Birth of an
Assassin
by Rik Stone
Genre: Thriller
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Set against the backdrop of Soviet, post-war Russia, Birth of an Assassin follows the transformation of Jez Kornfeld from wide-eyed recruit to avenging outlaw. Amidst a murky underworld of flesh-trafficking, prostitution and institutionalized corruption, the elite Jewish soldier is thrown into a world where nothing is what it seems, nobody can be trusted, and everything can be violently torn from him.
Given the order to disperse and arrest a crowd of Jewish demonstrators, Jez breaks up the rally but finds his sisters in their ranks. Rushed for a solution, he sneaks the girls from under the noses of secret police and hides them in downtown Moscow. But he knows they will no longer be safe in Russia and that his own security has been compromised. His plan to cross into the Ukraine to a port on the Black Sea where he can bribe passage from Soviet soil for his sisters seems sound, but he is unaware that his every move is being observed and that he is setting in motion a chain of events that will plunge his life into a headlong battle just to stay alive.
Given the order to disperse and arrest a crowd of Jewish demonstrators, Jez breaks up the rally but finds his sisters in their ranks. Rushed for a solution, he sneaks the girls from under the noses of secret police and hides them in downtown Moscow. But he knows they will no longer be safe in Russia and that his own security has been compromised. His plan to cross into the Ukraine to a port on the Black Sea where he can bribe passage from Soviet soil for his sisters seems sound, but he is unaware that his every move is being observed and that he is setting in motion a chain of events that will plunge his life into a headlong battle just to stay alive.
MY REVIEW
I
will be the first to admit that I rarely read books that involve the military,
but I have a love for thrillers. I am thankful I was open to reading Birth of
an Assassin because author Rik Stone did not disappoint. Not only did I find
his writing to be phenomenal, but I would easily give this book 5 stars –
something I don’t do too often.
Set
in post-war Russia, readers meet protagonist Jez Kornfield, a 15-year-old Jewish boy who is passionate
about joining the military. With a small frame, he is rarely taken seriously
but a general sees much potential in this young boy. Jez soars in ranking over
the years and becomes an unstoppable force.
I
found it fascinating how well Stone could show the emotional side of such a
loyal and serious young man. While Jez remained devoted to the military, he
struggled with some of the orders, but never swayed from them. Jez feels
himself falling for a female soldier and then being torn away from her. Rapidly, he falls
into a conspiracy with low-lives and fellow militia men that has him running to
clear his name and stay alive.
Birth
of an Assassin is awesome. I highly recommend this read to those who enjoy
thrillers, action, and a little bit of romance.
Purchase Birth of an Assassin for just $3.82 on Amazon
!
!
AUTHOR BIO
Do children born into poverty become
impoverished adults? It happens; pitfalls and roadblocks to advancement are
everywhere. Rik Stone grew up poor amidst the slum-lands of fifties North East
England, and left school at 15 without any academic qualifications.
He worked in the shipyards on a local river and
later went into the merchant navy. Further down the line, he worked quarries in
Essex in South East England.
But life was without horizons until, contrary to
what his teachers had told him, he found he was capable of studying and
completed a BSc degree in mathematics and computing.
Life got lucky for him when he took company
pension at 50 and began writing. And now, here he is offering up his debut
novel Birth of an Assassin, the first in a series.
Follow Rik Stone online:
Website: http://rik-stone.simdif.com
Twitter: @stone_rik
1 comment:
Thank you for the delightful review, Sage, I couldn't have been more pleased. I have completed the sequel and hope to make it available soon. Thank you once more for the review of Birth of an Assassiin.
Rik
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