The Honourable Assassin

The Honourable Assassin #1

by Roland Perry

The execution of a Mexican drug cartel hit man in a Carlton laneway draws Vic Cavalier to Thailand and back to a past he'd rather forget in this tense, action-packed thriller.

Vic Cavalier has certainly had better weeks. His newspaper editor is hell-bent on showing him the door, his footy team lost its last game, and his drinking habit is winning the war with his better angels. And then there's the man with the bullet in his head and links to a Mexican drug-cartel lying in a Carlton laneway. When his editor wants the story Cavalier finds himself in Bangkok uncomfortably close to the action and under the watchful eye of a local cop with an intriguing background herself.

In the steamy violent world of Thai elite power plays and the chaos of a coup Cavalier's motivation becomes clear - this same cartel is implicated in the disappearance and possible murder of his daughter. He has no choice but to pursue them - whatever it takes.

Weaving together a face-paced, all-too-real story The Honourable Assassin is part psychological thriller and part today's headlines about massive illegal drug trafficking in Australia and corruption at the highest levels in South East Asia.

Genres: Crime, Audiobook, Fiction, Mystery

336 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2015

About the author

Professor Roland Perry (born 11 October 1946) is a Melbourne-based author best known for his books on history, especially Australia in the two world wars. His Monash: The Outsider Who Won The War, won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' 'Melbourne University Publishing Award' in 2004. The judges described it as 'a model of the biographer's art. In the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 2011, Perry was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia 'for services to literature as an author.In October 2011, Monash University awarded Perry a Fellowship for 'high achievement as a writer, author, film producer and journalist.His sports books include biographies of Sir Donald Bradman, Steve Waugh, Keith Miller and Shane Warne. Perry has written on espionage, specialising in the British Cambridge Ring of Russian agents. He has also published three works of fiction and produced more than 20 documentary films. Perry has been a member of the National Archives of Australia Advisory Council since 2006.

In late 2012 Perry accepted an adjunct appointment at Monash University as a Professor, with the title ‘Writer-in-Residence’ in the University’s Arts Faculty.

Reviews

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty stock standard special operative thriller set around Melbourne and Thailand. Characters can really kick ass, interesting cartel link with some decent thrills. Writing was a little poor at some stages. Worth a read if you want familiar tropes.

[Calensûl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judging by the other reviews, maybe I over estimated this book, since I don't usually read this genre and am not aware of the conventions and clichés, but the truth is that I enjoyed it a lot.

I take one star because the main characters were a bit over the top in their physical and combat prowess and really came across as unrealistic, but that's it.

I liked most of the characters, from the main to the secondary. I liked the main character's cold, years-long patience to avenge his daugter, which was subtle but ever-present. The protagonist's Thai companion was deep and complex, determined and dedicated to her family despite living in a completely different world.I appreciated the detail of how she was giving up her physical strength in her transition from male to female, but was capable nonetheless of putting up a good fight. For the secondary, I could get a nice view of them from just a few glimpses of their interactions with the main, and I never got the feeling that they were one-sided or repetitive. The spy granny was a delight.

On another aspect, the plot developed quite nicely, describing the world as it went by it. The hidden, dark parts of Thai society were interesting to explore, and to see not everything was terribly bad. The protagonist had a lot of agency, which makes sense given his background, and kept me reading to see with what he would come up next. The climax told with a different narrator perspective really drove me in. Something in the tone convinced me that this was the resolution of that years-long revenge, executed as precisely as it had been planned.

Maybe if you are used to this kind of books you are a bit fed up of them and this one is no different, but if you want to get a taste of the genre I definitely recommend it.

Thanks for reading!

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victor Cavalier is our hero, a news reporter, happy to retire but his editor gives him a wad to travel to Thailand to follow up a story. He is aided by a local cop who can certainly handle herself when the fists fly.
Cavalier has a personal reason for going too, his daughter has disappeared and there are links to a Mexican drug cartel.
Its a dangerous world and Cavalier is familiar with its violence.
Its well read in an Aussie accept and an enjoyable listen, I may well try the follow up novel at some point when I fancy a bit of an action packed story.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much more gentlemanly book about drug lords and the Far East then I am used to! It had an old fashioned feel but I enjoyed the fast pace of the book

[MsEleanorMae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, made even better by great narration as an audiobook.

[Lynette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. A bit of James Bond meets Biggles but entertaining enough

[J. M. Simmonds · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish...didn't enjoy it. Stick to non-fiction Roland

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fair to say that I'm the target audience for this book. It is set in Melbourne ( where I live) and Thailand (where we holiday most years), I also love reading crime novels set in either place. After a pretty shaky start, this develops into an entertaining read. Vic Cavalier (great name) is an interesting guy, even though he barracks for the wrong footy team, that fits into the "men want to be him, ladies want to be with him" mould. We never really get too far inside Vics head but he does enough ass kicking and all round hero shenanigans that we get the gist of what he's about. It's worth a look this one.
I have deducted a star due to some pretty ordinary editing. It's a petty thing but a real pet hate of mine, if you expect us to fork out for your books folks, at least make sure they are complete and correct. If you do another run of The Honourable Assassin please fix them up.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK read that kept me turning the pages to find out what happened. But there were some strange elements. The opening scenes setting up our hero to be super-human were just too long and unnecessary, especially when years later he is a mere journalist. Our hero Vic is like an Aussie James Bond, with younger women falling into bed with him as they just can't help themselves. It also seemed surprisingly casual in how Vic extricated himself from various situations. Nothing was too much of a problem. The straightforward writing style of "Vic did this, then Vic did that" may have contributed to this feeling. I can see this would make a series.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to read because it was set in Melbourne (home town) but the writing was so ordinary that I just couldn't be bothered continuing.

[Vikram · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the good stories that I have read in sometime. The story has all that needs to be in a interesting book. The way Victor goes about doing things is quite casual and quite well written.

[Ralphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah
Couldn’t get into it
Couldn’t get out of it
😎👍📚✅

[Mike Taverner · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all like an enigmatic super hero