Guest Review: Assassin's Code

Summary: Step aside, Jason Bourne: David Slaton, the perfect assassin, returns for another adrenaline-packed adventure by USA Today bestselling author Ward Larsen in Assassin's Code.

Former assassin David Slaton discovers a cryptic message: on a memory stick, a photograph of the man who will soon assume command of DGSI, France’s elite counterterrorism force. With that country reeling under a wave of ISIS attacks, Zavier Baland will be trusted to make the Republic safe again. The problem—Slaton has seen Baland’s face before. He is Ali Samir, a terrorist Slaton is certain he killed fifteen years earlier. Unable to reconcile this frightening disconnect, he attempts to raise the alarm.

Thousands of miles away, the chief information officer of ISIS tries to keep networks running amid crumbling infrastructure. With the caliphate’s very survival at stake, the leadership commits to a last-ditch gambit: France must be attacked on a massive scale, forcing the West into the battle of the Apocalypse.

Slaton keeps a breakneck pace, traveling to Tel Aviv, Paris, and the deserts of Syria. In the end he uncovers a labyrinthine plot—and one that only he can stop. -- Tor/Forge

I'm totally swamped this week between work, Booking Son's activities, book club and more, so I'm extremely grateful that my dad has been stepping up his game and sending me some reviews. One of his latest books is ASSASSIN'S CODE by Ward Larsen. Here are his thoughts:

ASSASSIN’S CODE is author Ward Larsen’s fourth novel in his series featuring former Israeli Mossad assassin David Slaton. In this installment, the reader finds Slaton living near the Philippines on a boat with his wife and son. As a favor to his wife, Slaton is investigating the disappearance of her friend’s husband when he comes across a message and photograph on a memory stick about Zavier Baland, the man who is in line to become director of DGSI, France’s counterterrorism force. Except Slaton recognizes him as Ali Samir, a terrorist he was certain he killed 15 years ago. 

Naturally, Slaton’s needs to further investigate this seemingly irreconcilable situation. After a stop in Tel Aviv to visit with his old Mossad bosses to gather more information, the trail leads him to Paris and Syria where he learns of a series of complex plots that has him dealing with three distinct problems. He must resolve the Baland situation, he must counter planned ISIS attacks on France and he must stay alive. Strange encounters with the ISIS Chief Information Officer and an ISIS-trained female assassin tests all of Slaton’s numerous skills.

In Assassin’s Code, Larsen has taken these three suspenseful storylines and pulls it all together in an exciting novel with the requisite twists and turns and a very creative ending. By combining Mossad and ISIS with some interesting characters and fast-paced non-stop action, Larsen, has developed a first rate suspense thriller. Even though this is the fourth installment in the David Slaton series, the novel does stand alone. However I think reading the other novels in this series would only enhance the enjoyment of reading ASSASSIN’S CODE.

Thanks to Booking Pap Pap for his review and to the publisher for providing a review copy of this novel.