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Time Assassins #1
Time Assassins
Can a rogue agent be stopped before he kills his next victim, the President of the United States? Only time will tell…
History has always been written by the victor. But in the shadows, history has been manipulated by an ancient Guild of Assassins.
Rick Brewer, Assassin’s Apprentice, is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. He escapes to a distant past and, stranded in time, seeks revenge against the Guild by creating instability in the time-line by choosing powerful targets—The Presidents of the United States.
Reginald Mayweather is a ruthless business tycoon and not one to accept no as an answer. When a business prospect fails and costs him billions, he demands the Assassin’s Guild eradicate the competition by killing his competitor’s ancestors. If successful, it could prove disastrous to the time-line on a global scale.
Jason Lassiter joined the Assassin’s Guild because he wanted to experience history first hand. Little did he know that his future, and the future of the Guild, would rest in his hands.
History has always been written by the victor. But in the shadows, history has been manipulated by an ancient Guild of Assassins.
Rick Brewer, Assassin’s Apprentice, is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. He escapes to a distant past and, stranded in time, seeks revenge against the Guild by creating instability in the time-line by choosing powerful targets—The Presidents of the United States.
Reginald Mayweather is a ruthless business tycoon and not one to accept no as an answer. When a business prospect fails and costs him billions, he demands the Assassin’s Guild eradicate the competition by killing his competitor’s ancestors. If successful, it could prove disastrous to the time-line on a global scale.
Jason Lassiter joined the Assassin’s Guild because he wanted to experience history first hand. Little did he know that his future, and the future of the Guild, would rest in his hands.
223 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2012
10 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
R. Kyle Hannah
18 books24 followersWith a face for radio and a voice for silent movies, writing was his only recourse.
Award Winning Author R. Kyle Hannah is a self-professed geek and lover of all things sci-fi. He began writing in high school as an outlet for an overactive imagination. Those humble beginnings, combined with real life experiences from a 29-year career in the Army, have spawned a half-dozen full-length adventures and a handful of short stories.
“Reminiscent of Arthur C. Clark” is how Writer’s Digest describes his first novel, To Aid and Protect.
His TIME ASSASSINS Trilogy (Time Assassins, Assassin’s Gambit, & Assassin’s End) has met great praise from authors and readers alike. The series is a time travel adventure that chronicles futuristic assassins who travel back in time and rewrite alternate timelines into our history. The trilogy features a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winner and an amazon Best Seller.
His next two-book series (The Tri-System Authority - The Jake Cutter Conspiracy, and The Tri-System Authority - The Reign of Terra) is slated for release in 2018.
Kyle has several other projects in the works, including Harvest Day, Atlantis Falling, and a screenplay adaptation of his first novel, To Aid and Protect.
He is married, with two children, and lives in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama.
He has many convention appearances scheduled throughout the year. You can find his schedule on his website: www.rkylehannah.com.
You can find him:
On FACEBOOK at www.facebook.com/rkylehannahwriter
On Twitter @rkhannah
On Instagram rkylehannah
On the web at www.rkylehannah.com
Award Winning Author R. Kyle Hannah is a self-professed geek and lover of all things sci-fi. He began writing in high school as an outlet for an overactive imagination. Those humble beginnings, combined with real life experiences from a 29-year career in the Army, have spawned a half-dozen full-length adventures and a handful of short stories.
“Reminiscent of Arthur C. Clark” is how Writer’s Digest describes his first novel, To Aid and Protect.
His TIME ASSASSINS Trilogy (Time Assassins, Assassin’s Gambit, & Assassin’s End) has met great praise from authors and readers alike. The series is a time travel adventure that chronicles futuristic assassins who travel back in time and rewrite alternate timelines into our history. The trilogy features a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winner and an amazon Best Seller.
His next two-book series (The Tri-System Authority - The Jake Cutter Conspiracy, and The Tri-System Authority - The Reign of Terra) is slated for release in 2018.
Kyle has several other projects in the works, including Harvest Day, Atlantis Falling, and a screenplay adaptation of his first novel, To Aid and Protect.
He is married, with two children, and lives in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama.
He has many convention appearances scheduled throughout the year. You can find his schedule on his website: www.rkylehannah.com.
You can find him:
On FACEBOOK at www.facebook.com/rkylehannahwriter
On Twitter @rkhannah
On Instagram rkylehannah
On the web at www.rkylehannah.com
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 24, 2016
Imagine a place where history and all its alternates are carefully classified, quantified, measured and stored as the present day heads forward to its planned reward. Imagine the soldiers for time who work to keep history pure. Imagine the historian, eager to pay any price to experience the past. Then add greed, politics, duplicity, and the death sentence. The result is Time Assassins by R Kyle Hannah – kind of a modern-day novel of time-traveling Batmans.
Time Assassins is based on a seriously cool premise, nicely thought through, taking readers from recent history to the gallows of French revolution (but not the iconic guillotine, which surprised me). Its characters travel through Europe and America, but this is the time of America’s rising, and the story is very centered on the States. Presidents are murdered, grassy knolls are referenced, and soon there’s just that tiny twist that could change everything.
I enjoyed how the author dealt with alternate histories and their ramifications. Sometimes the characters’ oversimplified emotions annoyed me, but that doesn’t alter the fact that Time Assassins is a cool read based on a fascinating, well-imagined premise, and I’d love to read what happens next.
Disclosure: I won a copy on a blog and I offer my honest review.
Time Assassins is based on a seriously cool premise, nicely thought through, taking readers from recent history to the gallows of French revolution (but not the iconic guillotine, which surprised me). Its characters travel through Europe and America, but this is the time of America’s rising, and the story is very centered on the States. Presidents are murdered, grassy knolls are referenced, and soon there’s just that tiny twist that could change everything.
I enjoyed how the author dealt with alternate histories and their ramifications. Sometimes the characters’ oversimplified emotions annoyed me, but that doesn’t alter the fact that Time Assassins is a cool read based on a fascinating, well-imagined premise, and I’d love to read what happens next.
Disclosure: I won a copy on a blog and I offer my honest review.
December 23, 2012
Time Assassins by Kyle Hannah was such an interesting read! The amount of research he had to do to get the historical events mentioned in the book (like the JFK assassination, the MLK, Jr assassination, the attempted and successful assassination of Lincoln, to name a few) must have been painstaking. I love history and this book was right up my ally! It isn’t a dry recounting of events past but instead a believable, fictional tale of a group in the future called the Guild. The Guild sends teams to the past to ensure certain events occur that will create an optimal future. Hannah includes espionage, betrayal, and greed within the pages of Time Assassins.
I was very impressed with the detail in which he portrayed the education of Apprentices during their training to become Assassins. Additionally, one would think Assassins to be cold and calculating, maybe even isolationists. Not so in this book. I was able to feel the emotions from Apprentice 101 and was relieved there was emotional depth in many of the characters.
If you like your history with a mixed with a little fiction, Kyle Hannah’s Time Assassins is definitely the book for you.
I was very impressed with the detail in which he portrayed the education of Apprentices during their training to become Assassins. Additionally, one would think Assassins to be cold and calculating, maybe even isolationists. Not so in this book. I was able to feel the emotions from Apprentice 101 and was relieved there was emotional depth in many of the characters.
If you like your history with a mixed with a little fiction, Kyle Hannah’s Time Assassins is definitely the book for you.
May 6, 2013
Time Assassins
by R Kyle Hannah
During the late 80s and early 90s there were two television series that I found I enjoyed a lot. Quantum Leap where scientist Sam Beckett keeps getting bounced around in time to correct things that have gone off track and Time Trax which followed a time cop name Darien Lambert around as he retrieved criminals who had escaped into the past to make their fortunes or just plain act psychotic.
Time Assassins goes about the timeline business from a darker angle and also seems to delve into the type of storytelling prevalent in the Watchmen. An assassins guild in the twenty-third century takes in applicants much like the old Shaolin Monks did in the Kung Fu series with David Caradine. The apprentices, if accepted, progress through years of study to become assassins or support staff that travel through time to tweak history by removing pivotal decision makers.
This describes the environment that the reader finds themselves coming to terms with as drama and action unfold. There is romance, rogue operators, a secretive council that is answerable to no one entity and a very rich man who feels the world is his to do with as he pleases.
I enjoyed this excellent adventure which spans a large chunk of history and explore many might have-beens. This would be a good book for age thirteen and up.
http://www.amazon.com/Time-Assassins-...
by R Kyle Hannah
During the late 80s and early 90s there were two television series that I found I enjoyed a lot. Quantum Leap where scientist Sam Beckett keeps getting bounced around in time to correct things that have gone off track and Time Trax which followed a time cop name Darien Lambert around as he retrieved criminals who had escaped into the past to make their fortunes or just plain act psychotic.
Time Assassins goes about the timeline business from a darker angle and also seems to delve into the type of storytelling prevalent in the Watchmen. An assassins guild in the twenty-third century takes in applicants much like the old Shaolin Monks did in the Kung Fu series with David Caradine. The apprentices, if accepted, progress through years of study to become assassins or support staff that travel through time to tweak history by removing pivotal decision makers.
This describes the environment that the reader finds themselves coming to terms with as drama and action unfold. There is romance, rogue operators, a secretive council that is answerable to no one entity and a very rich man who feels the world is his to do with as he pleases.
I enjoyed this excellent adventure which spans a large chunk of history and explore many might have-beens. This would be a good book for age thirteen and up.
http://www.amazon.com/Time-Assassins-...
December 16, 2012
An original take on time-travel, Time Assassins skirts the fine line between a brief digest of historic events and an action movie. A guild of trained assassins is manipulating history to the benefit of mankind (mostly). Things don’t always go to plan, and there are secrets that mustn’t be revealed. Rick Brewer, an apprentice with special abilities escapes a reality where he is sentenced to death, travels back in time and amuses himself over several centuries by first attending and then attempting to change certain events in world history.
I have to say at this point: hat off to the author for what must have been a backbreaking amount of research. Every event – a tiny portion of the book in itself – was detailed, vividly described, presented as history has it, explained and originally ‘tweaked’ until it fitted perfectly. I can’t even begin to imagine trying to keep hold of so many loose strands and getting them all to make sense in the end.
So, objectively, here’s the crux. Descriptions – very good. You’ll get the picture, whether in a German bunker, Islamabad, the Smithsonian or Boston Commons. Plot – intricate. I did lose myself in the twists once or twice and had to back-track, but all makes sense in the end. To be honest, I thought this book could have easily filled two or three, with the amount of information in it, and maybe that would have been easier to follow. As it is, you won’t get to catch your breath. The action is continuous. And just as I thought the author missed the obvious solution to the corrupt businessman problem, he served it up as the very satisfying conclusion.
Characterization – good enough. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the way the characters come across, I could not work out which one was the protagonist and I could not get close to them. I didn’t read the blurb, but dove straight into the story, so I had no idea Rick Brewer was of major importance. It might as easily been Donovan, or Apprentice 101 or 97 or both, as the relationship between them develops, but leads nowhere certain, or it could even have been Mayweather and his corrupt business associates.
All in all, Time Assassins was a thoroughly enjoyable read, a rollercoaster ride, unexpected, dizzying and imaginative. If you like action, you’ll love this book. If you like a different approach on time travel, you’ll love it. If you like originality, you’ll love it. It’s definitely one of the best. 4.5 to 5 stars.
I have to say at this point: hat off to the author for what must have been a backbreaking amount of research. Every event – a tiny portion of the book in itself – was detailed, vividly described, presented as history has it, explained and originally ‘tweaked’ until it fitted perfectly. I can’t even begin to imagine trying to keep hold of so many loose strands and getting them all to make sense in the end.
So, objectively, here’s the crux. Descriptions – very good. You’ll get the picture, whether in a German bunker, Islamabad, the Smithsonian or Boston Commons. Plot – intricate. I did lose myself in the twists once or twice and had to back-track, but all makes sense in the end. To be honest, I thought this book could have easily filled two or three, with the amount of information in it, and maybe that would have been easier to follow. As it is, you won’t get to catch your breath. The action is continuous. And just as I thought the author missed the obvious solution to the corrupt businessman problem, he served it up as the very satisfying conclusion.
Characterization – good enough. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the way the characters come across, I could not work out which one was the protagonist and I could not get close to them. I didn’t read the blurb, but dove straight into the story, so I had no idea Rick Brewer was of major importance. It might as easily been Donovan, or Apprentice 101 or 97 or both, as the relationship between them develops, but leads nowhere certain, or it could even have been Mayweather and his corrupt business associates.
All in all, Time Assassins was a thoroughly enjoyable read, a rollercoaster ride, unexpected, dizzying and imaginative. If you like action, you’ll love this book. If you like a different approach on time travel, you’ll love it. If you like originality, you’ll love it. It’s definitely one of the best. 4.5 to 5 stars.
July 22, 2014
Politics. Betrayal. Assassination.
The covert agents of Time Assassins bring an authentic military feel to this deadly trek through history. R. Kyle Hannah expertly weaves actual events into a clandestine journey through the past and just when you think you have the plot in your crosshairs, you discover that the adventure has only just begun.
Even though it is an action-oriented storyline, it is also a thought-provoking novel. What might have been had some of history’s most powerful individuals survived assassination? How might the world be different had other influential people actually been killed? Time Assassins answers some of these questions in a style that rivals anything Jason Bourne could bring to the battlefield.
Jason Woodham (Author)
Blaze: A Superhero Origin Story
The covert agents of Time Assassins bring an authentic military feel to this deadly trek through history. R. Kyle Hannah expertly weaves actual events into a clandestine journey through the past and just when you think you have the plot in your crosshairs, you discover that the adventure has only just begun.
Even though it is an action-oriented storyline, it is also a thought-provoking novel. What might have been had some of history’s most powerful individuals survived assassination? How might the world be different had other influential people actually been killed? Time Assassins answers some of these questions in a style that rivals anything Jason Bourne could bring to the battlefield.
Jason Woodham (Author)
Blaze: A Superhero Origin Story
October 14, 2014
Time Assassins by R. Kyle Hannah is simply a great read! If you’re a student of history and a fan of science fiction, you’ll love this, it’s a clever blend of both. Action packed, with tons of suspense, well-written characters (as well as historical figures) and plot twists, Time Assassins will keep you guessing until the end. It puts you right on the front lines of several major historical events over the last century, and makes you wonder about how things could have been changed. It’s very intricately-woven, and paced. I highly recommend readers of fiction to check this out!
Brian Weimer (author of Nexus)
Brian Weimer (author of Nexus)
September 8, 2014
Science Fiction done right! I enjoyed Kyle Hannah's Time Assassins very much. This novel is set in the future and time travel is possible. The Guild goes back into time to perform assassinations which provide benefits or save lives to future generations. This book was very well researched. Every Presidential assassination is revisited and the author makes you feel like you are witnessing it happening! The author attended our book club discussion. It was a pleasure meeting him. He answered our questions and gave us insights into how he came up with the concept for this book and discussed some things in the next one!!
November 22, 2017
This was a fantastic story, with a great narration. It's a compelling story of assassins who travel through time to prevent bad things from happening in our history. The author does a brilliant job with historical accuracy, some events I didn't know about and were intriguing enough for me to want to do further research. The concept of the story is, there is one rouge assassin apprentice to goes back into time and messes with the timeline, and they have to catch the person before they mess up too much. It seems to focus a lot on assassinations of presidents for this book. I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of the series, and am waiting for the rest to come out in audio.
September 6, 2014
I enjoyed the brief history lessons woven but the twists to actual history kept me engaged and anxious to finish the book. The book spurred me to imagine an entire universe existing on another planet like a mirror of what we know here on earth. However over dinner with the author we learned his intent was for the reader to imagine the possibilities so he said he didn't have a real or imagined place in mind but was inspired from thoughts of temples, pagodas. etc. Thanks to Mr. Hannah for inspiring our imagination.
May 25, 2014
This is definitely one of the best time travel books I have ever read!! It was exciting, beautifully intricate, had an extremely impressive amount of historical research done (which was seamlessly incorporated) and all woven together with exceptional writing. How Hannah kept it all together and made it seem easy was a thing of beauty and absolute genius. A must read for all Time Travel junkies and anyone else!
January 8, 2016
I met R. Kyle Hannah at Rocket City Lit Fest in Huntsville, AL, and bought both Time Assassins and Assassin's Gambit based on the recommendation of of a fellow reader. I was not disappointed! If you like your assassin adventures mixed in with historical facts and plausible 'what if's in history, then this book will definitely interest you. The book provoked thoughts about what could have happened in history that would make our world different today. I can't wait to finish Assassin's Gambit.
October 27, 2017
Interesting time travel and alternate history, with plenty of intrigue and martial arts. Hannah writes with a strong voice and his characters are fully realized. I struggled with having characters that were only identified with numbers rather than names, but enjoyed reading some good technobabble and brain bending time travel. As Peter David once had Geordi LaForge say in Imzadi, "Time travel gives me nose bleeds."
December 14, 2014
An exceptionally well-written time travel book. The interweaving of our sense of history is fascinating. Really creative science fiction/alternate history. If you like either concept, you will really like this book. Even if you don't, it is a very entertaining story.
February 20, 2013
LOVED IT....I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK. NOW I HAVE TO GO GET THE FIRST NOVEL. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. I CAN SEE THIS AS A MADE FOR TV MOVIE....
December 17, 2025
It's a fun read, but the end wasn't too exciting. Rick Brewer was easily the most compelling character in the book, but the way they took him out wasn't really satisfying. Kinda wished Jason did something with some stakes...
Overall, felt like a boy's book. That's the best way to explain it.
But Rick was enough to carry the book for me (except all of the sudden, he can't fight Assassin 97 because the book demanded that he be captured...). I'll read the next one. Hopefully, Rick's still in that one. Overall, 3.5, rounding up because why not?
Overall, felt like a boy's book. That's the best way to explain it.
But Rick was enough to carry the book for me (except all of the sudden, he can't fight Assassin 97 because the book demanded that he be captured...). I'll read the next one. Hopefully, Rick's still in that one. Overall, 3.5, rounding up because why not?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2022
The title and premise are much more exciting than the content of the novel. The lore behind this world and how it operates is adequately explained, and the characters are on average recognisable from each other, even with the easily muddled naming scheme the majority of characters have. How time travel and assassination are used is quite entertaining, and the use of real-life historical events was a welcome treat. However, the storylines of the Guild, the Renegade, and the protagonist are all standard issue and, while playing out in a well-enough and clear-cut way, are all just middling in intrigue and compellingness.
The plot being just above average, the characters being quite adequately well situated in this novel, and the usage of the sci-fi elements mean this novel earns this rating but definitely can't be given a higher one. The action scenes do stand out, though, and the stringing together of multiple alternate timelines, time travel, and actions undertaken in an attempt to thwart challenges placed in front of the characters and organisations do mean this novel was more good than bad. The author should be commended for keeping the happenings of this novel so well explained and concise in their brevity.
3,2 stars. I won't be reading the sequel novels.
The plot being just above average, the characters being quite adequately well situated in this novel, and the usage of the sci-fi elements mean this novel earns this rating but definitely can't be given a higher one. The action scenes do stand out, though, and the stringing together of multiple alternate timelines, time travel, and actions undertaken in an attempt to thwart challenges placed in front of the characters and organisations do mean this novel was more good than bad. The author should be commended for keeping the happenings of this novel so well explained and concise in their brevity.
3,2 stars. I won't be reading the sequel novels.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews