The Reluctant Assassin (Warp, #1)

by Eoin Colfer

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

The Reluctant Assassin by Eion Colfer was the first of several audiobooks I downloaded this summer via the SYNC Free Downloads event. I don’t listen to many audiobooks as my commute is 20 minutes each way, but this book had been on my TBR list for awhile, it was free so I figured why not! Another couple of points in the books favor…it involves time travel AND I’m a huge fan of Colfer’s books.

Overall, I enjoyed the The Reluctant Assassin. The characters, especially Chevy and Riley, were engaging. I loved Chevy can-do attitude and her ability to try and see a way out of every situation. Riley reminded me of Oliver Twist and his naiveté was endearing. I wanted to take him under my wing and protect him from the book’s villain, Garrick.

And that brings me to may my most favorite part of the book, the villain! Garrick made my skin crawl. Colfer and the narrator, Max Caufield, captured Garrick’s slimy magician through the text and narration as he pursues Chevy and Riley through time. I was on pins and needles during most of my drives as I wondered when he was going to catch up with them. It’s like watching a suspenseful movie, the music changes and you know that something awful is going to happen, but the action on screen hasn’t quite caught up. One of my favorite quotes (which are hard to capture when listening!) is actually related to Garrick.

"The sun was already long past the spire when Garrick purchased a mug of coffee from his regular man on the tip of Oxford Street. But his palate had been educated by 21st century coffee, and he judged this mug as bilge water not fit for the Irish."

As a lover of coffee and a reader of many time travel novels, it made think twice about wanting to travel back to the past.

There were only two things that stood out to me as minor annoyances.

1. The narrator, Max Caufield, was difficult to understand at times. He has one of those muddy British accents. As a result, it takes your ears a bit to “warm up” to his voice and make sense of what he is saying. This happened right at the start of the book and then every Monday as I was only listening to book during my commutes to and from work.

2. The epilogue was weird. It seemed tacked on. Maybe it was because I was listening to the book and couldn’t page ahead to see what was coming so I didn’t expect it. But it did make me wonder if Colfer didn’t intend to make this a series when he started writing the book.

Overall, I would give The Reluctant Assassin by Eion Colfer a thumbs up. Chevy and Riley romping through time while being pursued by the creepy Garrick had me excited for my drives to work each morning.