Mindblower: Assassin

by David Rashleigh

Dan Thomas is a normal family man, until an explosion robs him of his family and leaves him in a coma. When he awakes, he discovers that the injury has left him with an incredible ability. Recruited by a powerful and secretive organisation, he becomes their best assassin, famed for his ability to kill without leaving a trace. Freed of all moral restraint, he descends into depravity, living only for the next fix of his ultimate thrill: the taking of human life.
To his employers, he is merely a tool in the pursuit of their ultimate aim: total political power. Already hugely influential behind the scenes, when the source of their funding and the extent of their power is discovered they send Dan to silence a Member of Parliament, his brilliant assistant and a determined journalist.

But Dan has made a shocking discovery of his own. The result: murder, political intrigue and a plot to detonate a nuclear weapon on British soil.

Paperback

First published August 20, 2013

About the author

David Rashleigh was born in Bedford, England, a descendent of a branch of the Rashleigh family that still inhabits Menabilly, near Fowey in Cornwall. Aged 13, he won a scholarship to be educated at Bedford School. Following spectacularly bad A-level results, he spent a year travelling the world with the merchant navy, during which time he saw an awful lot of water. This was followed by a career in the RAF, best described as "inglorious and short". Eventually, he found his niche as a railway signalling engineer, at which he has enjoyed significantly greater success.

His career as an author is entirely accidental. An interest in history and especially how it surrounds us every day led to the idea for Sciron: writing the book was greatly helped by having a separate study and a deep dislike of soap operas and "reality" television. The dramatis personae in Sciron are not based on any real people, although David could not resist inflicting some facets of his own personality on more than one of the characters. Naturally, he will not own up to which people he has blessed in this manner. Prospective readers should, however, note that Sciron is not in any way a funny book. Apart from the bit where...but that would be telling.

Besides history, David's interests include aviation (he holds a rarely-used private pilot's licence) and target shooting; the latter largely to impress his daughter's boyfriends with his easy-going but protective nature.

David first visited Lancashire (the location for much of Sciron) in 1985, intending to stay for just one week. He is still there. He lives in Penwortham with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must admit that upon reading the prologue I was unsure as to how much I was going to enjoy Mindblower: Assassin. It struck me as a rather gritty passage and I’ve read enough action novels replete with graphic narrative to last me a lifetime, so I approached this book with a skeptical eye despite the fact that I enjoyed Rashleigh’s first novel, Sciron, immensely. I will attempt to explain just how completely incorrect I was in my misgivings regarding this novel.

Let’s begin with the protagonist, a character by the name of Dan Thomas. This man loses his entire world at the outset of the tale and only gains in return a preternatural power of the mind. Thomas struggles to come to grips with his loss and the pain and anger which accompany such tragic events in a person’s life lead him down a dark road. Increasingly drunk on his new-found power, he pushes the limits of same just for the sport of it and finds that he enjoys his new, debased self. Labeling Thomas as an anti-hero would be most accurate, and probably putting it mildly.

Now to the nefarious organization which initially aids Thomas in order to harness his new abilities for use in their schemes, The Triumvirate. Led by a man known as The Controller, who is so hubristic and malevolent one would like to see him flayed, this group has set into motion events which they hope will culminate in Operation Repatriate. The breadth of this scheme is never completely divulged in the novel(curse you, Rashleigh)but the intent of this group is clear: world domination and subjugation by any means necessary.

The plot moves along quickly and is packed with intrigue. What struck me most is how well Rashleigh was able to incorporate current events into the narrative. There is an undercurrent of palpable angst, unrest, even anger in many parts of the western world centered upon distrust of government in general and some(well, I)would say rightly so. It’s all done cleverly and sundry modern societal laments are accounted for. Additionally, I found many passages such as the following one, an answer to a question posed about the need to harm innocent people in order to gain power, which resonated with me:

“Two reasons. First, the oldest tactic in the book: divide and conquer. Second, by creating a culture of fear, the people are more inclined to accept the passing of laws that restrict their own freedom.”

This book is jam-packed with instances of governmental and quasi-governmental corruption. Many of the things you’ve thought were likely going on and yet hoped were not are laid out in brilliant detail. Does it matter which political party you support? Does it matter what you, as an ordinary citizen, think or do at all? The puppeteers hold the strings and they run the show. Who can oppose them? We are left to hope that there is any hope at all of thwarting these evil plans and maintaining a free society. We are left anxiously awaiting the next book in the trilogy.

[Gordon Wulff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard was a pleasant surprise to discover as I have not read his first novel . His characters especially Dan Thomas are fantastically written and the empathy that he created in the first few chapters was incredible . No one should have to endure that much misery . His use of modern events incorporated seamlessly into the storyline was another pleasant surprise . All in all the beginning of a series I will follow with exuberance .

Sciron
David Rashleigh

A new Author that is creating some similar waves .

Without
Suffer
Abomination
E.E. Borton

[Jim Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me a great story has you hooked from the start, and this satisfies on many levels. Personally I'm not one for slow building stories, and this book was right up my street. I can honestly say Mindblower 'Assassin' had me riveted instantly and just snatching that extra chapter wherever and whenever I could. With an action packed beginning that sets the tone for the rest of the book, the author has managed to cleverly juxtapose action and mystery, with intrigue and great characters who pull you in ever deeper. The lead character is brilliantly despicable at times, yet human enough to really care about and you soon realise this is much more complex than a 'Hollywood Blockbuster' type tale and that is to be commended. As this is the first in a series, I for one cannot wait for book two and recommend anyone who loves a good thriller to pick this up and enjoy it as much as me. Brilliant.