Russell Blake

Book# 0.5 in the Assassin series

This prequel to “King of Swords” is a raw and unflinching thriller introducing El Rey, one of Russell Blake’s most brutal characters.

The book opens with the deadly El Rey as he carries out his latest job- the assassination of a drug cartel boss. Then the story switched to his childhood where we find out how he was groomed to become the most notorious and deadliest assassin known to date. The story is framed against the backdrop of Mexico drug show more trafficking and in the midst of a bloody war of power.

The world of Drug cartels depicted in this book is very scary but fortunately the author spares us the many gory details. As the story keeps moving it tells us how El Rey setups his hits and how he manages to get away. No doubt, the plot is fast-paced, one that kept me on the edge waiting for his next move. It is definitely an action filled thriller that grabs attention from the first page and holds it all through. Although violent, I loved this cold blooded killer; El Rey is all what I expected from this kind of character. Mr. Blake excels in moving his plot between characters and scenes and pulling us into the environment of a deadly killer.

The story is well-written, moves along without getting bogged down and is an easy and captivating read. show less

Hollywood private dick Artemus Black is one hip cat (or so he likes to think). What keeps him grounded is Roxie; his fabulous office assistant who makes up for much of the cool banter peppered throughout the book. The guy has problems. From an out-of-this-era wardrobe, to an ex who took the money he made as a one-time musician, to an overweight tabby who hates his guts. Add to this, filthy rich hippy parents (while he struggles to make end meet), and you’ve got yourself an antsy guy.

An show more ageing movie star with a hot young wife hires Black in the heels of his movie comeback, paparazzo jump into blood infected waters, pretty soon said paparazzo begin to drop like flies around his new client. What P. I Black thought was going to be an easy gig turns ugly fast.

Is there any genre out there which Russel Blake doesn’t write? I’ve read a few of the Jet books and those are pretty stellar, picked this one up as an Amazon freebie. I was pleasantly surprise. I didn’t know he wrote detective mysteries.

Fantastic writing (if a tad too descriptive for my taste) cool characters, hip banter, and a dark plot. What’s not to like? show less

If Sam and Remi were real people, friends would probably tire of the company in hurry. The sugary banter between them really is tiresome (think "Schmoopy" episode of "Seinfeld"). When they aren't drinking like sailors, they off to the corners of the globe doing their best Indiana Jones impersonations.

The Eye of Heaven takes them from the Mediterranean (initial encounter with UBG), then to Greenland (shocking discovery) to Mexico (payoff - and end game vs. UBG). Probably the best thing to show more happen to the story was a detour to Laos to retrieve a former academic who abandon a project and just stayed there becoming an alcoholic. After several weeks of treatment, the friend was well into recovery, but Sam and Remi couldn't booze it up with him around. The story seemed to focus better at that point. show less

Book #1, in the Assassin series

This is one brutal and heart-stopping novel I read in a long time. In “King of Swords” we are taken on a violent journey through drug cartel of Mexico. This thriller is definitely not for the fainthearted, it is a blend of facts and fiction and strange enough, we will never know where the truth ends and where Mr. Russell’s inspiration kicked in, the fine line between is a little fuzzy.

This thriller is cranked up on steroids and has left me gasping and show more cringing more often than not. The storyline is very graphic. It captures the casual savagery of the ordinary men engaged in extraordinary brutality. Thousands of good and bad people die every year caught in violent confrontations. The author wanted to highlight the psychological making of a monster and he perfectly achieved his goal in his storyline. The pacing is high-velocity I couldn’t help but to follow the tempo by furiously flipping the pages so captivated by the goings- on. El Rey, the main character is a cold blooded killer and assassin operating in Mexico who would work for both the cartels and the police depending upon the situation. Romero Cruz is the police captain on El Rey’s tail and with panoply of interesting side players adding to the thrill, we can only be smack into an exciting saga. Reading this book is like watching a Die Hard movie. It is extremely well- written, full of nasty stuff, fast-paced (I think I said this many times), violent, enthralling….

This thriller is an excellent cat and mouse game full of gritty details. I loved it. show less