I didn't care for this book. I love a good thriller but I don't love it when the author adds his political view to a thriller such that you can't focus on anything but those beliefs.

So when I read, "Assassins is the true story of the last thirty years’ war between Islam and the West. Based on the author’s experiences in the Middle East and his knowledge of Islamic operations worldwide," I knew it would be quite the story, I don't know how these brave people can put themselves out there in those situations but I am thankful they do. I know I shook my head throughout the entire book. Makes a person think about what is really going on behind the scenes.

Assassins is and in-depth look at the harsh realities of war, live and perseverance m. Very well written and thought provoking. Very good read!

Mike Bond writes an in-depth account of war, Afghanistan, love. The plot is complicated and detailed. Although I found this to be somewhat drawn-out and long, I kept coming back until the book was finished. Recommended for readers who enjoy stories about relating to war.

I'm not really one to read about military espionage, or war in general. I would much rather watch it on screen, especially if the story is good. It is for that reason that I struggled with it at first. It might just be me, but it seemed to be too political, and there has been way too much of that going on for quite a few years now. Since it is about a war, it would be hard to NOT be political in nature. While it's not really the type of book I read, it kept me intrigued enough to finish, even if it took me a while to do so.

My 2nd book of Mike.
He is the genius of writing thrilling story. Basic instinct is a hard-to-explain concept, but Mike has crafted everything perfectly. Born to be assasin, born to be a runners? Before the dangerous of life, everything can be possible.

Every once in a while, I enjoy a good military espionage thriller book, but I struggled with this one. It had too many things going on at the same time, and I was never sure who was speaking so I was confused and would just put it down then pick it up to try and figure it out. . I didn’t particularly like any of the characters either, or maybe it was just too political. Just not for me, I guess! Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my copy of Assassins.

Mike Bond's books are always the right choice for me when I finally get around to picking one up. I usually wonder why I waited so long to read the book in question. Fast reads with a lot of thrilling action, this is the book to read when you need a break and just want to enjoy a good book. Will it make you think? It will, some of the situations are downright scary. However, you are pulled along by the unrelenting pace of the book. This is a winner!

This is a six-year old novel that I recently read and enjoyed. It is a fictional account of an American soldier who like Zelig pops up at key moments over a 30 year sweep of various Middle Eastern conflicts. His life and loves figure prominently in various historical battles and key disasters, including 9/11 and the hunt for Osama bin Laden. What I liked about the book was how Bond effortlessly (or at least, made it seem effortless) wove the fictional characters in this narrative arc with these actual events.

Intense war story. Or should I say wars? So much detail of fight scenes, relationships and even some romance. From the home office to the presidents, we get a possible idea of what decisions were made and why. We also get the breakdown of religious zealots, the senseless killings and false information that created hate.

Not my normal type of story but I have read this author before. I choose to read the book because of him.

Review of eBook

Over the course of some thirty years, CIA asset Jack repeatedly accepts assignments in the vicious Middle East conflicts, often blaming himself and/or his compatriots for the continuing violence as he wages war against radical Islam. Distrust among Afghani leaders, the terrorism of ISIS, opium trafficking, and payback to the Russians for Viet Nam all play a part in the grim war that Jack seems unable to escape.

=========

Inescapably political, often gruesome, always terrifying . . . war is all of these and more [and a more-than-sufficient reason for finding a way to avoid it]. Fanaticism plays its evil role; vengeance and retribution rear their ugly heads as lethal fighting plays out a tale of tragedy and torment.

Anchored by its strong sense of place, the story moves along at a brisk pace, pulling the reader along with its devastating ripped-from-the-headlines plot. Cynical as well as enlightening and thought-provoking, readers will find much to contemplate here.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Big City Press, AuthorBuzz and NetGalley
#Assassins #NetGalley

My high school English teachers would have a field day with the writing style and syntax, but it was the themes that disturbed me the most.

The story begins in Afghanistan, as the US takes the decision to use the local Afghanis to bottle up the Soviet Union who had invaded the country. The main protagonist is Jack, and the book tells snippets of his life story, as we learn he is a paramilitary commando hired by (I assume) the CIA. I found the beginning of the book fascinating. As the story continues we move from the 1982 all the way to 2015 with “Jack” involved in all kinds of undercover operations from Iraq to Pakistan. There were two things that I found disconcerting. First, he touched on my deep and hidden Islamophobia. Time and time again, he made my prejudices come to the surface. Sometimes he challenged that phobia, other times he massaged it and made it more comfortable. The second issue was with his take on the history of the period. I found myself going back and forth, looking up claims that he made about the US government and its role in events from US funding of the Mujahedeen and Taliban to the knowledge and role that Bush played in 9/11. Did the US government know about the potential attack on the twin towers beforehand? Did Bush know that there were no WMDs in Iraq? Did we have opportunities to eliminate Osama Bin Laden earlier and intentionally let them pass? All those and other perplexing questions are left for you to wrestle with.

In the second half of the book, the story gets lost in all of these questions, and at times I am not sure of the point he is trying to make. But clearly the overall thrust is found when he quotes Longfellow about ⅔’s of the way through the book.
"If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."

In the end, I think Bond is trying to remind us that violence is a vicious circle and the more we use violence to quash our enemies, the more enemies we make. His storytelling is okay, but it gets lost in his trying to outline what went wrong with US policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not sure I would read another one of his books.

Not the kind of book that I normally read, but I loved it. In the same Genre of Jack Ryan. And the war in Afghanistan.

The story offers a political narrative on war between the west and Islam. It is likely to give some nightmares as it reflects on past tragedies. It is also about how far you would go to rescue the person you love.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. However, my honest review is I didn’t like it and that is why It has taken me a long time to get through the book to write the review. I kept picking it up and putting it down repeatedly, hoping my enthusiasm for espionage thrillers would kick in. Regrettably, it did not. I found it long and tedious. I didn’t relate to or embrace any of the characters, who were flat and one dimensional. I was annoyed with the writing style and multiple grammatical errors. I will stick to other tried and true authors of this genre: Ben Coes, Brad Thor, Kyle Mills/Vince Flynn . I am sorry, but Mike Bond doesn’t do it for me; I can’t recommend ASSASSINS nor will I attempt to read any of his other works.

I had a really hard time figuring out what this book wanted to tell the reader. It is an overly fast-past-paced tour through all of the US Middle East adventures since the late 1970s without there being a proper string that reasonably pulls all of them together.
The main character is most unlikeable although some of the events in the book should pull you toward liking him, that, however, never happened for me. The story also is not told particularly well and you rarely get a feel for what the author is trying to accomplish by taking the main character from one event to the next. It could reasonably have been edited down to just a few of the these situations, painted a broader. more emotional picture of the main character's motivations and then made the story tighter, and more interesting.. That, however, was not the case and it left me wholly dissatisfied.

This is Mike Bond at his best. Timely, riveting story and plenty of plot twists and action to keep the reader hooked. Some of the reviews call this book islamophobic, but I disagree. Yes, the bad guys are Muslim but there are lots of Muslim bad guys in the region and during the period he writes about.

I can’t believe it took me this long to read this book. It is an inside look into the Middle East and our Military Force. The horrors, the stories, the sadness but the love too. I felt for each character in this book. You will not be able to put this down . The story of war is never pretty and this is true in this book too but it gives in detail many of the hows and whys of our wars and the politics involved. Thank you Mike Bond for this book. #netgalley.com #mikebond

This entire novel can be summed up with the following:

U.S. Military: "No, Jack. You can't do that."
Jack: "Watch me."
Jack: *does the thing, becomes a hero, returns home, grows attached to someone, they die or are put in danger*
Jack: "Revenge!"
U.S. Military: "No, Jack. You can't do that."
Jack: "Watch me."

And this exact cycle continues for over 500 pages. Seriously. That's pretty much it. And in all honesty, I can only recommend this book to you if you fully believe that 9/11 was 100% an inside job funded by Bush (Sr. and Jr.), you hate absolutely everyone from the Middle East, and you suffer from sort of delusional hero complex.