The Fifth Assassin: Booktrack Edition

By: Brad Meltzer

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The Fifth Assassin: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! *

From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, there have been more than two dozen assassination attempts on the president of the United States.

Four have been successful.

But now, Beecher White - the hero of the number-one New York Times best seller The Inner Circle - discovers a killer in Washington, DC, who's meticulously re-creating the crimes of these four men. Historians have branded them as four lone wolves. But what if they were wrong?

Beecher is about to discover the truth: that during the course of a hundred years, all four assassins were secretly working together. What was their purpose? For whom do they really work? And why are they planning to kill the current president?

Beecher's about to find out. And, most terrifyingly, he's about to come face to face with the fifth assassin.

*Booktrack is an immersive format that pairs traditional audiobook narration to complementary music. The tempo and rhythm of the score are in perfect harmony with the action and characters throughout the audiobook. Gently playing in the background, the music never overpowers or distracts from the narration, so listeners can enjoy every minute. When you purchase this Booktrack edition, you receive the exact narration as the traditional audiobook available, with the addition of music throughout.

©2013 Brad Meltzer (P)2019 Grand Central Publishing

Great story

I like this kind of book. Sometimes based on reality but embellished. Brings to life history.

Story that keeps you on the edge of your seat and guessing

What an incredible story! I grabbed this audio series on a whim and it has done a wonderful job keeping me engaged and on the edge of my seat with every sentence.

So many stories you can easily figure out who will be the “good guys” and who will be the “bad guys” but even to the end of the novel this author kept proving me wrong! I love an author that keeps me guessing all the way through and by the end I’m wondering where the heck that came from and what’s the next novel in the series!

So much of my time I follow romance books and to be honest even this week as one of my favorite authors put out a new story she managed to distract me from this series for a day or two but when I finished her latest glorious novel I returned right to Brad Meltzer’s world.

I have to wonder how long this foray away from my romances will pull at me but if you’re a betting person? I’d bet on it being at least through the rest of this series! I loved the addition of the suspenseful music that went right with the story. I look forward to seeing where the President’s Shadow takes me next!

Also reviewed for my blog

Plot holes, anti-climatic, great narration

I rated the 1st of the Culper Series, The Inner Circle, a bit generously under the assumption that the story would build in the next books. This was not the case. Brad Meltzer's writing (characters, dialog, descriptions, plot movement) are very good, and Scott Brick's narration is great. Unfortunately, the author does not give the reader enough clues, or emphasis on clues, to piece together the who and why of the bad guy. Worse, there is no explanation of the anti-climatic 'climax' - how did the bad guy learn crucial info? How did the bad guy get info/instructions for all the things he did? How did critical relationships start and grow and how were they maintained? These questions will make sense if you read/listen to the book.
So I am hesitant to recommend this title, or this series, even though I like the writing in general and love the narration. The frustrating plot holes and anti-climax leave me feeling unfulfilled, and I no longer think the next book in the series will fix that part of Brad Meltzer's story telling.

Intellectual thriller!

The was a great book. A little better than book 1 of the series. The voice performance is fantastic.

A few twists couldn't save this one for me

If you enjoyed the first book, you'll like this one. I kept with it because I wanted to see what happened next, even though the first dragged and the only real payoff was at the end. This book follows the same formula as the first, and while there are some interesting moments, there were too many mundane details and coincidences for me personally. Again, if you liked the first one, you should like this one as well. However, if the first book didn't do it for you, don't expect it to change much.

Again

The story continues to hold me. The plot twists still amaze me. I am going to read the third!!!! hooked!!!!!

Blah

Found it hard to stay with the story as it jumped around quite a lot. The parts from the past seemed to be too drawn out. The author seemed to be more interested in presenting twists and surprises rather than telling a story. Maybe it would have made more sense if I had read/listened to the first book. As it is I have no desire to pursue this series any further.

Another hit from Meltzer

Once again Brad has leaped out of the pages of history and mirrored that with the fantasy of a future to bring us a true who done it story.
This book will keep you up past your bedtime and on the edge of your proverbial seat. I enjoyed every minute of this story. Can't wait for another read from Brad Meltzer's imagination and the halls of our historic past. Well done Brad.

Couldn’t get into this book

This story seemed to be too much talking or remembering … just didn’t hook me. There are a few good twists but the whole Knight storyline just didn’t do it for me.

Scott Brick is a great narrator, but even he couldn’t make it interesting enough. I won’t be listening to the next book in the series.

Not awful

Certainly not a great read either. Way too long because of endless minutiae and unnecessary flashbacks. It will be a while before I take up another one of his books. Kudos however to Mr. Scott Brick for the flawless narration.