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Victor the Assassin #5
The Darkest Day
He is darkness. She wants him dead.
In a city starved of light, she might just succeed.
She moves like a shadow; she kills silently: Raven. This elegant assassin has been on the run for years. This time though, she has picked the wrong target.
The hitman known only as 'Victor' is as paranoid as he is merciless, and is no stranger to being hunted. He tracks his would-be killer across the globe to, aiming not only to neutralise the threat, but to discover who wants him dead. The trail leads to New York...
And then the lights go out.
Over twelve hours of unremitting darkness, Manhattan dissolves into chaos. Amid looting, conspiracy and blackout, Victor and Raven play a vicious game of cat and mouse that the city will never forget.
In a city starved of light, she might just succeed.
She moves like a shadow; she kills silently: Raven. This elegant assassin has been on the run for years. This time though, she has picked the wrong target.
The hitman known only as 'Victor' is as paranoid as he is merciless, and is no stranger to being hunted. He tracks his would-be killer across the globe to, aiming not only to neutralise the threat, but to discover who wants him dead. The trail leads to New York...
And then the lights go out.
Over twelve hours of unremitting darkness, Manhattan dissolves into chaos. Amid looting, conspiracy and blackout, Victor and Raven play a vicious game of cat and mouse that the city will never forget.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
286 people are currently reading
1099 people want to read
About the author
Tom Wood
23 books1,284 followersHe is the author of the Victor series of 10 novels and 2 ebook novellas. Tom also wrote the standalone thriller A Knock at the Door under the pseudonym T W Ellis
Victor 10, TRAITOR, is out now in UK, IE, AS & NZ.
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Victor 10, TRAITOR, is out now in UK, IE, AS & NZ.
Subscribe to Tom's newsletter to stay up-to-date, and have the chance of winning signed copies and more: tomwoodbooks.com/newsletter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 238 reviews
September 23, 2015
3.5 stars
Right from the beginning of this book I thought it would be better as a movie rather than a novel. The action scenes were energetic and brutal: somebody call Michael Bay, there's a script right here for him. However, the plot seemed to be lost behind the big budget scenes.
I loved the main character, Victor, and his female frenemy, Raven. The writing that at first felt very stilted and robotic, actually matched his character perfectly and enhanced the realism of his narrative. I enjoyed the fact that he really did seem to be as pragmatic as he was portrayed, not another boring assassin with a heart of gold. I think I would read these books for Victor alone. Some of the other reviewers have suggested that this is not the best example of Wood's work, so I think i'll go back to the beginning and check out his other novels. By no means is this a bad book, it's very exciting and there are some brilliant characters, but if there are better ones with Victor in them, count me in.
Many thanks to Tom Wood, Netgalley, and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Right from the beginning of this book I thought it would be better as a movie rather than a novel. The action scenes were energetic and brutal: somebody call Michael Bay, there's a script right here for him. However, the plot seemed to be lost behind the big budget scenes.
I loved the main character, Victor, and his female frenemy, Raven. The writing that at first felt very stilted and robotic, actually matched his character perfectly and enhanced the realism of his narrative. I enjoyed the fact that he really did seem to be as pragmatic as he was portrayed, not another boring assassin with a heart of gold. I think I would read these books for Victor alone. Some of the other reviewers have suggested that this is not the best example of Wood's work, so I think i'll go back to the beginning and check out his other novels. By no means is this a bad book, it's very exciting and there are some brilliant characters, but if there are better ones with Victor in them, count me in.
Many thanks to Tom Wood, Netgalley, and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 10, 2015
Tom Wood delivers yet again an action packed octane thriller tale, featuring one of my favourite anti-hero's.
Yes here we have Victor number 5.
He is darkness. She wants him dead. In a city starved of light, she might just succeed. She moves like a shadow; she kills silently: Raven. This elegant assassin has been on the run for years. This time though, she has picked the wrong target. The hit man known only as 'Victor' is as paranoid as he is merciless, and is no stranger to being hunted. He tracks his would-be killer across the globe, aiming not only to neutralise the threat, but to discover who wants him dead. The trail leads to New York...And then the lights go out. Over twelve hours of unremitting darkness, Manhattan dissolves into chaos. Amid looting, conspiracy and blackout, Victor and Raven play a vicious game of cat and mouse that the city will never forget.
Although many reviewers regard this book as his best I dis-agree, yes action packed as ever, fast paced, but to me maybe a little too many pages/story on car chases and does become a little bogged down, heavy, and confusing, yes I enjoyed the great fun and humour added with the great character Raven, but also found the ending, most of it, not all, a little predictable and weak.
But I am judging this book on his four previous books, still better than most action books
And I look forward to Victor number 6. This time a four star to me
Yes here we have Victor number 5.
He is darkness. She wants him dead. In a city starved of light, she might just succeed. She moves like a shadow; she kills silently: Raven. This elegant assassin has been on the run for years. This time though, she has picked the wrong target. The hit man known only as 'Victor' is as paranoid as he is merciless, and is no stranger to being hunted. He tracks his would-be killer across the globe, aiming not only to neutralise the threat, but to discover who wants him dead. The trail leads to New York...And then the lights go out. Over twelve hours of unremitting darkness, Manhattan dissolves into chaos. Amid looting, conspiracy and blackout, Victor and Raven play a vicious game of cat and mouse that the city will never forget.
Although many reviewers regard this book as his best I dis-agree, yes action packed as ever, fast paced, but to me maybe a little too many pages/story on car chases and does become a little bogged down, heavy, and confusing, yes I enjoyed the great fun and humour added with the great character Raven, but also found the ending, most of it, not all, a little predictable and weak.
But I am judging this book on his four previous books, still better than most action books
And I look forward to Victor number 6. This time a four star to me
August 26, 2019
The Darkest Day is not as spectacular as The Enemy
September 27, 2015
This is the 5th book in the 'Victor the Assassin' series by author Tom Wood.
This is the first book I have read in this series and also my first Tom Wood novel so maybe it explains why it took me a while to warm to the lead character Victor but it is certainly well written.
Victor is an assassin whose life is been threatened by a female assassin known as the Raven. The story is full of action and the more I learnt about Victor the more I enjoyed the book. I feel sure that I would have enjoyed this far more if I had read the books in the series in order, so I intend to buy the earlier books to put matters right.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Little Brown Book Group for a copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review.
This is the first book I have read in this series and also my first Tom Wood novel so maybe it explains why it took me a while to warm to the lead character Victor but it is certainly well written.
Victor is an assassin whose life is been threatened by a female assassin known as the Raven. The story is full of action and the more I learnt about Victor the more I enjoyed the book. I feel sure that I would have enjoyed this far more if I had read the books in the series in order, so I intend to buy the earlier books to put matters right.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Little Brown Book Group for a copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review.
March 4, 2019
Tom Wood is without a doubt one of my favourite authors of all times! This is the fifth book in the Victor the Assassin series and it is just as good as the other books in the series.
In this novel Victor is joined by another assassin Raven, Victor is one of them characters that even though he is an assassin you still like him, and grow fond of him through the novels, you end up willing him on to get the guy, this is down to the amazing writing skills of Tom Wood who knows just how to capture the readers attention and knows how to keep them hooked on his novels!
In this novel Victor is joined by another assassin Raven, Victor is one of them characters that even though he is an assassin you still like him, and grow fond of him through the novels, you end up willing him on to get the guy, this is down to the amazing writing skills of Tom Wood who knows just how to capture the readers attention and knows how to keep them hooked on his novels!
October 10, 2015
Okay...another one of those books I'm a little leery about myself for liking. These books do hold together very well. The story is growing and while the move from working almost exclusively for the CIA back into...well other employment may be a bit shakey. We'll see...
I hope.
This is the last Victor The Assassin book in print at the present time. I hate reaching the end of a good series, or at least reaching the point where I have to wait for the next one to come out.
Sigh. What do these writers think they get to have an outside life or something?
Anyway this one puts Victor in a position that he hasn't been in before...and whether we want him to or not the character stays true to himself. Self preservation being his primary mind set, as trusting as a mad cobra, as cuddly as a Black Widow this is Victor the Assassin. Don't like him, don't cross him.
Good read though.
I hope.
This is the last Victor The Assassin book in print at the present time. I hate reaching the end of a good series, or at least reaching the point where I have to wait for the next one to come out.
Sigh. What do these writers think they get to have an outside life or something?
Anyway this one puts Victor in a position that he hasn't been in before...and whether we want him to or not the character stays true to himself. Self preservation being his primary mind set, as trusting as a mad cobra, as cuddly as a Black Widow this is Victor the Assassin. Don't like him, don't cross him.
Good read though.
December 25, 2022
Raven the female version of Victor plays a cat and mouse against a Manhattan blackout.
November 22, 2015
A loner anti-hero quicksteps his way through murky alliances while looking to avoid landmines in this high-octane thriller that keeps the needle high as it hurtles across continents to a New York showdown.
Victor kills people for a living, and is damned good at his job. At the top of the tree, utilised by all sorts, including the CIA, for dirty jobs they need to get done. But he knows that one day it will be his turn (his enemies are legion, past and new), and is constantly assessing risks wherever he goes.
Paranoid, ruthless, highly skilled, Victor draws readers in not because he's an admirable guy but because he's extremely good at what he does, and gets himself into and out of some really exciting situations. THE DARKEST DAY, the fifth in Wood's series, is an unapologetic, out-and-out airport thriller. Fast-paced, foot-to-the-floor action with some tremendous set pieces, it's an extremely exciting read. Wood does a great job crafting a slickly told story that threads in some strands of character, setting, and philosophy, but really this is all about the page-whirring action and thrills. It's a compelling ride.
Victor is set to take out a terrorist financier in Prague, but instead finds himself scampering for survival from a dangerous rival, Raven. Was he set up by his paymasters, or has his own past come back to haunt him?
Knowing he can't let this threat continue to exist, Victor hunts Raven across the globe, trying to establish who sent her and why she came after him at this time. A man who only trusts himself, he knows those around him are lying to him - but which lies are the most dangerous, and how does he sort through the deceit?
Woods has us clinging to Victor's coat-tails as the enigmatic assassin careens from Europe to Latin America to New York City, where a showdown looms. But who is the real enemy, and what do they want? As darkness falls across the Big Apple, Victor realises he might only be a pawn in something far greater.
At times THE DARKEST DAY reads like a novel-length car chase, and it walks a tightrope of going overboard on that front, but overall I found the book to be an exciting, engaging read with a 'cool' main character. I'd imagine fans of Jack Reacher or Jason Bourne would really enjoy what is a very fast-paced thriller that feels like it would be an ideal all-action tale for the big screen. Visual storytelling with enough intrigue laced in throughout the action to keep your mind wondering as your heart races.
Recommended for thriller fans.
This review was written for and first published on Crime Watch: http://kiwicrime.blogspot.co.uk
Victor kills people for a living, and is damned good at his job. At the top of the tree, utilised by all sorts, including the CIA, for dirty jobs they need to get done. But he knows that one day it will be his turn (his enemies are legion, past and new), and is constantly assessing risks wherever he goes.
Paranoid, ruthless, highly skilled, Victor draws readers in not because he's an admirable guy but because he's extremely good at what he does, and gets himself into and out of some really exciting situations. THE DARKEST DAY, the fifth in Wood's series, is an unapologetic, out-and-out airport thriller. Fast-paced, foot-to-the-floor action with some tremendous set pieces, it's an extremely exciting read. Wood does a great job crafting a slickly told story that threads in some strands of character, setting, and philosophy, but really this is all about the page-whirring action and thrills. It's a compelling ride.
Victor is set to take out a terrorist financier in Prague, but instead finds himself scampering for survival from a dangerous rival, Raven. Was he set up by his paymasters, or has his own past come back to haunt him?
Knowing he can't let this threat continue to exist, Victor hunts Raven across the globe, trying to establish who sent her and why she came after him at this time. A man who only trusts himself, he knows those around him are lying to him - but which lies are the most dangerous, and how does he sort through the deceit?
Woods has us clinging to Victor's coat-tails as the enigmatic assassin careens from Europe to Latin America to New York City, where a showdown looms. But who is the real enemy, and what do they want? As darkness falls across the Big Apple, Victor realises he might only be a pawn in something far greater.
At times THE DARKEST DAY reads like a novel-length car chase, and it walks a tightrope of going overboard on that front, but overall I found the book to be an exciting, engaging read with a 'cool' main character. I'd imagine fans of Jack Reacher or Jason Bourne would really enjoy what is a very fast-paced thriller that feels like it would be an ideal all-action tale for the big screen. Visual storytelling with enough intrigue laced in throughout the action to keep your mind wondering as your heart races.
Recommended for thriller fans.
This review was written for and first published on Crime Watch: http://kiwicrime.blogspot.co.uk
September 26, 2017
I love Tom Wood's writing and have thoroughly enjoyed each of his books, until this one. Some of the "action" dragged on so long that I nearly fell asleep. It took me nearly an hour to read one chase sequence and, while I don't read particularly quickly anymore, my lips don't move and I set a decent pace.
This story began with an attempt on the life of our hero, Victor the assassin. He, of course, evaded it through means that were slightly beyond credible - okkay, way beyond credible! One thing led to another and Victor found himself trying to avert a massive terrorist attack on US soil because, well, it doesn't really matter. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I actually found myself skimming portions that dragged on - very rare for me.
Nothing very inventive in the plot, two interesting new characters who were a little too inconsistent in their behavior. Well, you get the picture. I recommend earlier Tom Wood's books and will read at least one more because I expect that the next will be more like previous stories.
The End
This story began with an attempt on the life of our hero, Victor the assassin. He, of course, evaded it through means that were slightly beyond credible - okkay, way beyond credible! One thing led to another and Victor found himself trying to avert a massive terrorist attack on US soil because, well, it doesn't really matter. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I actually found myself skimming portions that dragged on - very rare for me.
Nothing very inventive in the plot, two interesting new characters who were a little too inconsistent in their behavior. Well, you get the picture. I recommend earlier Tom Wood's books and will read at least one more because I expect that the next will be more like previous stories.
The End
September 7, 2023
Book Review - The Darkest Day - Tom Wood
Author Tom Wood’s “The Darkest Day” might be one of the best Victor the Assassin books in the series. It may not have as much action as some of the others in the series but there is a lot of tactical planning and life or death strategizing that captures the reader’s mind. Don't get me wrong, Victor does his assassin thing - constantly on alert, paying extreme attention to details - in this action suspense thriller but this story really focused on his intellect and how well he works through difficult life and death situations. The story is a good one and works well as a stand alone but is better as part of the series. Victor is now doing contract work for the CIA as an independent contractor. He's sent on a job but is ambushed by another assassin that is trying to kill him. Neither of them complete their assignments but Victor is determined to eliminate the female assassin known as Raven before she can come after him again. There are many twists and turns and superb dialogue between the two and they eventually become allies to go after who hired Raven to kill Victor and ‘why’?! By the time I finished this book, I needed more blood pressure medication! The word “Wow” does not do this story justice. Tom Wood wrote ‘another’ “hell-of-a-story” Victor book. Definitely a ‘must-read’!
Author Tom Wood’s “The Darkest Day” might be one of the best Victor the Assassin books in the series. It may not have as much action as some of the others in the series but there is a lot of tactical planning and life or death strategizing that captures the reader’s mind. Don't get me wrong, Victor does his assassin thing - constantly on alert, paying extreme attention to details - in this action suspense thriller but this story really focused on his intellect and how well he works through difficult life and death situations. The story is a good one and works well as a stand alone but is better as part of the series. Victor is now doing contract work for the CIA as an independent contractor. He's sent on a job but is ambushed by another assassin that is trying to kill him. Neither of them complete their assignments but Victor is determined to eliminate the female assassin known as Raven before she can come after him again. There are many twists and turns and superb dialogue between the two and they eventually become allies to go after who hired Raven to kill Victor and ‘why’?! By the time I finished this book, I needed more blood pressure medication! The word “Wow” does not do this story justice. Tom Wood wrote ‘another’ “hell-of-a-story” Victor book. Definitely a ‘must-read’!
June 3, 2016
This is the first book in a long while where I have fall in love again with the espionage/assassin story. I used to read a lot of these types of books up there with my mysteries. This book was so easy to read that it was a pleasure and not a chore. So having said this, this is also my first time reading a book in this series.
Victor had a coolness about him kind of like James Bond. Which I found appealing. He is also very intelligent, even if there was a time or two where I thought that Raven or the other guys had gotten the drop on him. Yet it was all part of the plan and Victor scoping out the situation. Speaking of Raven, I was drawn to her as a strong female heroine. She and Victor brought it just as well as they could take it toe to toe. The ending was not what I saw coming. I hope that Raven makes good on her promise and I see her again at some point in another book in this series. I plan to check out the prior novels in this series as well as keep my eyes out for the next one. There was no dark day when I was reading this book.
Victor had a coolness about him kind of like James Bond. Which I found appealing. He is also very intelligent, even if there was a time or two where I thought that Raven or the other guys had gotten the drop on him. Yet it was all part of the plan and Victor scoping out the situation. Speaking of Raven, I was drawn to her as a strong female heroine. She and Victor brought it just as well as they could take it toe to toe. The ending was not what I saw coming. I hope that Raven makes good on her promise and I see her again at some point in another book in this series. I plan to check out the prior novels in this series as well as keep my eyes out for the next one. There was no dark day when I was reading this book.
May 3, 2015
Could not put it down brilliant read up there with the best
October 12, 2019
Lured into an ambush, Victor finds himself targeted by another professional killer just as good as he is. While he just about manages to get away from her, he has no intention of allowing the possibility that she might come after him again. His search for answers to the most pertinent questions - Who is she? How did she find him? Who sent her? - takes him to New York, where he unwittingly becomes a central part of a conspiracy - and to stop it, he has little choice but to forge an uneasy temporary truce with the woman he came to kill.
While a solid, entertaining read, this one wasn't quite up to the standard set by the previous books IMO - less running and chasing and a little more actual plot would have been nice.
While a solid, entertaining read, this one wasn't quite up to the standard set by the previous books IMO - less running and chasing and a little more actual plot would have been nice.
December 3, 2015
‘The Darkest Day’ is the third thriller by Tom Wood and featuring ‘Victor the Assassin’ that I have read, having previously tackled The Hunter and The Enemy, volumes one and two in the series respectively.
Having now become familiar once again with Victor and his adventures and with Wood’s style of writing I remember clearly the reasons why I never picked up volumes 3 (The Game) or 4 (Better Off Dead). Primary amongst these is the central character of Victor himself.
To put it simply I don’t like him. Not that he’s meant be ‘likeable’ in the usual sense. Victor is an anti-hero with the stress on the ‘anti’; an unrepentant, cold blooded assassin who does not do redemptive story-arcs where he atones for his previous crimes through the love of a good woman or is looking to leave the world he inhabits only to be reluctantly pulled back in. Victor know what he is, accepts it and doesn’t look to change.
Unfortunately what he is, in addition to being an exceptional assassin, is a very dull central character. Not only is he unsympathetic, which is excusable considering his nature and chosen profession, he also lacks the charisma that is vital to keep you interested in the fate of such a fundamentally dislikeable individual. Being a ruthless and efficient killer are not by themselves sufficient to make someone interesting or compelling enough to carry a whole novel, and The Darkest Day demonstrates this clearly.
If there was some sort of development of Victor’s character as the story unfolded, if he seemed to learn from his experiences or modified his behaviour as a result of what occurs it might have made the character more interesting. In the event however, Wood seems to be emulating Lee Child’s Jack Reacher by creating a central, recurring character who remain unchanging throughout multiple novels. Having read three featuring Victor it’s obvious that the character will remain almost obstinately resistant to growth or development. However, whereas Reacher is both a sympathetic force for good and, at least in Child’s early novels, a charismatic presence, Victor is neither of these so his rigidity and consistency become his sole defining traits, and they simply aren’t enough.
In the absence of a relatable central character the rest of the novel needs to be on top form. Unfortunately, The Darkest Day is a flabby, unfocused affair. Wood remains a good writer of physical action but whereas both The Hunter and the Enemy were precise, lean thrillers that unfolded with Swiss watch-like precision this latest effort meanders and is laden down with lengthy passages of exposition that seem to describe Victor’s every single thought and action in excessive detail. Wood needs to learn that ‘show’ is always preferable to ‘tell’ in these cases.
He also needed his editor to be more ruthless during what becomes an interminable foot and car chase through New York during the book’s second half. Whilst the Wood’s is good at portraying combat, both armed and unarmed, he struggles to maintain excitement during the seemingly endless pursuit of Victor. Such scenes work well on the screen but are difficult to pull off in on the page in anything other than small doses, and Wood doesn’t succeed here. By the end of the sequence I was skipping paragraphs and pages just to get past it.
The book’s only real saving grace, beyond some solid fight scenes, in the inclusion of the female assassin Raven. She is everything Victor is not; charismatic, witty and sympathetic, as well as being his equal when it comes to professional skills. She enlivens the book when present on the page and without her it would be even more of a slog to get through. Unfortunately her undoubted appeal also serves to draw more attention to Victor’s comparative failing’s as a lead character. When your central character is being outshone by a supporting cast member you really have a problem.
I was fortunate to be offered the chance to try The Darkest Night for free by NetGalley in exchange for this review. Nothing about the experience has radically changed my opinion of Victor the Assassin, the series of books or Wood as an author and I will not be picking up the next volume when its published or going back to read those I have missed.
Having now become familiar once again with Victor and his adventures and with Wood’s style of writing I remember clearly the reasons why I never picked up volumes 3 (The Game) or 4 (Better Off Dead). Primary amongst these is the central character of Victor himself.
To put it simply I don’t like him. Not that he’s meant be ‘likeable’ in the usual sense. Victor is an anti-hero with the stress on the ‘anti’; an unrepentant, cold blooded assassin who does not do redemptive story-arcs where he atones for his previous crimes through the love of a good woman or is looking to leave the world he inhabits only to be reluctantly pulled back in. Victor know what he is, accepts it and doesn’t look to change.
Unfortunately what he is, in addition to being an exceptional assassin, is a very dull central character. Not only is he unsympathetic, which is excusable considering his nature and chosen profession, he also lacks the charisma that is vital to keep you interested in the fate of such a fundamentally dislikeable individual. Being a ruthless and efficient killer are not by themselves sufficient to make someone interesting or compelling enough to carry a whole novel, and The Darkest Day demonstrates this clearly.
If there was some sort of development of Victor’s character as the story unfolded, if he seemed to learn from his experiences or modified his behaviour as a result of what occurs it might have made the character more interesting. In the event however, Wood seems to be emulating Lee Child’s Jack Reacher by creating a central, recurring character who remain unchanging throughout multiple novels. Having read three featuring Victor it’s obvious that the character will remain almost obstinately resistant to growth or development. However, whereas Reacher is both a sympathetic force for good and, at least in Child’s early novels, a charismatic presence, Victor is neither of these so his rigidity and consistency become his sole defining traits, and they simply aren’t enough.
In the absence of a relatable central character the rest of the novel needs to be on top form. Unfortunately, The Darkest Day is a flabby, unfocused affair. Wood remains a good writer of physical action but whereas both The Hunter and the Enemy were precise, lean thrillers that unfolded with Swiss watch-like precision this latest effort meanders and is laden down with lengthy passages of exposition that seem to describe Victor’s every single thought and action in excessive detail. Wood needs to learn that ‘show’ is always preferable to ‘tell’ in these cases.
He also needed his editor to be more ruthless during what becomes an interminable foot and car chase through New York during the book’s second half. Whilst the Wood’s is good at portraying combat, both armed and unarmed, he struggles to maintain excitement during the seemingly endless pursuit of Victor. Such scenes work well on the screen but are difficult to pull off in on the page in anything other than small doses, and Wood doesn’t succeed here. By the end of the sequence I was skipping paragraphs and pages just to get past it.
The book’s only real saving grace, beyond some solid fight scenes, in the inclusion of the female assassin Raven. She is everything Victor is not; charismatic, witty and sympathetic, as well as being his equal when it comes to professional skills. She enlivens the book when present on the page and without her it would be even more of a slog to get through. Unfortunately her undoubted appeal also serves to draw more attention to Victor’s comparative failing’s as a lead character. When your central character is being outshone by a supporting cast member you really have a problem.
I was fortunate to be offered the chance to try The Darkest Night for free by NetGalley in exchange for this review. Nothing about the experience has radically changed my opinion of Victor the Assassin, the series of books or Wood as an author and I will not be picking up the next volume when its published or going back to read those I have missed.
December 21, 2016
This book is a bit different than the others in this series in that Victor is working with a female accomplice that he actually doesn't trust - for that matter, Victor doesn't trust anyone and with good reason! We had met this female (Raven) in the previous book when she tried to kill Victor - so that really doesn't sit well with Victor at all. Victor has to find Raven first and although he gets some intel from the CIA he still has to rely on his own judgment.
The main thing I didn't like about the book was all the foot chases and car chases - just not believable enough. Victor is in New York City, suddenly there is a blackout - he has had to "dispose" of a Homeland Security officer who had just disposed of her partner. Victor is making his way to a rendezvous with Raven and it seems like every cop, CIA, etc. knows his every step/turn in a congested city like New York during a blackout. Just not fathomable. Maybe the author was looking for page fillers, not necessary in my opinion.
Anyways, the book is a thriller with some good investigative skills coming to light. An ending that could lead to the next book(s) or not.
2 thumbs up and 4 stars
The main thing I didn't like about the book was all the foot chases and car chases - just not believable enough. Victor is in New York City, suddenly there is a blackout - he has had to "dispose" of a Homeland Security officer who had just disposed of her partner. Victor is making his way to a rendezvous with Raven and it seems like every cop, CIA, etc. knows his every step/turn in a congested city like New York during a blackout. Just not fathomable. Maybe the author was looking for page fillers, not necessary in my opinion.
Anyways, the book is a thriller with some good investigative skills coming to light. An ending that could lead to the next book(s) or not.
2 thumbs up and 4 stars
December 30, 2015
While carrying out the hit on a terrorist financier Victor suddenly finds himself the
target of an assassin who is just as deadly as he is. He sets out to find this person and
he finds out that it is a girl named Raven and she is as dangerous as he is. Now if he wants to
stay alive he must find out who she really is and what she is after. Does she want him dead
or does someone else want them to kill each other. With the stakes growing higher by the
minute Raven and Victor must decide who is friend and who is foe before a deadly terrorist
plot threatens to consume them both. This is book five in the Victor The Assassin series
and once again Victor is killing everyone in sight. My kind of book so I had to give it a 5.
target of an assassin who is just as deadly as he is. He sets out to find this person and
he finds out that it is a girl named Raven and she is as dangerous as he is. Now if he wants to
stay alive he must find out who she really is and what she is after. Does she want him dead
or does someone else want them to kill each other. With the stakes growing higher by the
minute Raven and Victor must decide who is friend and who is foe before a deadly terrorist
plot threatens to consume them both. This is book five in the Victor The Assassin series
and once again Victor is killing everyone in sight. My kind of book so I had to give it a 5.
August 6, 2017
One of my favourite Victor the Assassin novels and loved the ending!
April 25, 2019
Good book- a little far into trying to get you to believe a few things but then again- this is fiction.
November 8, 2023
Good God, that ending was cold AF.
May 4, 2021
The Darkest Day is the 5th Victor the Assassin book by Tom Wood. While there are tiny details from other books – you really could listen to this one completely on its own. I don’t know why anyone would want to just jump in here… but hey – go wild!
The only issue with binging these books is that the reviews are feeling super repetitive. I love Wood’s writing. I love Victor as a character. I enjoy being totally immersed in the action scenes. I don’t enjoy being wrong when I think I’ve guessed where things are going and I’m surprised by what happens – but that’s a personality flaw and not derision of Wood’s writing.
This book differs from the others in that Victor finds himself begrudgingly teamed up with someone alarmingly like himself in skill and purpose. Which is definitely hard considering Victor doesn’t trust anyone, least of all Raven. Overall a lot of big-action antihero fun.
Narration:
Rob Shapiro continues to do a fantastic job. I honestly can’t imagine reading these to myself. All the accents, emotions – there’s no way I could do the writing justice. I’m drawn in and immersed from opening to end.
The only issue with binging these books is that the reviews are feeling super repetitive. I love Wood’s writing. I love Victor as a character. I enjoy being totally immersed in the action scenes. I don’t enjoy being wrong when I think I’ve guessed where things are going and I’m surprised by what happens – but that’s a personality flaw and not derision of Wood’s writing.
This book differs from the others in that Victor finds himself begrudgingly teamed up with someone alarmingly like himself in skill and purpose. Which is definitely hard considering Victor doesn’t trust anyone, least of all Raven. Overall a lot of big-action antihero fun.
Narration:
Rob Shapiro continues to do a fantastic job. I honestly can’t imagine reading these to myself. All the accents, emotions – there’s no way I could do the writing justice. I’m drawn in and immersed from opening to end.
June 30, 2022
Victor gets up to his usual shenanigans with killing in all sorts of inventive ways with all sorts of fun objects and hangs with a killer bunch of characters.
September 23, 2023
Ich mag die Reihe um Auftragskiller Victor wirklich sehr, aber dieser Teil war nichts. Gefühlt gab es keine Handlung und eine Verfolgungsjagd reihte sich an die nächste. Das war nichts für mich
November 25, 2015
Tom Wood has a considerable challenge with his assassin character “Victor”, firstly his “hero” kills people and secondly he has a minimal personality. Having said that, each book is gripping thrilling and very readable indeed. In this, Victor finds he has been targeted by a female assassin who is as skilled and cunning as her is and a game of cat and mouse ensues, culminating in a blacked out New York with everyone on his tail.
It’s clever on many levels, the introduction of a female protagonist and the setting of not only a power blackout but also a communications black-out. There is obviously a bigger picture and Victor is unsure if he is part of the solution or actually part of the problem, and for an assassin who doesn’t trust anyone it does look like he may need a little help to get out of this one.
The talent shown here is to make us root for a killer and that fine balance between having a character that is all about tradecraft and not personality yet making the reader emphasise. No mean feat and very well done in yet another excellent thriller from the very talented Mr Wood.
My thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.
It’s clever on many levels, the introduction of a female protagonist and the setting of not only a power blackout but also a communications black-out. There is obviously a bigger picture and Victor is unsure if he is part of the solution or actually part of the problem, and for an assassin who doesn’t trust anyone it does look like he may need a little help to get out of this one.
The talent shown here is to make us root for a killer and that fine balance between having a character that is all about tradecraft and not personality yet making the reader emphasise. No mean feat and very well done in yet another excellent thriller from the very talented Mr Wood.
My thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.
November 27, 2023
I will never get tired of reading Victor the Assassin series and this book was no exception. I loved the high-octane action and thrill of the chase. I especially loved the introduction of Raven, Victor's female counterpart and it's a match made in hell. She is even better than him if that is even possible but as always nothing goes as planned and no one is as they seem.
May 31, 2015
Victor the assassin
This is the fifth and best to date . The only problem with this series of books is that they don't come quick enough.A must read ,but better in chronological order to fully appreciate the charector
This is the fifth and best to date . The only problem with this series of books is that they don't come quick enough.A must read ,but better in chronological order to fully appreciate the charector
October 4, 2015
No storyline
80 percent chase scenes, 20 percent story. Very disappointing Tom Wood novel. I skipped offer one half of the book looking to read the story. Unless you are a chase scene fan, I would not recommend this book.
80 percent chase scenes, 20 percent story. Very disappointing Tom Wood novel. I skipped offer one half of the book looking to read the story. Unless you are a chase scene fan, I would not recommend this book.
April 28, 2015
Forget Bourne, I want to be Victor
Great book
Great book
January 13, 2016
So much action but not enough Storyline. It literally bored me as the action scenes were constant. Couldn't wait to finish it. Sadly, the worst in the series thus far.
November 14, 2015
DEAD IN A NEW YORK MINUTE
“Murder?”
“Employment.”- SKYFALL.
“Wait! I’m just a professional doing a job!”
“Me To.”- Tomorrow Never Dies.
New York. The original modern metropolis and the site of the most devastating terrorist attack in history. Since 9/11 the security infrastructure designed to eliminate the possibility of another mass casualty incident has developed rapidly. A major aspect of this is the NYPD Domain awareness system, a colossal network of CCTV cameras and sensors designed to pick up evidence of radiological and biological weapons. All very well and good, but there’s just one small problem. Power.
A good security network can be rendered useless for precious hours if the electricity supply is cut off…..say through a blackout of some kind. New York is no stranger to being turned off, having being hit the catastrophic Eastern Seaboard power outage of “03” which managed to cause multiple areas of critical infrastructure to fall to pieces. No power means congested roads from the lack of traffic lights, rail services powered by electricity become suddenly limited, hospitals struggle to power equipment important to intensive care, emergency services are stretched to the limit and that multimillion dollar surveillance network aimed at countering terrorism will most likely be blind for several hours until those operating it have prepared a contingency power source and got it ready. And that’s just for starters.
“The Darkest Day” by Tom Wood is a spy thriller which focuses on this scenario. The fifth book in Mr Wood’s ongoing series, the start of the show is a man named Victor. He’s an assassin. Once a freelance contract killer, the number two man at the CIA NCS managed to cultivate Victor as a deniable asset. Where the Special Activities Division isn’t allowed to go, Victor is sent in. With no pesky ethical considerations or Capitol Hill Bureaucrats to hold him back, he’s a different sort of beast from most characters in 21st century spy fiction. In Victor’s world, it’s just him, a target, a large sum of money from Langley and a well-placed bullet, bomb, knife or broken neck. A true anti-hero in other words, the devil who the angels send after the monsters that they are unable or unwilling to fight against.
Book 4 was a solid enough entry. However, after a successful and satisfying first three books, certain aspects of the story left me somewhat unsatisfied. In “The Darkest Day” however, the author has bounced back by taking his fifth novel in a somewhat interesting direction from a technical standpoint. This is shorter than his previous books, has fewer perspective transitions with more focus on Victor and for most of the book, takes place in one location for 12 hours. From what I’ve seen of the reviews, this is the book in the series which is either loathed or loved. I’m in the latter camp and believe Mr Wood is back on form with a story that I personally found more satisfying than the preceding entry. But enough of that. Now to the review. What happens when someone decides to turn off New York again?
The novel begins in beautiful Prague. Victor’s there on business. The target is a hedonistic Saudi Prince who when not indulging in vice and sin, does a roaring trade in sponsoring as many Islamic terrorist groups he can find. Due to the annoying political sensitivities and ramifications if it were to be found that CIA officers carried out the Prince’s killing, Langley instead dispatches their deniable asset to do the deed. After some preparation to prime the battlefield, Victor makes his move, but an unexpected ambush trashes his plans. Being properly prepared however he escapes through leveraging the high capacity magazine of his FN57 and creatively using a knife to bring the house down on the attacker.
Paying a visit to his interim handler (the actual one still recovered from a freak accident), Victor convinces her to arrange a meeting with the person who ordered the killing. Flying to Dublin they meet. We find out that the individual in question is a commander of the ISA, the US Special Forces’ in-house intelligence service and that the person who ambushed Victor was a former Activity operator designated “Raven” who one day went rogue and began disrupting several intelligence gathering efforts. Resolving to find fix and finish this threat, Victor begins his hunt. The trail leads him from the Dominican Republic to the rain swept streets of New York. But as he homes in on his target, suddenly the lights go out and once more New York is turned off. With events going from bad to worse and with death around every corner, Victor fights through the most important night in the history of New York against a foe who will do everything in its power to ensure the world’s best contract killer does not survive his darkest day on the job.
In terms of plot, The Darkest Day goes for a lean and mean approach. However, it hasn’t detracted from the usually outstanding quality of the author’s work, which are some of the most thrilling contemporary spy fiction I’ve had the genuine pleasure of reading. For starters the stakes are a lot higher than the previous novel. Instead of a criminally insane intelligence officer trying to save her own hide from a past transgression, in this book, we have an evil scheme executed by a highly competent adversary which if successful, would leave much of Manhattan Island uninhabitable for centuries.
Then we come to the settings and action. Taking a “cinematic” approach to writing, Mr Wood’s books feature extremely good pacing, which at times is much more superior compared to other books in the genre. There’s never a dull moment in the life of Victor the Assassin and “The Darkest Day” is no exception. As usual, the author takes us on a visceral, blood soaked journey through locations that are masterfully brought to life. From the opening gun battle through a Prague construction site to a frantic attempt to flee the authorities along the Hudson River, an epic car chase across Manhattan island and concluding with an assault on Floyd Bennett Field, a scene which ranks as one of the top thriller novel climaxes of the year.
Research? Good as usual. The environments are accurately brought to life for starters. However due to the running “lean and mean” approach, the hardware department is more bare bones. Some won’t like it, but others will be overjoyed because as proven in the past, too many technical details about the kit is like an anchor dragging on the seabed, grinding the pacing of the story to a halt. Being a deniable asset, Victor doesn’t have any fancy gadgets. Instead, like when Dracula sailed off to London, he enters New York with nothing and in the span of a few hours acquires a pretty potent arsenal. He goes through a Ruger MK3, SIG-Sauer P226, fillet knife and the pieced résistance, one .45ACP Heckler and Koch UMP submachinegun as he crosses New York City.
But what makes Victor truly dangerous is his unarmed combat training. The author in his off hours spends time learning Krav Maga. This knowledge gets transferred to Victor, who puts it to use in one of the standout scenes of the book, a brutal confrontation in a tiny apartment bathroom in the Bronx. You will never look at shower heads or shower curtain hangers in the same way after you complete that chapter.
Now for the characters. I’d say there are only two standouts. This is because due to the lack of character perspective transitions, one of the three main players did not get sufficient attention to be developed. Not that it matters considering he doesn’t survive the 12 hours Victor was in New York. So instead, we have Victor and the ISA operator Raven.
First Victor. After being thrown completely out of his comfort zone in book 4, here in “The Darkest Day”, he’s mostly back on top form. Deftly handling the crisis that ensures during this story, now that it’s only just himself he needs to take care of, rather than an obnoxious VIP, he’s once again free to do what he does best. Bring death to all who try to take him on. Still the enigmatic, snarking, brutally honest badass we all know and love, in this book, Victor takes on his largest target yet, an enemy which outnumbers him 20-1. Not that the odds have ever been an issue with tricky Vic who over the course of the book methodically tears his way through them. We also continue to get little glimpses into what makes Victor tick, namely an implied reason why he paid the price to live the life he’s chosen (which may or may not be explored in the sequel). But unlike other contemporary spy fiction characters, the fun thing about Victor is that only the present and the future matter. The past is ultimately irrelevant when it comes to him. No ponderous backstory. Instead, over the past four books, the author has given us many little snippets about what makes him tick. It allows you to make up your own theories about who the hell he actually is. I know I have and I hope the author doesn’t ruin the fun by revealing Victor’s life story. It would completely destroy the shadowy aura that has been built up around the killer. One of the things which defines Victor is that he is more of a force of nature than mere flesh and bones and I’d like him to be kept that way. Next, we have Raven. Just as enigmatic as Victor, for most of the story, the rogue ISA operator is the wild card of the piece, an individual with an agenda that has been distorted beyond recognition. Raven serves as an excellent foil to Victor. The character masks a hidden ruthlessness under good cheer and a livelier sense of humour compared to Victor’s laconic passive aggressive act. However in the limited time we get to see the character in action, Raven impresses with excellent combat abilities that are put to use in the climax. I’m sure Mr Wood will find a way to let her make more appearances in the near future. She deserves it.
Now for two minor quibbles. Firstly, in one of the shootouts, a bullet’s speed was referred to as miles per hour. I believe the correct term is “feet per second”. Secondly, there was a small scene involving car theft and shoe laces which strained my suspension of disbelief a little. However, those were the only two problems I have with the book and the rest I found superb.
Overall, “The Darkest Day” is a splendid spy fiction novel and a return to form for one of the few, true anti-heroes left in the genre. Tom Wood has successfully established himself as one of the best British thriller novelists writing today. His fifth book is a prime example of how his skill as a writer has matured and developed. While creating a unique scenario with proper challenges for the dangerously savvy Victor, he’s preserved the ruthless cynicism, plotting, character interaction and topped up with just the right amount of research that have made the previous four books renowned. Book 6 beckons for the man whose business is to pull triggers, and wherever Victor’s going, I’m sure business will be booming.
VERY RECOMMENDED.
“Murder?”
“Employment.”- SKYFALL.
“Wait! I’m just a professional doing a job!”
“Me To.”- Tomorrow Never Dies.
New York. The original modern metropolis and the site of the most devastating terrorist attack in history. Since 9/11 the security infrastructure designed to eliminate the possibility of another mass casualty incident has developed rapidly. A major aspect of this is the NYPD Domain awareness system, a colossal network of CCTV cameras and sensors designed to pick up evidence of radiological and biological weapons. All very well and good, but there’s just one small problem. Power.
A good security network can be rendered useless for precious hours if the electricity supply is cut off…..say through a blackout of some kind. New York is no stranger to being turned off, having being hit the catastrophic Eastern Seaboard power outage of “03” which managed to cause multiple areas of critical infrastructure to fall to pieces. No power means congested roads from the lack of traffic lights, rail services powered by electricity become suddenly limited, hospitals struggle to power equipment important to intensive care, emergency services are stretched to the limit and that multimillion dollar surveillance network aimed at countering terrorism will most likely be blind for several hours until those operating it have prepared a contingency power source and got it ready. And that’s just for starters.
“The Darkest Day” by Tom Wood is a spy thriller which focuses on this scenario. The fifth book in Mr Wood’s ongoing series, the start of the show is a man named Victor. He’s an assassin. Once a freelance contract killer, the number two man at the CIA NCS managed to cultivate Victor as a deniable asset. Where the Special Activities Division isn’t allowed to go, Victor is sent in. With no pesky ethical considerations or Capitol Hill Bureaucrats to hold him back, he’s a different sort of beast from most characters in 21st century spy fiction. In Victor’s world, it’s just him, a target, a large sum of money from Langley and a well-placed bullet, bomb, knife or broken neck. A true anti-hero in other words, the devil who the angels send after the monsters that they are unable or unwilling to fight against.
Book 4 was a solid enough entry. However, after a successful and satisfying first three books, certain aspects of the story left me somewhat unsatisfied. In “The Darkest Day” however, the author has bounced back by taking his fifth novel in a somewhat interesting direction from a technical standpoint. This is shorter than his previous books, has fewer perspective transitions with more focus on Victor and for most of the book, takes place in one location for 12 hours. From what I’ve seen of the reviews, this is the book in the series which is either loathed or loved. I’m in the latter camp and believe Mr Wood is back on form with a story that I personally found more satisfying than the preceding entry. But enough of that. Now to the review. What happens when someone decides to turn off New York again?
The novel begins in beautiful Prague. Victor’s there on business. The target is a hedonistic Saudi Prince who when not indulging in vice and sin, does a roaring trade in sponsoring as many Islamic terrorist groups he can find. Due to the annoying political sensitivities and ramifications if it were to be found that CIA officers carried out the Prince’s killing, Langley instead dispatches their deniable asset to do the deed. After some preparation to prime the battlefield, Victor makes his move, but an unexpected ambush trashes his plans. Being properly prepared however he escapes through leveraging the high capacity magazine of his FN57 and creatively using a knife to bring the house down on the attacker.
Paying a visit to his interim handler (the actual one still recovered from a freak accident), Victor convinces her to arrange a meeting with the person who ordered the killing. Flying to Dublin they meet. We find out that the individual in question is a commander of the ISA, the US Special Forces’ in-house intelligence service and that the person who ambushed Victor was a former Activity operator designated “Raven” who one day went rogue and began disrupting several intelligence gathering efforts. Resolving to find fix and finish this threat, Victor begins his hunt. The trail leads him from the Dominican Republic to the rain swept streets of New York. But as he homes in on his target, suddenly the lights go out and once more New York is turned off. With events going from bad to worse and with death around every corner, Victor fights through the most important night in the history of New York against a foe who will do everything in its power to ensure the world’s best contract killer does not survive his darkest day on the job.
In terms of plot, The Darkest Day goes for a lean and mean approach. However, it hasn’t detracted from the usually outstanding quality of the author’s work, which are some of the most thrilling contemporary spy fiction I’ve had the genuine pleasure of reading. For starters the stakes are a lot higher than the previous novel. Instead of a criminally insane intelligence officer trying to save her own hide from a past transgression, in this book, we have an evil scheme executed by a highly competent adversary which if successful, would leave much of Manhattan Island uninhabitable for centuries.
Then we come to the settings and action. Taking a “cinematic” approach to writing, Mr Wood’s books feature extremely good pacing, which at times is much more superior compared to other books in the genre. There’s never a dull moment in the life of Victor the Assassin and “The Darkest Day” is no exception. As usual, the author takes us on a visceral, blood soaked journey through locations that are masterfully brought to life. From the opening gun battle through a Prague construction site to a frantic attempt to flee the authorities along the Hudson River, an epic car chase across Manhattan island and concluding with an assault on Floyd Bennett Field, a scene which ranks as one of the top thriller novel climaxes of the year.
Research? Good as usual. The environments are accurately brought to life for starters. However due to the running “lean and mean” approach, the hardware department is more bare bones. Some won’t like it, but others will be overjoyed because as proven in the past, too many technical details about the kit is like an anchor dragging on the seabed, grinding the pacing of the story to a halt. Being a deniable asset, Victor doesn’t have any fancy gadgets. Instead, like when Dracula sailed off to London, he enters New York with nothing and in the span of a few hours acquires a pretty potent arsenal. He goes through a Ruger MK3, SIG-Sauer P226, fillet knife and the pieced résistance, one .45ACP Heckler and Koch UMP submachinegun as he crosses New York City.
But what makes Victor truly dangerous is his unarmed combat training. The author in his off hours spends time learning Krav Maga. This knowledge gets transferred to Victor, who puts it to use in one of the standout scenes of the book, a brutal confrontation in a tiny apartment bathroom in the Bronx. You will never look at shower heads or shower curtain hangers in the same way after you complete that chapter.
Now for the characters. I’d say there are only two standouts. This is because due to the lack of character perspective transitions, one of the three main players did not get sufficient attention to be developed. Not that it matters considering he doesn’t survive the 12 hours Victor was in New York. So instead, we have Victor and the ISA operator Raven.
First Victor. After being thrown completely out of his comfort zone in book 4, here in “The Darkest Day”, he’s mostly back on top form. Deftly handling the crisis that ensures during this story, now that it’s only just himself he needs to take care of, rather than an obnoxious VIP, he’s once again free to do what he does best. Bring death to all who try to take him on. Still the enigmatic, snarking, brutally honest badass we all know and love, in this book, Victor takes on his largest target yet, an enemy which outnumbers him 20-1. Not that the odds have ever been an issue with tricky Vic who over the course of the book methodically tears his way through them. We also continue to get little glimpses into what makes Victor tick, namely an implied reason why he paid the price to live the life he’s chosen (which may or may not be explored in the sequel). But unlike other contemporary spy fiction characters, the fun thing about Victor is that only the present and the future matter. The past is ultimately irrelevant when it comes to him. No ponderous backstory. Instead, over the past four books, the author has given us many little snippets about what makes him tick. It allows you to make up your own theories about who the hell he actually is. I know I have and I hope the author doesn’t ruin the fun by revealing Victor’s life story. It would completely destroy the shadowy aura that has been built up around the killer. One of the things which defines Victor is that he is more of a force of nature than mere flesh and bones and I’d like him to be kept that way. Next, we have Raven. Just as enigmatic as Victor, for most of the story, the rogue ISA operator is the wild card of the piece, an individual with an agenda that has been distorted beyond recognition. Raven serves as an excellent foil to Victor. The character masks a hidden ruthlessness under good cheer and a livelier sense of humour compared to Victor’s laconic passive aggressive act. However in the limited time we get to see the character in action, Raven impresses with excellent combat abilities that are put to use in the climax. I’m sure Mr Wood will find a way to let her make more appearances in the near future. She deserves it.
Now for two minor quibbles. Firstly, in one of the shootouts, a bullet’s speed was referred to as miles per hour. I believe the correct term is “feet per second”. Secondly, there was a small scene involving car theft and shoe laces which strained my suspension of disbelief a little. However, those were the only two problems I have with the book and the rest I found superb.
Overall, “The Darkest Day” is a splendid spy fiction novel and a return to form for one of the few, true anti-heroes left in the genre. Tom Wood has successfully established himself as one of the best British thriller novelists writing today. His fifth book is a prime example of how his skill as a writer has matured and developed. While creating a unique scenario with proper challenges for the dangerously savvy Victor, he’s preserved the ruthless cynicism, plotting, character interaction and topped up with just the right amount of research that have made the previous four books renowned. Book 6 beckons for the man whose business is to pull triggers, and wherever Victor’s going, I’m sure business will be booming.
VERY RECOMMENDED.
November 4, 2015
Mediocre, not up to the rest of the series. Very disappointed.
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