The Killer

Victor the Assassin Series, Book 1

By: Tom Wood

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Forget James Bond. Forget Jason Bourne. Forget Jack Bauer.

Meet Victor. He's an assassin - a man with no past and no surname. He lives alone. He operates alone. He's given a job; he takes out the target; he gets paid. He's The Killer.

Victor arrives in Paris to perform a standard kill and collect for an anonymous client. He completes it with trademark efficiency - only to find himself in the middle of an ambush and fighting for his life. Pursued by determined enemies, a woman too beautiful to be safe, and intelligence agencies from both sides of the Atlantic, Victor will soon discover there is nowhere left for him to hide...and no one he can trust. But he is every bit as ruthless as those hunting him. And Victor will find out who wants him dead and why - one corpse at a time.

©2010 Tom Hinshelwood (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A superlative fiction debut.... Nonstop action that veers and twists from one ferocious gun battle, double cross, and betrayal to the next.... Thriller fans will be eager to see more from this bright new talent." ( Publishers Weekly)

At First.....

When I started this book I almost went on to another book mainly because of the narrator I felt he was to boring but as I listened I started to appreciate what he was doing with this character and all the others characters. I love the author I love the series I love the narrator.

Great book?!

It was fast paced and we'll written, just got a little uggish for a few middle chapters. Looking forward to book 2.

suspense!

this is great read! a real page turner! Rebecca being killed was a surprise. I should have known-she asked too many questions.

Must be the choreography

Why this predictably plotted story of a one-dimensional antihero working against a world of really flat bad guys keeps anyone's interest is the real mystery here. On the other hand, the not too gory fight and flight scenes are cinematic and there are plenty of them. The performer is top notch. Maybe if you aren't expecting great literature, you will find it as entertaining as I did.

Great Series "Starter"

I am always looking for new series worth my listening. This one fits the bill. It is hard to understand how I can find a paid assassin to be the "good guy", but Victor is just that. It is not that he has particularly high morals - after all he kills strictly for money - but he does follow a code. I am eager to get into the entire series. The only negative is that an action-packed portion of the book, that would be very exciting in a movie, loses something in a book. There is too much detail in these events and the detail adds nothing to the story line and is sometimes difficult to follow. When listening, I find it better to "bottom line" some portions of a book in order to advance the story line. I did enjoy the various characters as well as the "dig" at the CIA.

Great Read!

First book I’ve read by Tom Woods, had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. Rob said Parrow also done excellent job narrating.

Fast paced. No breaks in action

This book held my interest from the first to the last page. No downtime here. Can’t wait for book 2

Hands down the best character Voice Talent combo

Where does The Killer rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Absolutely one of the top books. There are some Ryira books and many David Webber books that as well done but when it comes to this genre of book Tom Wood tops them all. In fact I would go so far. as to say that other than Ryira in fantasy and Honorverse/ Safehold in SciFi this series is my favorite. Obviously A Song of Fire and Ice rate highly as do others but those three authors are blessed by the voice talent that performs those series in a way that connects.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Well Victor of course, the most likable assasin whom we learn is richly complex and conflicted yet has enough courage to accept who he is with limp handed second guessing.

What does Rob Shapiro bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Rob Shapiro's absolutely precise diction matches Victor's meticulous professionalism and attention to detail.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I immediately knew I would buy the whole series after the first hotel.

Any additional comments?

The only way to really describe anything else would require spoilers and to be honest the preview audio does a good job of letting you know if you will like the books.

I will say if you like Sanders, Connelly, Coes, Greaney in fact just about any of legal thriller espionage assasin police procedural action type books popular today you will love this series.

The series is tight, fast paced, believable, and edge of your seat intense with superb voice talent what else could you want.

Good book

loved this story lots of action ..... can't wait to read the next one, good book

Impressed by this one.

This was really well done. I didn’t hold out much hope bc just listened to all of Grayman, but this turned out to be a solid, very well written story. Especially btw assassin and the ppl he got help from.