Product Description

A weapon of catastrophic destruction. A nation on the brink of unspeakable disaster. And the ultimate enemy lies closer to home than anyone realizes. Only maverick CIA agent Ryan Kealey sees the threat for what it really is - but Washington refused to listen. With the lives of millions at stake, Kealey has only one option: to take matters into his own hands. And the clock is ticking...Supercharged and fiercely intelligent, "The Assassin" is an action-packed international thriller where no one can be trusted - and the final aftershocks are felt until the very last page.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41943 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Britton's second contemporary political thriller (after 2006's The American) sets up an alternate reality that may distract some readers from a decent if unremarkable plot centering on terrorist plans to attack the U.N. and leave clues pointing to the Iranian government. Dennis Hastert is Speaker of the House, and the American political leadership is debating whether to withdraw troops from Iraq, but the U.S. president is not George W. Bush but David Brenneman, who's facing a fierce re-election opponent in California governor Richard Fiske, who's clearly not Arnold Schwarzenegger. The characters, including Jack Ryan-clone Ryan Kealey, are cookie-cutter, and the action-from the discovery of a high-ranking mole to the obligatory under-fire romance-offers nothing new. Britton has a long way to go before he joins the front rank of thriller writers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
* Andrew Britton burst onto the thriller scene with his accomplished debut, THE AMERICAN. Now, maverick CIA agent Ryan Kealey returns in a supercharged international thriller where no one can be trusted---- and the final aftershocks are felt until the very last page.

From AudioFile
This second thriller from 24-year-old Andrew Britton almost measures up to its predecessor and it's got enough action to keep Christopher Lane very busy. The CIA agent Robin Kealey is up against an old nemesis who was thought to be dead in the final moments of The American, Britton's first novel. While most officials in this story believe the Iranian regime has plans to bomb the UN, Kealey sets out to uncover an even greater catastrophe in the making. Lane's reading of this story is glib and fast paced. His only near failing comes when he reads one of the many Arab characters, whose accent sounds contrived. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Non-stop suspense
The Assassin is "the best" of Tom Clancy, Michael Connelly, and Robert Ludlum all rolled into a single book. Fast paced, richly colored, characters to love, hate, and suspect, twists you don't see coming, and a compelling and entertaining story that makes you think.

The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister is nearly killed by bombs planted in the Babylon Hotel. Over 20 people, most of them American reporters, die in the explosion. And this after the American President has promised a withdrawal of troops.

Who are the killers and where are they? The situation needs to be dealt with--and quickly--the presidential election is mere months away.

In Washington, CIA's Deputy Director of Operations, Jonathan Harper, assists the president keep his promises and deal with Rachel Ford, a former congresswoman, long on the proper education and political maneuvering and short on experience.

A highly skilled but stressed CIA agent, Ryan Kealey, must separate fact from fiction, and friend from foe in Iraq, London, Germany, and other parts of the world. He must find those responsible for the bombing, and uncover the real plans--rather than the apparent ones the powerful are buying into. If he fails, the deaths of twenty people will be barely a footnote to the disaster that follows.

At age 24, Andrew Britton's second novel is rich in its descriptive quality and characterizations. As you read you find yourself wondering how much is fiction and how much parallels what's going on in our world today.

You'll be captivated by Ryan Kealey as he struggles with his demons, stays true to his mission, and deals with the inevitable obstacles thrown up by his enemies and his government.

Armchair Interviews says: The Assassin is a pageturner that uses fiction to help the reader confront the struggle between good and evil in our world today.

non-stop action thriller
Ryan Kealey was written off by the American espionage agencies as yesterday's news, but they brought him back as the only person capable of defeating a protégé turned rogue killing machine. Though some died, he saved the lives of many world leaders (see THE AMERICAN). Now over a year has passed since he faced his mirror image and though a hero, he is classified once again as unusable though the brass honored his request to return to the fold.

The CIA learns from a reliable source Iran plans to bomb the United Nations just in time to influence the tight presidential election between the incumbent saddled with the Iraq war albatross and the popular Governor of California. However, whereas all American Intel tries to prevent the catastrophe from happening, Kealey thinks that a UN bombing is a red herring. He believes there will be a bigger target on a 9/11 scale though he is not sure what is intended with his worst nightmare being international terrorist and grandmaster criminal William Vanderveen is behind the horrific event; no one in any of the western intelligence agencies take his theory seriously except England's assistant chief, Naomi Kharmai.

THE ASSASSIN is a non-stop action thriller that never slows down from the opening moments in the White House and in Baghdad. Readers will wear seat belts as they come along for a ride that makes DC superhero The Flash look like the Turtle. Though characterizations are either thin or stereotyped including the lone star hero, fans of terrorist vas counterterrorist chess matches will want to read Andrew Britton's incredibly exhilarating novel.

Harriet Klausner

Action Packed Thriller!
This book picks up where "The American" left off. President Dave
Brenneman is locked in a struggle with California governor Richard Fiske.
The issue in the election is the Iraq war.Ryan Kealey returns in this book
as the hero. He is reunited with his partner Naomi Kharmai. They make the
discovery that William Vanderveen(jason March) is still alive. He has him a new partner Yasmin Raseen. She is a stone killer like him.Ryan and Naomi
discover a plan to cause death and destruction at the U.N. The former Vice
President of Iraq has initiated this plan as a method to return to power.
Kealey and Kharmai can get no one to believe them. They are running out of time to stop this catastrophe from happening. This book has an action packed ending.Be sure to read this book to see who wins the confrontation between Kealey and Vanderveen. A definite good book.