The Orphan Factory by James and Lance Morcan

Description from Goodreads:

"An epic, atmospheric story that begins with twenty three genetically superior orphans being groomed to become elite spies in Chicago's Pedemont Orphanage and concludes with a political assassination deep in the Amazon jungle.

The Orphan Factory, a coming-of-age spy thriller novel, is book two in The Orphan Trilogy and a prequel to The Ninth Orphan. Go on another frenetic journey with the ninth-born orphan as he busts out of the clandestine orphanage he knew as home and goes on the run across America.

In the late 1970's, in Chicago, Illinois, the secretive Omega Agency initiates the Pedemont Project - a radical experiment utilizing genetic engineering technologies - to create twenty three orphan babies with the plan to turn them into the world's most effective assassins.

One of the prodigies will rebel: meet Number Nine, an orphan with a mind of his own.

In 1998, when Nine reaches adulthood and graduates with honors from the Pedemont Orphanage, he is already an adept of the deadly espionage arts. Ordered by his Omega masters to assassinate a survivor of the Jonestown tragedy in Guyana's Amazon rainforest, Nine is forced to draw upon all of his advanced training just to stay alive."

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This is the second book in the trilogy, the second that has had me thoroughly engrossed and entertained and the second that I have been fortunate to have been sent to me by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

I won’t go into the ins and outs of the story as it is covered in the description but what I will say is that, like The Ninth Orphan, it is excellent. The plot is well thought out, well paced, exciting and thrilling as well as being different to anything else I have read before. I really enjoyed getting to know more about the beginnings of “Nine” and his fellow orphans - the authors provided small glimpses in the first book but this one put the flesh on the bones.

The characters are believable and interesting, some more likeable than others, but overall well developed from start to finish.

I would most definitely recommend this to lovers of espionage, conspiracy theorists or just people who enjoy a flippin’ good read and I look forward to reading the third in the series.

Autobiography of an Assassin

Autobiography of an Assassin: Part One, The Here and Now

by M. T. Hallgarth

Beneath a seemingly pleasant and unpretentious façade lurks a ruthless predator...

A narcissistic sociopath!

Martin has an unusual life – he works as an assassin, having killed his first victim when he had only just turned sixteen. After fleeing to Belgium, he finds himself recruited by a mercenary organisation, more commonly known as ‘La Légion’. Given a new identity, Martin is taken to Morocco to undergo extensive training... training that is frequently brutal and bestial.

In Vietnam, Martin is recruited into ‘Section 9’, a covert organisation with the British Secret Intelligence Service. Upon discovering they want Martin to become an assassin, fate intervenes. On arriving back in London, he discovers feelings and emotions that he’s never experienced before – love and affection.

But nothing lasts forever...

When tragedy strikes, an assassin is truly born and overnight, Martin becomes a ruthless, heartless killer.

Inspired by authors such as Thomas Harris and Jeff Long, the author explains, “I felt the story of Martin and Autobiography of an Assassin was one that had been with me for many years. After retiring, I found I had to the time to write and share it.” Written as an autobiography of a fictional character, Autobiography of an Assassin is a fast-paced and thrilling read.

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I really don't like giving up on a book and I try my hardest to plod on but I just couldn't do it with this one. I was unable to get into it at all and I found it boring and over descriptive - I skipped about 6 chapters to do with guns ... I don't really care whether a certain gun is to the left, right, above or below another gun! There were snippets of interesting bits when the author provided some insight into the jobs he did but, within the first 20-odd chapters, these were few and far between.

The blurb says it's "a fast-paced and thrilling read" - not for me; it may have got better but I just couldn’t get beyond about chapter 30.

As I said, I don't like giving up so if I have nothing else to read, I may go back to it but, to be honest, can't see this happening any time soon.

Thanks to www.netgalley.com and the publisher, Troubador Publishing Ltd, for the copy in return for an honest review.