The Silent Assassin

by Lori Andrews

Book Overview

Geneticist Dr. Alexandra Blake investigates a brutal murder that may have long-buried connections to the Vietnam War in this explosive follow-up to Sequence.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312352719
• ISBN13: 9780312352714
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Good Author

I haven't read this book yet but based on another of her books that I've read I don't think I've made a mistake by buying it.

Extreme suspense

Lori Andrews has definitely done it again with The Silent Assassin. She keeps you on the edge of your seat and you won't want to put it down till your done. She mixes just the right mixture of mystery and suspense with just the right touch of humor (where Alex lives is one example). Once you read one of her books you will be hooked.

No mystery why this author knows her stuff

It's a commonplace of the mystery form: ex-policemen write police procedurals, lawyers write legal mysteries and doctors write medical thrillers. We're lucky that, in her second offering, the world's foremost expert on legal issues dealing with genetic material uses information from her day job to continue her top-notch series featuring hot blonde geneticist Alexandra Blake. Andrews shows an even surer hand this time around, and the plot crackles and zings as the body count mounts up. The story couldn't be more timely; the first visit of a Vietnamese president to the White House since the Vietnam War took place just after the book was released. Could the true-story subject of this book, trophy skulls brought back from the war by U.S. GI's, have been raised at that meeting? And again, between the story points we get more fascinating details on the building blocks of life and the clues left by our DNA. An exciting, sexy lead character, a plot taken to a frightening extreme, and Andrews' command of cutting edge science add up to a very satisfying read.

Enjoyable, engaging & fast paced

The newest novel featuring Dr. Alex Blake, the hot geneticist and forensic expert, is certainly fast-paced -- hurling her from autopsy to VietNam, to a befuddled personal life, to White House politics, to her own physical danger. It isn't easy to write a simple synopsis of Silent Assassin since there so many interwoven subplots. The book's treatment of Americans who served in VietNam as well as today's Vietnamese is thoughtful and sensitive (a judgment I feel comfortable making since I was drafted and served in that war). As in her previous novel (Sequence), the attention to detail is superb. The bits and pieces of trivia you pick up along the way are downright fascinating. The writing is crisp and the excitement builds to a surprising conclusion. This is fast-paced action all the way. Alex and the other on-going characters continue to evolve slowly, layer by layer showing real growth and maturity in the author's development as a fiction writer. Ms. Andrews manages to keep interest without sacrificing credibility. I was already one of her fans and now I'm even more hooked on her work.

reminiscent of Patricia Cornwall

Dr. Alexandra Blake works at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology where she uses her knowledge of genetics to find bio-terror vaccines. She is also sometimes called upon to use her medical skills when a situation occurs. When the corpse of a man who died from a bayonet is brought to AFIP Alexandria is able to tell that he recently returned from Vietnam and further investigation into his past shows he helped broker a deal for the U.S. He successfully brokered a deal where Vietnam would sell the U.S. oil reserves, something that was important to the president who saw it as a way of healing wounds between the two countries. American soldiers stationed in Nam when returning home sometimes brought back Vietnamese skulls with them. Now in a special White House ceremony the items are being returned to the Vietnam government. In one of the skulls, Alexandra finds a note saying that Americans conducted a massacre. Someone breaks into Alexandria's home while she is sleeping and tries to kill her before getting away and her office is ransacked. Her superiors believe it is her knowledge of the massacre that is causing someone to want her dead but the truth is much more explosive. Although this is only Lori Andrews' second fiction book, her work is reminiscent of Patricia Cornwall novels. The heroine is a strong-willed, caring individual who doesn't hesitate to do what she believes is the right thing. She refuses to be intimidated by those who want to kill her and although she can't see the conspiracy at the highest level of government, when the time comes she makes a decision and acts on it knowing if things go wrong she could end up in jail or worse. Harriet Klausner