’s character, Victor, isn’t the good-guy patriot of a Mitch Rapp. The lead character is a down and dirty, cold-blooded assassin who kills-for-hire. The only elements of ‘morality’ I spotted, in close to thirty hours of listening, was a normal empathy regarding children and an innocent hooker. If possible, Victor will try to minimize collateral damage, but if it happens, he won’t lose any sleep. Victor likes his job. There is a fundamental issue of personal motivation missing, however. The author does not reveal any backstory to Victor. Personally, I’d like to understand where he is coming from, how he got into this line of work. We never learn, at least in the first two books of the series.

These stories are very well written cat-and-mouse thrillers. Lots of hair-raising chills involving arms dealing kingpins, body guards, torture, and dodging bullets. Good guys and bad guys sprinkle the pages and you’ll have fun discerning the culprits. The stories are a gun afficianado's dream, lots and lots of fire power, double-taps, and gruesome brains-running-down-walls descriptions. The author is exceptional at creating some very tense scenes and you’ll be certain that Victor will ‘buy it’ this time. The stories are non-stop action and cinematic.

Rob Shapiro does a superb job, just the right degree of tenseness, no over emoting. Nicely done.

Although Victor is not exactly the patriot-hero, he has his moments. I will be following along. You can’t help but root for him and understand his behavior … sometimes.

Once you've read one Wood book you've read them all.

Long winded and same old tired assassin story as the last wood book. Don't get hooked on this mediocre series.

Expect the Unexpected !

Another great "Victor" action story with top drawer narration. Vivid imagery surrounding stimulating combat encounters.

Couldn't stop listening

Would you listen to The Enemy: Victor the Assassin, Book 2 again? Why?

This is a good book

What did you like best about this story?

It kept you at the edge of your seat

Which character – as performed by Rob Shapiro – was your favorite?

Main character, of course

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Must listen book

Good listen

This audio keep you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what's next I recommend it very highly Victor is very good at what he does I'll be listening to the next book when I finish writing this Mr Wood I'll listen to all of Victors books

Don't miss this one.

This book is one of the best. Action excitement quality information with almost no vulgarity.

With an excellent narrator it was a complete great listen.

Wow!!!

I discovered this series quite by accident, and I’m so, SO glad I did! This may be one of the most enjoyable assassin/spy series I’ve read in years. The characterization and attention to detail is really captivating, and the voice acting is simply stellar. It almost feels like the author has really traveled to every country he writes about, and that the voice actor is a gifted linguist. I actually bought the next two books in the series before finishing this one. I have a really good feeling that it’s going to be a great 8-book ride!!!

Wow!

That was amazing :) You would think that since it's an audiobook I would listen while doing other things. And I pretty much tried to. I walked my dogs and listened. I drove the car and listened. But the last few hours I just sat there in my chair and it had my complete attention. I don't even know if I breathed enough. Thank you thank you thank you! That was fabulous!

Better Than The First Book - Almost 5 Stars

Updated my earlier review after reading more books in this series.

I don’t give 5 stars to this genre but now after reading more of the books in this series, I went back and reread book 2 and realized I missed a lot of connections and information. I can see now a larger story being weaved throughout the series. Although I still think there were too many characters in this book with too many side connections and angles, it seems to me that Wood definitely had a multi-story plot in mind when he wrote this book. This is one of the closest I have been to giving a 5 star rating to this genre.

Original review below:

This is a fast paced book with a lot of action (although like many books in this genre much of it is not believable). Besides the car escape towards the end of the story, I find it preposterous that Victor would tell Adriana not only his profession but also the job he had just finished. Even though he was "joking" it is totally out of character considering his constant desire for privacy and anonymity. Plus with all the scars on his body and the likelihood of the news covering some of the events he caused, there is no way a contract assassin would mention these things to a call girl.

Similar to the first book there are a lot of characters, but it was easier to keep them straight in this book. Chapter 17 spent way too much time on the details of various guns and weapons which slowed down the book. Still, I like the series and will read the next one.

As for the narration I thought it was better in this book than the first. The narrator is developing a voice for Victor and becoming more consistent in the voices of other characters. There was more vibrancy in his voice and his pace was a little faster than the first book.

great for listening

Some books are more suitable for listening. The Victor series so far is great, easy to follow, and the narrator does a great job. I will continue with this series until the end.