What do you think?
Rate this book
Assassinorum
Execution Force
Darkness is rising on Achyllus Prime. Severin Drask, sorcerer lord of the Crimson Slaughter Chaos Space Marines, works to harness the power of the Temple of Shades and unleash a tide of daemons upon the Imperium. All that stands against him is an Execution Force of the Officio Assassinorum, four Imperial Assassins - Vindicare, Callidus, Eversor and Culexus -who must set aside their distrust and fight as one if they are to kill Drask and thwart his evil plan.
Read it because
A fractious alliance of Imperial Assassins is only called upon in the rarest and most dire of circumstances. When the forces of Chaos threaten to tear a hole in the galaxy, only an elite Execution Force can prevent it. This is the first time you get a look into the heads of the four assassins and see all of their exotic technological spy gear in action.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2015
6 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Joe Parrino
28 books17 followersJoe Parrino is the author of the audio drama The Shape of the Hunt and the short stories 'Witness', 'The Patient Hunter', 'In Service to Shadows' and 'No Worse Sin'. He lives, writes and works in the American Pacific Northwest. When not writing, Joe can be found skulking through the rain-lashed forests of the region. Like the elusive sasquatch, he enjoys reading, writing, pestering friends, traveling and other assorted activities.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 30, 2025
This is a decent introduction to the main four temples /clades of the Officio Assassinorum, the Imperial Assassins.
Plot wise, it's more of the same. Chaos trying to do unholy rituals. The imperium sending forces to stop them.
Violence. Murder. Gore. A callous indifference to collateral genocide. Usual 40k.
Plot wise, it's more of the same. Chaos trying to do unholy rituals. The imperium sending forces to stop them.
Violence. Murder. Gore. A callous indifference to collateral genocide. Usual 40k.
June 20, 2015
Sigh...
Review
This is was a book that I read almost after it was released because it deal with the Officio Assassinorum and one agent from the most important factions within. Vindicare, Callidus, Eversor and Culexus.
I didn't enjoy it.
I know this novel deals mostly with the boardgame that was released with it but in my opinion it shouldn't tread so far from the 40K world. So, the Crimson Slaughter have a way to do something horrific to mankind and the High Lords of Terra send only four assassins? One of each faction instead of Imperial Guard and Space Marines? Poor Judgment. Then choose one of each faction. Two of those factions are not even compatible to stand in the same place... Well we've got
Vindicare Temple - sharpshooters, specialists in sniping and marksmanship.
Eversor Temple - berserkers, drug-fuelled killing machines.
Culexus Temple (Blanks) - Pariahs, psykers are their exclusive targets.
Callidus Temple - chameleons, specialists in infiltration and impersonation.
So, we've got one of each. I can understand a Culexus since they were trying to kill a Sorcerer. Maybe a Eversor to help. But one of each?
So, what we've got here is a good story, interesting but weak in terms of demonstrating the powers of each faction. We see almost nothing of most assassins - which was a shame.
The author really creates a neat plot (albeit a bit incredulous) and we got to see the assassins working for the... Greater Good Haha... In this case for the Emperor.
There are several short stories that were released around the same time of this one but this story is self contain.
If you are a fan of 40K, the go for it. If you liked Nemesis or other Assassins stories, read it because it will give you a new impression. Don't expect a good tale in the same vein of other stories written in the same universe. As I read this book I read it with the same conscious that I read those book released for Warhammer Online Empire in Chaos ; Dark Storm Gathering and Forged by Chaos. They can be good but they don't represent our Warhammer Fantasy in the purest form...
Review
This is was a book that I read almost after it was released because it deal with the Officio Assassinorum and one agent from the most important factions within. Vindicare, Callidus, Eversor and Culexus.
I didn't enjoy it.
I know this novel deals mostly with the boardgame that was released with it but in my opinion it shouldn't tread so far from the 40K world. So, the Crimson Slaughter have a way to do something horrific to mankind and the High Lords of Terra send only four assassins? One of each faction instead of Imperial Guard and Space Marines? Poor Judgment. Then choose one of each faction. Two of those factions are not even compatible to stand in the same place... Well we've got
Vindicare Temple - sharpshooters, specialists in sniping and marksmanship.
Eversor Temple - berserkers, drug-fuelled killing machines.
Culexus Temple (Blanks) - Pariahs, psykers are their exclusive targets.
Callidus Temple - chameleons, specialists in infiltration and impersonation.
So, we've got one of each. I can understand a Culexus since they were trying to kill a Sorcerer. Maybe a Eversor to help. But one of each?
So, what we've got here is a good story, interesting but weak in terms of demonstrating the powers of each faction. We see almost nothing of most assassins - which was a shame.
The author really creates a neat plot (albeit a bit incredulous) and we got to see the assassins working for the... Greater Good Haha... In this case for the Emperor.
There are several short stories that were released around the same time of this one but this story is self contain.
If you are a fan of 40K, the go for it. If you liked Nemesis or other Assassins stories, read it because it will give you a new impression. Don't expect a good tale in the same vein of other stories written in the same universe. As I read this book I read it with the same conscious that I read those book released for Warhammer Online Empire in Chaos ; Dark Storm Gathering and Forged by Chaos. They can be good but they don't represent our Warhammer Fantasy in the purest form...
August 31, 2015
I really liked this book, my first Warhammer 40K related title. I watched the Warhammer Blu-ray a few weeks ago and got caught up into that storyline (I suspect the movie was not a typical Warhammer Ultra Marine story, more like Alien). Then I came across this book at my comic book shop and the cover really caught my eye. I could have saved over $7 by buying the e-book version (from Black Library), but this small hardback novella really pulled me in. The cover features 4 Imperial Assassins, and I wanted to learn more about each one. The story is only 125 pages, and I would like to have seen it at about 325 pages. I researched the storyline on Black Library and then decided to pick up the book from my comic shop.
It was way too short, but a darn good story anyways. I wanted to read more about each assassin and to see each one use their own special weapon or ability. I will back track and find all the Imperial Assassin related stories (to include a couple of CDs) that I can.
These guys and gal are pretty darn tough. And to have all 4 of them work together you know the bad guy must be truly evil! Loved the ending and the never say "Die" attitude they each displayed. I recently ordered some used Warhammer 40K paperbacks from Amazon and I know I will be ordering some e-books and CDs from Black Library.
It was way too short, but a darn good story anyways. I wanted to read more about each assassin and to see each one use their own special weapon or ability. I will back track and find all the Imperial Assassin related stories (to include a couple of CDs) that I can.
These guys and gal are pretty darn tough. And to have all 4 of them work together you know the bad guy must be truly evil! Loved the ending and the never say "Die" attitude they each displayed. I recently ordered some used Warhammer 40K paperbacks from Amazon and I know I will be ordering some e-books and CDs from Black Library.
May 19, 2015
While Black Library’s raison d’être has always been to provide tie-in fiction to expand upon the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40k, some books tie in closer than others with new Games Workshop releases. One of those is Assassinorum – Execution Force, a novella by Joe Parrino which accompanies the new board game of the same name. It follows the progress of a team of Imperial Assassins, dispatched in a rare show of force and cooperation to stop a sorcerer of the Crimson Slaughter from enacting a ritual that could spell doom for the Imperium.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
August 25, 2015
I was not expecting much when I decided to read this book. I read a lot of Warhammer 40K, I've played the game for a long time and like Imperial Assassins, but I'm wary about books that are released to promote a Games Workshop product (I'm thinking of the Ravenwing novel- so sad). Fortunately this book was a pleasant surprise. Sure there was not much character development, but I wasn't looking for that in a book about an Execution Force mission- I wanted to see the Assassins lay waste to the Imperium's enemies and that's what I got!
June 15, 2019
Set within the dark future of the Warhammer 40,000 universe Execution Force follows four of the deadly Imperial Assassins as they are sent to a world ravaged by the forces of Chaos, in order to prevent a powerful sorcerer from opening a tear in reality that will allow a Chaos fleet to invade Imperial space.
The set up for the book is great, and it sounds really entertaining, however, there are a few issues that do end up having a negative effect upon the story. The first is that the book is based upon the Execution Force board game. The game dictates the story somewhat, that one of each of the four assassin temples will be sent out as a team against a Chaos sorcerer, and whilst this might make a great game it doesn't really work all that well within the realms of the books story.
The Imperium is facing a huge threat here, with hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of Chaos warriors and daemons ready to invade Imperial space if Drask succeeds in his mission. This is not really the kind of situation where just four assassins would be sent. There are no Imperial Guard, or Space Marines sent to stop this threat, and this feels incredibly strange. It wouldn't have taken much to combat this incongruity by having combat taking place elsewhere on the planet whilst the assassins go behind enemy lines, or simply saying that other Imperial forces are on the way, but wont make it in time, hence the need for the assassins.
The second issue I found with the book, which may go some way to explaining why more couldn't have been included to solve my first issue, is that the book is very small, topping at just 128 pages. This page length means that the action flows incredibly quickly, yet also means that there is little room for world building and character development.
As such, the four assassins feel like almost faceless caricatures rather than fully formed people, and we feel very little connection to them. Now I know this is a Warhammer 40,000 book, and that invariably some of the 'good guys' will die, as is the nature of a setting where there is only war, but the best books that deal with this universe always allow you to get to know your characters a little before they die, giving you a connection to them that makes their loss hit all the harder. As it is, there's no sense of sadness or disappointment whenever one of the assassins falls in battle.
Despite these issues the book itself is pretty entertaining, and can easily be read in a single sitting thanks to the short page count and the fast pace. It's not a book that will stick out in my memory for a long time after reading it, but it kept me entertained whilst reading it.
The set up for the book is great, and it sounds really entertaining, however, there are a few issues that do end up having a negative effect upon the story. The first is that the book is based upon the Execution Force board game. The game dictates the story somewhat, that one of each of the four assassin temples will be sent out as a team against a Chaos sorcerer, and whilst this might make a great game it doesn't really work all that well within the realms of the books story.
The Imperium is facing a huge threat here, with hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of Chaos warriors and daemons ready to invade Imperial space if Drask succeeds in his mission. This is not really the kind of situation where just four assassins would be sent. There are no Imperial Guard, or Space Marines sent to stop this threat, and this feels incredibly strange. It wouldn't have taken much to combat this incongruity by having combat taking place elsewhere on the planet whilst the assassins go behind enemy lines, or simply saying that other Imperial forces are on the way, but wont make it in time, hence the need for the assassins.
The second issue I found with the book, which may go some way to explaining why more couldn't have been included to solve my first issue, is that the book is very small, topping at just 128 pages. This page length means that the action flows incredibly quickly, yet also means that there is little room for world building and character development.
As such, the four assassins feel like almost faceless caricatures rather than fully formed people, and we feel very little connection to them. Now I know this is a Warhammer 40,000 book, and that invariably some of the 'good guys' will die, as is the nature of a setting where there is only war, but the best books that deal with this universe always allow you to get to know your characters a little before they die, giving you a connection to them that makes their loss hit all the harder. As it is, there's no sense of sadness or disappointment whenever one of the assassins falls in battle.
Despite these issues the book itself is pretty entertaining, and can easily be read in a single sitting thanks to the short page count and the fast pace. It's not a book that will stick out in my memory for a long time after reading it, but it kept me entertained whilst reading it.
September 15, 2015
As a book it was good without ever being great. As a book based on the board game awful. Apart from the fact that there are 4 assassins from the different temples and a sorcerer named Drask this bears no resemblance to the board game. Space Hulk, the novel, that was as thrilling to read as the game was to play. Not so here.
June 15, 2016
This was fun bolter porn designed to promote Games Workshop's board game. The assassin characters are archetypes of their Assassin Temples and the plot moves along briskly. Perhaps the writing could have more closely mirrored action in the board game such as the stealth aspect.
June 6, 2015
Tie-in fiction for a cool board game. This was a novella and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. Give you fiction to accompany the board game.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews