The Mark of the Assassin (Michael Osbourne Book 1)

I recently bought a book from Neil Rutledge , book seller. This book is unique in that it is a collectible because it is First Edition. The book arrived very quickly and the packaging was absolutely the BEST I have ever seen on a shipped purchase.
This dealer is truly exceptional and I will definitely be purchasing from him again in the near future because he is an outstanding book seller.

I am also very pleased with the pristine condition of this book.

Bravo Mr. Rutledge.

Espionage is my favorite genre, and nobody does it better than Daniel Silva. His characters are as fully developed as his plot twists, so it's more than just a thriller. It's engrossing on every level. You want to keep the pages turning, but you don't really want it to end. Personally, I hope Silva keeps writing forever.

The start of the book looks promising.

I was actually crossing the Austrian border with a Czech 'exit permit' and a PANAM ticket to New York in August 1968 as well. It was August 29, 1968...

I got a ride to Vienna and I did not have to go through any fence. But that was me and I am just a regular guy.

The US Embassy in Prague gave me the reference number for my US entry visa I obtained on September 14 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) and on September 16 I was in Manhattan.

I was born in Czechoslovakia but since 1978, I have been a US citizen.

I wanted to read more Silva but not about his Gabriel, restorer/Israeli spy. This is my third Silva book.

At about 30%, the book became quite preposterous: global conspiracy needed to get a US president re-elected. I do not thinks that can ever happen.

The conclusion of the book is a standard established long time ago for books of this type: lots of shooting and a few corpses - not, of course, of the two main protagonists.

Three stars and recommended for people who like this kind of fiction with observations based on reality (read the author's acknowledgments) but mostly on his fantasy.

At least the villain of the book is NOT identified as a Czech. Too diabolical.

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 erase their tracks to the crime, and need the help of a soulless assassin. I remain glad I read it.

Espionage is my favorite genre, and nobody does it better than Daniel Silva. His characters are as fully developed as his plot twists, so it's more than just a thriller. It's engrossing on every level. You want to keep the pages turning, but you don't really want it to end. Personally, I hope Silva keeps writing forever.

The start of the book looks promising.

I was actually crossing the Austrian border with a Czech 'exit permit' and a PANAM ticket to New York in August 1968 as well. It was August 29, 1968...

I got a ride to Vienna and I did not have to go through any fence. But that was me and I am just a regular guy.

The US Embassy in Prague gave me the reference number for my US entry visa I obtained on September 14 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) and on September 16 I was in Manhattan.

I was born in Czechoslovakia but since 1978, I have been a US citizen.

I wanted to read more Silva but not about his Gabriel, restorer/Israeli spy. This is my third Silva book.

At about 30%, the book became quite preposterous: global conspiracy needed to get a US president re-elected. I do not thinks that can ever happen.

The conclusion of the book is a standard established long time ago for books of this type: lots of shooting and a few corpses - not, of course, of the two main protagonists.

Three stars and recommended for people who like this kind of fiction with observations based on reality (read the author's acknowledgments) but mostly on his fantasy.

At least the villain of the book is NOT identified as a Czech. Too diabolical.

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 erase their tracks to the crime, and need the help of a soulless assassin. I remain glad I read it.

I have read many books by Silva. I am definitely one of his biggest fans. All of his works have held my attention and keep me up late at night. His descriptions of events and characters is outstanding. I give it four-stars. You will NOT be disappointed.

This is the beginning of the 2 books about Michael Osbourne. Great character for spy books in our land. Silva creates a second book and leaves you with the taste in your mouth that more are to follow.
But no, he does not write anymore about him. Good read if you are aware of this.

Well written but clearly an early effort. None the less it is full of twists and turns to keep the pages turning. Silva has the magic touch, his characters are life-like and their motivations are clear making this a fun read.

A different central character who is refreshing because of his reliance on wit rather than muscle power. Has real life issues outside of work that humanize Michael. Surprised that there are only two books in this series. More to come?

I think Daniel Silva writes a wonderful book. I think this book is an excellent read and I recommend it to all who enjoy intrigue and suspense. Mr. Silva develops his characters so well, the villains as well as the heroes.

I kept expecting Gabriel to show up. But Silva introduced a new hero- surprisingly an American. There remained at the end some important unanswered questions- hoping Silva continues this story. I really want some answers.

This book held my attention, but barely. For me it hasn't been much of a page turner. In fact, I went for days at a time without picking it up. As someone else mentioned, there are too many whiny, distracting conversations between the protagonist, Michael Osbourne, and his wife, Elizabeth, who is a needy, self-centered harpy. Good grief, did Silva really intend for her to be such an emasculating bitch? The only other book character I've disliked as intensely was Nelson DeMille's idiotic John Corey.

The plot itself is decent but the writing isn't up to that of the Gabriel Allon series. It lacks cohesiveness and dithers too much over inconsequential things like food and Elizabeth's all-consuming desire to become pregnant and an unreasoning jealousy involving her husband's dead former girlfriend. A little of that sort of thing is good; it rounds out and adds depth to the story, but throw in too much of it and all the wheels grind to a halt. There was too much concentration on bit-part characters for my taste. It ended up being difficult to keep track of who is who, and who is supposed to be the main character. Also, having read the Allon books first, I found the shapeshifting of Ari Shamron and a few other stock characters to be a bit confusing. Actually, I had a hard time caring about any of the characters. The only truly interesting one is "October", the assassin.

Silva does it again with another and totally different story. Each of his writings is significantly different than his others and each one make for an interesting read leaving the reader looking forward to his next book.

Daniel Silva, as a former journalist, is an excellent writer, able to describe many events and places extremely succinctly and interestingly.
He does alot of research for his writing and it shows--his plots, charcters, etc feel very authentic.

Great story, as always.
Great writing, as always.

I did not know there were pre-Gabriel books that included certain characters that do show up later with, and against, Gabriel.

Good stuff