Hour of the Assassin
Published March 31st 2020 by William Morrow, Hardcover 352 pages
Framed and on the run for his life, a former Secret Service agent discovers how far some men will go to grasp the highest office in the land in this electrifying tale from the author of The Night Agent—a propulsive political thriller reminiscent of the best early Baldacci and Grisham novels.
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 surrounding the former CIA director at his DC area home. When Nick enters the man’s study, the home’s inner sanctum, he finds the man alone and unconscious. Someone else has been here—someone who attacked the chief and left him for dead, just moments before. Desperately attempting to save the man’s life, he contaminates the crime scene. Now, investigators believe Nick is somehow involved.
Nick knows he’s the perfect scapegoat. But who is framing him, and why? To clear his name, he must find the truth—a search that leads to a nefarious conspiracy whose roots stretch back decades. The prize is the most powerful position in the world: the Oval Office.
To save himself and the people he loves, Nick must stop the men who rule Washington before they bury him along with their secrets.
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
3 - 3.5 Stars
This was a super fast-paced, easily digestible nugget that I threw down in one two hour sitting. So for that, bravo. In fact, even though the story wasn't all that original, I enjoyed myself so much I truly
wanted to rate this higher.
However...
The offset of how fast-paced this was is that we are left never really getting to know any of the characters and/or their backgrounds all that well...therefore, the stakes never felt all that high. To be blunt: I didn’t really give a shit about what happened to any of them.
Also, I felt like the espionage game was a little weak in certain areas. Pretty sure if you were being framed to the extent this guy was being framed, and by the lengths these people of power went to do so...the first place they would look is YOUR FUCKING HOUSE. Just sayin...
Other than that, while not winning any thriller awards, a decent way to spend a quarantined, social distancing afternoon.
Rating: really liked it
Why I love it
by Siobhan Jones
I don’t know if you noticed… but we feature a lot of thrillers around here. It’s a popular genre—in our office and with readers in general—and we feature at least one every month. In other words, you could be a BOTM member going back for years and have ordered nothing from us but books about murder, secrets, and lies.
That said, we generally stick to thrillers of the endangered wife/missing girl/runaway woman variety. We still love those, but this month we’re switching it up in favor of something less personal and more political. Check out this premise: a shadowy deep state organization frames former Secret Service agent Nick Averose for the killing of a state official, prompting a chase across Washington, D.C. To prove his innocence, Nick—with the help of his genius sidekick, Delia—must uncover a sinister plot perpetrated by a bunch of villainous politicians seeking to control the government.
This is the kind of book you read in one sitting because the stakes contained therein feel really high. With an injection of espionage and politics, it’s fast and addictive—and still manages to be full of murder, secrets, and lies!
Read more at: https://bookofthemonth.com/hour-of-th...
Rating: really liked it
Matthew Quirk has written a fast paced fast read novel about power and the ends to which some people will go to get it. Powerful people have powerful enemies. Protection, excellent tested protection is essential. Enter former Secret Service Agent Nick Anerose, a man of special skills who will test protection services for weaknesses, holes and deficiencies. Hired to test the protection provided for a former CIA Director, Nick is unaware that he is being set up. When the director is killed, Nick becomes an accused man on the run. To save himself, Nick must find the truth: who killed the Director and Why.
The Hour of the Assassin traces the steps Nick must take to clear his name. Who has framed him? What is their goal? Is there more than just a murder planned?
This book seems to mirror many current events and conflicts, which adds to its appeal. Many investigation techniques are emphasized. It is a story you will think about.
Rating: really liked it
The title of this book is dramatic, but it really doesn’t have anything to do with the book. There is no assassination plot. This a straight forward “wronged-man-on-the-run” book, and it’s a pretty good one. The action starts immediately and continues until the end. A sense of urgency is maintained throughout. Not a lot of time is wasted on backstory, description or character development. I liked the fast pace and the fact that the author got to the point right away and didn’t drag the story out for 500 pages. There’s room at the end of the book to turn this into a series. I would read the next book. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Rating: really liked it
2nd book read by this author, one after the other, ( first was ‘Night Agent’ ) both released this Thursday in the UK ( in E Form ), both brilliant!
Nick has seen and done it all in his previous work as a secret service agent, now he is a ‘mock’ assassin, people/companies hire him to test our their home security systems and their vulnerability, he is on a tough call, the former Head of CIA Security, and it is about to get next level tough!
The story then deals with the aftermath of that night/event, the dark secrets of the rich, powerful and decision makers in D.C. and he learns how far some will go to keep the truth hidden
It is, again, a real high octane thrill chase trust no one adventure that never lets up, no filler, no nonsense just full on action
I loved the descriptions of the secret world of Washington and the ‘money people’ and what really goes on
There is a really dark story that the adventure is set around and Nick wants justice for the victim
I loved both this writers books, the energy, non boring detail and the excitement of the stories
10/10
5 Stars
Rating: really liked it
I have read a couple of Matthew Quirks books earlier and thought they were good but this one is great. It was very hard not to read it all in one go. Hour of the Assassin introduces Nick Averose former Secret Service, now he spends his time evaluating security for people. That is until it all goes so very wrong. Someone wants to be president and needs a scapegoat to cover some earlier events. He picks Nick as the bait and then its nonstop action and conspiracy. I have to thank #WilliamMorrow #HarperCollins and #Edelweiss for letting me read this.
Rating: really liked it
Oooh I really like this thriller! Ex secret service agent, now a security consultant was framed for murder and on the run. The whole book was him escaping a team of professional killers while trying to uncover old dark secrets. It was fast paced with action throughout the book. Twists are great as well but the bad guy wasn't a real surprise. I would be happier with a slightly different ending.
4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
Very enjoyable and kept me on pins and needles. I must admit that even though I’m no spring chicken, I still want the world to be fair. So corruption and lies and evil all make me a little bit crazy. But that feeling didn’t last too long as I got sucked in and just wanted to know what was going to happen next. I will definitely look for more books by this author.
Rating: really liked it
Nick Anerose, a secret service agent, is hired to test the protection in place for a form director of the CIA but ends up being set up. The director is killed and poor Nick is in the frame for it and has to go on the run. In order to clear his name he has to find out who really killed the director, what the murderer was trying to achieve by killing him and framing Nick, and more importantly, are there any more murders planned?
This book was super fast paced with an easy to follow plot that had me devouring it in a day. This book is about the lengths people will go to to get power, and just what they’ll do to keep it once they have it. If you like fast paced wrong man convicted books then this is definitely one for you.
Rating: really liked it
This book was a quick read and fast paced. If I could,I would have given it 3.5 stars. I read a lot of thrillers. In the gamut of thrillers I read this one falls in the middle for me. There were a few well placed twists. However because the book starts off with a bang and moves pretty quickly, it leaves you very little time to have any real connection with the characters. They were just pieces in a typical thriller format.
I would encourage anyone to read it. It’s easy to like. I just left being ready to move on to my next book.
Rating: really liked it
It took me so long to read this book! When I started it seemed really interesting and a quick read but somehow it could not hold me! I would give it the benefit of doubt that due to the stressful times wasn’t able to focus.
Rating: really liked it
Good book. I'll probably check out other of the writer's work. You'll of course have seen similar plots but that is almost guaranteed since (as I've said before) how many actually new plots can there be after a few thousand years of storytelling.
Here our hero is set up to take a fall and has to reach out to any source of help he can find...
Recommended.
Rating: really liked it
Super fast paced DC crime drama - military intrigue. I wanted a bit more building, but overall loved the story and cast of characters! I’d love to get more from this MC!
Rating: really liked it
Fast paced and action packed, this book is exactly what I needed right now. It’s a high octane page turner and I enjoyed it very much. Now to box it up and mail it to my husband overseas!
Rating: really liked it
Hour of the Assassin is a really interesting, easy-to-read, entertaining, political thriller. It almost reads like a political, espionage TV drama, similar to a more readable Tom Clancy story. There were detailed parts that were a bit over my head, mostly a case of me getting lost in the obscurity of the details, but it was nonetheless a clever, gripping, intriguing, well-written thriller. I look forward to more from this author.
