Assassin’s Code

Possible spoilers (you’ve been warned): I don’t know how the author, [author:Jonathan Maberry|72451], keeps finding plausible and more evil villains for each subsequent book. The Red Knights (“Ordo Ruber”) came out of the Inquisition and the Crusades and were opposed by the Sabbatarians and Arklight. The Upierczi, another name for the Red Knights, brought themselves back from the brink of extinction through genetic engineering.

We learn more about Mr. Church and a possible past love interest, Lilith. We learn more about Father Nicodemus and Hugh Vox.

Joe and Echo Team (Top, Bunny, Lydia, Kahlid, and John) are all there. Ghost, as a trained military dog, gets cuter. “Ghost, the big furry flirt, wagged his tail.”

Joe gets a love interest, Violin, a woman as damaged as he is. I am *so* glad that she explicitly reappears at the very end of the book.

Is it even remotely possible that this book could get any better than it’s predecessors? Well I can answer that question and it is yes! Although the other 3 were 5 stars and were most excellent, this one went a step further I think. I am not usually one for military, terrorism and the like, so when and author can make me like reading about those things, then he has a great talent! This series revolves around terrorism in one form or another. Each book is a different form and they just keep getting better, rich in imagery and great plot lines.

I have to talk about the things I like best about this book, or actually any of the books. First would be the characters. They are all so rich in realism, so believable and brilliantly created. The Echo Team consists of so many great, unforgettable characters. Of course most people who know me would know by now who my favorite character is, but just in case there is a question about it, I will tell you. Joe! He is now my favorite character EVER! And that is saying a lot. Because I have read a lot of books, and met a lot of great characters. Move over Roland, Joe is in the forefront now.

What I love most about Joe is his flawed character. It makes him superbly believable and I love that. Joe is the kind of guy that takes all those mistakes, all his fears and all his past failures and triumphs and he uses it to drive him forward. He is the kind of guy that never gives up. And when I say never I mean never. He is also witty and sarcastic and he loves those people in his life like family and would do what it takes to protect them. He lives with 3 personalities in his head, Cop, Warrior, and the Civilized man. And he learned to control them and use them appropriately.

The next thing I love about this book/series is the amount of action that is in the book. It was just about non stop through all of them. A lot of what happens you don’t quite expect, pair that with the great plot twists and you have an exciting, unforgettable story. I would have to recommend this book to everyone. I think everyone should jump aboard and form their own relationship with Joe. Because once you do, you will never forget the ride.

I think I have written this before but; there are no charming, sexy, Twilight-like vampires in John Maberry narratives. Instead what we get is nasty, hell-bent demons, who keep women in cells and use them as breeding stock to propogate their race.

These are the vampires, originally sanctioned by the world’s two most prominent warring religions, that Joe Ledger and the DMS encounter in Assasin’s Code. The DMS -Department of Military Science- is a Special Ops team whose task it is to eliminate those threats that are so heinous that thy must remain secret. In Code, the action begins with Ledger and his team rescuing three twenty-something hikers who are being held in Iran. Sound familiar? Of course it does. What we, the public don’t know however, is that after successfully freeing the three hikers, Ledger encounters an old nemesis who reveals that another, unrelated plot is in the works. Seven stolen nukes are planted at seven sites worldwide and one of those sites is apparently an oil rig off the coast of Louisianna.

Sounds like typical Special-Ops plot twist huh? No such thing. You see what Ledger uncovers is a harbinger named Grigor who leads an insurgent group of vampires. These vampires, immune to radiation, could conceivably survive nuclear armagedon, rise up and take over the world. All Grigor and his vampire terrorists are waiting for are the detonation codes. Along the way, Ledger is helped by a sexy near-vampire assasin who is a member of an all women’s group of assasins sworn to defeat the nasty vampires who raped them.

The plot line gets a little complicated what with various bad guys using and betraying each other, but the sequences of violence are really gripping. In addition, Maberry, unlike most writers of this kind of fiction, draws out really complete, conflicted, and thoughful characters. These are characters that the reader and the villians in the novel can really sink their teeth into.

An absolute Page Turner. Recalled opening the book and was like “wow there are words on almost every page.” needles to say I sat down in a chair and began to read it. When I got to the bottom of the page I turned the paper and the story continued. I Can say that every page in the book can be turned and will continue the story but towards the end of the book the story ends and there are no more pages to turn. Still a 5 star review.

A return to more like the form of Patient Zero in this latest outing for Joe Ledger & the DMS as opposed to King of Plagues & Dragon Factory. Fast pace, unrelenting action, wierd science, vile villains and goods guys sometimes just as scary. As other reviewers point out, you will get a lot more out of this book if you have read the others in the series, as elements of the plot carry or remain unresolved, and the world view, with science rationalised supernatural elements is the same.

Joe Ledger still retains his black sense of humour along with his multiple personalities & devotion to martial arts. The relaionship with Ghost, his canine companion, gives a centre to a charactor that has to endure a lot (again). Plot elements that remain consistent are the deaths of characters we love or hate from previous books, charecter development of the ‘regulars’ and enough uncertainty to leave you wanting more along with the resolution.

You will enjoy this book if you liked the others in the series & enjoy fast paced remotely technically plausble imaginative thrillers where the world is in danger agaist overwhelming odds.

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