Bruno_30, blogger and contributor to the 20 Minutes Books reading group, recommends “The Eighteen Assassin” by John Brownlow, published on March 14, 2024 by Éditions Gallimard.
His favorite quote:
« […] “What’s the plan?” she yells back. – You keep them at bay until I find one. » »
Why this book?
- Because the British John Brownlow has been sailing under the radar until now but he has just launched a new series of spy novels: the adventures of Agent Seventeen, one issue, since we are in the world of James Bond and Jason Bourne, a world where killers wear numbers, a world where legends are made and unmade. We started with the second episode which can be read independently of the previous one (Agent Seventeen) but if you plan to stay on the beach for a long time, take both.
- Because this big block is one of those novels where we can without stress let the hero fall from the top of the fortieth floor while telling us a few anecdotes, go for a refreshing dip in the water, come back for a few pages where the hero continues his dizzying fall embellished with other stories, go get a cocktail at the bar, and return just in time for the fall which will see the invincible hero get up, his costume barely wrinkled, and set off again to attack the villains who threw him into the void. There you go, you have just read the summary of chapters 74 to 76.
- Because he is generous, John Brownlow puts us back all the things that fuel spy novels at the moment: Arkan’s Tigers of Serbia, the NATO maneuvers of November 1983, the Svalbard listening station, … everything is there, the author has well does its job.
- Because it goes without saying that if the prose remains pleasant to read, It obviously does not claim the awards that are being chased and does not even try to compete with a John Le Carré. To be honest, the entertainment would be quite enjoyable if the author (who is also a screenwriter and director) did not feel obliged to string together incredible stunts and epic fights that are very effective in cinema but which, on paper and on screen, still fall a little flat and perhaps end up being a little boring.
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot. Agent 17 is depressed. He’s biding his time, or rather Eighteen’s, which won’t be long. But… the sniper is a 9-year-old girl! She’s even his own daughter! And here’s a computer virus that’s preparing a nuclear holocaust. Seventeen will have to go back to work!
Characters. Agent Seventeen, his daughter and a few friends. Horrible jojos worthy of a James Bond. And what about Agent Eighteen?
Places. A little all over the world as it should be in this type of novel: from Svalbard to the port of Buenos Aires.
The time. Nowadays, just before nuclear holocaust if Seventeen misses…
The author. British writer John Brownlow now lives in Canada. The Assassin Eighteen is his second spy novel featuring Agent Seventeen.
This book was read with the sun in your eyes. It’s on vacation, with your toes spread out, that you have to savor this big book that’s not there to give us a headache!
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