Matthew Quirk

The role of a lifetime.

Fast paced action thriller that begs for a television series or movie adaptation.

Anna Vaughn is an actress and stunt woman who has spent her career studying and training to be a fake badass for the screen. But when her best friend, Natalie, disappears after a night out in Manhattan, Anna's specialized skills -- from hand-to-hand combat to shooting to hot-wiring cars -- are put to a very real test. Along the way, Anna is approached and recruited by FBI Agent Kevin show more Matthews who reveals that Natalie was entangled with a dangerous circle of international assassins, spies, and oligarchs. Anna takes on the role of her life: going deep undercover as she discovers a lethal conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of government.

This is great fun as long as you are able to suspend a bit of disbelief at Anna's skills and abilities. In constant peril, she must use every bit of her training to put on the performance of a lifetime if she is to survive and get the evidence she needs. Although her main goal is to find Natalie, Anna soon finds that she is in over her head without any backup.

Definitely a fresh perspective on the "unlikely spy" trope, Anna's character is tough and also soft. There seems to be a lot of technical accuracy in the details of Anna's undercover operations and the fight and flight scenes. The pages turn rapidly because we catapult from one action scene to the next as Anna uses every talent she has as an actress. She's a compelling protagonists.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Christine Lakin, did an excellent job with the character of Anna. Her voice and tone adapted as Anna transformed from actress to undercover asset. She handled the other voices and accents extremely well, making everyone have a unique voice print. This created a truly immersive reading experience and enhanced my enjoyment of the book. show less

Mike Ford was following his father into a life of crime, when he chose to go straight and instead worked his way through Harvard Law School. Now he's landed the ultimate job with the Davies Group, a powerful political consulting firm run by the charismatic Henry Davies. But he's about to discover that power comes with a price.

Mike Ford soon finds out that there’s serious corruption going on at his new job and he decides to secretly investigate. This gets him into a lot of trouble show more throughout the rest of the book. His con man tricks and other criminal skills learned in his early life were interesting and came in very handy. He was a likeable character but many of his decisions were detrimental to himself. The story was over the top but there was a lot of action and it was entertaining. show less

I'm the first to admit that I'm not much of a fan of the thriller genre with its usual unabated action, relentless pacing and lack of character development.

However, I stumbled on Hour of the Assassin, a thriller by Matthew Quirk and was pleasantly surprised. While the action part of the novel was still very much present as required, it wasn't as mercilessly G-force fast as many other thrillers. In fact, the novel contains omniscient narrator observations about how politicians are elected show more (not by the people) and how big money seals the deal and expects the elected official to heel on command. Democracy at its finest.

The most surprising thing, though, is how well defined, thoughtful, and intriguing Quirk's characters are. And, wonderfully, not one of them is designed to be a placeholder, a character intended to be killed brutally from the get-go.

Some plot devices are weaker than others which, to this reader, stuck out like sore thumbs, but, all-in-all, this is one thriller that I can recommend to readers who aren't necessarily thriller fans. show less

As a Secret Service agent, Nick Averose spent a decade protecting the most powerful men and women in America and developed a unique gift: the ability to think like an assassin. Now, he uses that skill in a little-known but crucial job. As a "red teamer," he poses as a threat, testing the security around our highest officials to find vulnerabilities—before our enemies can. He is a mock killer, capable of slipping past even the best defenses.

His latest assignment is to assess the security show more surrounding the former CIA director at his DC area home. But soon after he breaches the man's study, the home's inner sanctum, Nick finds himself entangled in a vicious crime that will shake Washington to its foundations—as all the evidence points to Nick. show less