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Death by Design
She is a trained assassin. Ex-Mossad. Ex-Seal. She has never lost a fight, never lost a battle. Retained by a cabal of environmental extremists, her mission is simple. Exterminate humanity. Tracker is given $20 billion dollars and twenty years to complete her mission. She will attack the CDC and world population sites simultaneously. Her attack vector? Five viral, bacteriological and fungal biome infections that are designed to destroy all of mankind. She will follow up with Nano and nuclear attacks to complete her task. Will Tracker succeed? Will Mantis, her nemesis, stop her? Read on!
340 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 6, 2019
7 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 15, 2019
The Review
One of the most unique and original thrillers of 2019! A whirlwind adventure that starts off with a bang as the CDC faces utter destruction, and leaves the world reeling as world leaders become so embroiled in retaliation and discovering who is responsible, that the real threat is just getting started. The author’s use of equal storytelling between assassin Tracker and the small team of people tasked with stopping the plot to destroy humanity forever keeps the reader engaged throughout the entire narrative.
Rarely is an action-thriller able to delve more into the mindset and actions of the villain or antagonist than the protagonists. From the book’s first pages the reader is torn between the haunting origins of the character to the vicious and disturbing violence the assassin displays throughout the novel, keeping the readers emotions invested and torn asunder at every turn.
The novel does a great job of showcasing humanity’s impact on the world, and the way some of humanity’s inherent cruelty impacts the rest of the world and their mindset about the way the world works. It also goes far and beyond what a typical dystopian thriller does, taking a scientific and methodical approach to how a trained and ruthless killer would go about systematically eliminating the human race.
The Verdict
This is one of the top action/bio-thrillers of the year! Creative, engaging and top-notch characterization help bring this story to life in unexpected ways, and the book’s end leaves readers hanging on the edge of their seat as it takes a complete turn and leaves the reader wanting more. If this novel is any indication, this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Tracker or the author themselves, so be sure to grab your copy of “Death by Design” by John Graves today and dive into the chaotic and messed up world of Tracker now!
One of the most unique and original thrillers of 2019! A whirlwind adventure that starts off with a bang as the CDC faces utter destruction, and leaves the world reeling as world leaders become so embroiled in retaliation and discovering who is responsible, that the real threat is just getting started. The author’s use of equal storytelling between assassin Tracker and the small team of people tasked with stopping the plot to destroy humanity forever keeps the reader engaged throughout the entire narrative.
Rarely is an action-thriller able to delve more into the mindset and actions of the villain or antagonist than the protagonists. From the book’s first pages the reader is torn between the haunting origins of the character to the vicious and disturbing violence the assassin displays throughout the novel, keeping the readers emotions invested and torn asunder at every turn.
The novel does a great job of showcasing humanity’s impact on the world, and the way some of humanity’s inherent cruelty impacts the rest of the world and their mindset about the way the world works. It also goes far and beyond what a typical dystopian thriller does, taking a scientific and methodical approach to how a trained and ruthless killer would go about systematically eliminating the human race.
The Verdict
This is one of the top action/bio-thrillers of the year! Creative, engaging and top-notch characterization help bring this story to life in unexpected ways, and the book’s end leaves readers hanging on the edge of their seat as it takes a complete turn and leaves the reader wanting more. If this novel is any indication, this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Tracker or the author themselves, so be sure to grab your copy of “Death by Design” by John Graves today and dive into the chaotic and messed up world of Tracker now!
March 17, 2025
Fast-Paced and Makes You Think
This book is intense. The stakes are high, and the story dives deep into moral dilemmas. (see what I did there?) The story is non-stop action. There's some great twists that keep things moving. If you like your leads strong and complex you'll love Tracker. If you like high-stakes thrillers with a mix of action and big questions, you will enjoy this book.
This book is intense. The stakes are high, and the story dives deep into moral dilemmas. (see what I did there?) The story is non-stop action. There's some great twists that keep things moving. If you like your leads strong and complex you'll love Tracker. If you like high-stakes thrillers with a mix of action and big questions, you will enjoy this book.
February 9, 2025
intense thriller
This book is full of moral complexity and difficult scientific questions. Thank goodness this is fiction. The realistic dilemmas are enough to scare you for the future of all mankind. This is not a relaxing book. It’s intense and disturbing and you’ll worry about humanity.
This book is full of moral complexity and difficult scientific questions. Thank goodness this is fiction. The realistic dilemmas are enough to scare you for the future of all mankind. This is not a relaxing book. It’s intense and disturbing and you’ll worry about humanity.
March 17, 2025
Intense
Complete with a 'what if', this is truly a story for our times. Suicide bombers, terror attacks, it's all here. Just don't expect a feel good story; this is adrenaline all the way.
Complete with a 'what if', this is truly a story for our times. Suicide bombers, terror attacks, it's all here. Just don't expect a feel good story; this is adrenaline all the way.
August 22, 2019
Carried out in highly coordinated phases, a trained master combatant, a mercenary, and a tactical genius who has swept almost effortlessy through the Navy SEALs and Massod, disables balance in the world and severely handicap the CDC. To clarify—these are all the same person. A woman named Tracker in John Graves' novel Death by Design. Hired by a group of eco-terrorists, Tracker is tasked with finally putting an end to climate change in the most extreme way possible: through plague and panic.
She had emerged from Iran, Palestine, and China unscathed, her team unbeaten. Her failure rate was zero.
There is only one tiny group who know how to stop Tracker in her own deadly path, spearheaded by an individual who understands Tracker better than anyone: Mantis.
I thoroughly enjoy a book where a fierce female takes the lead, and Tracker is a complex character that is so deeply psychotic and—am I allowed to say this?—so brilliantly despotic that I absolutely loved her. The love-hate relationship John Graves builds between the reader and Tracker is sublime. Death by Design also features Trackers' arch-enemy, Mantis, who is also a force to be reckoned with. The novel explodes from page one with action, and the race between Tracker and her mission, Humanity and Tracker, and Mantis and company to stop Tracker rolls out with the skilled hand of an author who knows how to deliver suspenseful fiction. This is one of the best stories I have read all year and I look forward to seeing what else John Graves has on offer.
Review written for Readers' Favorite.
She had emerged from Iran, Palestine, and China unscathed, her team unbeaten. Her failure rate was zero.
There is only one tiny group who know how to stop Tracker in her own deadly path, spearheaded by an individual who understands Tracker better than anyone: Mantis.
I thoroughly enjoy a book where a fierce female takes the lead, and Tracker is a complex character that is so deeply psychotic and—am I allowed to say this?—so brilliantly despotic that I absolutely loved her. The love-hate relationship John Graves builds between the reader and Tracker is sublime. Death by Design also features Trackers' arch-enemy, Mantis, who is also a force to be reckoned with. The novel explodes from page one with action, and the race between Tracker and her mission, Humanity and Tracker, and Mantis and company to stop Tracker rolls out with the skilled hand of an author who knows how to deliver suspenseful fiction. This is one of the best stories I have read all year and I look forward to seeing what else John Graves has on offer.
Review written for Readers' Favorite.
August 22, 2019
Death By Design: I am the Storm! by John Graves is a political and medical action thriller where a cold-blooded assassin by the name of Tracker unleashes infectious diseases and pathogens on the world population. She has been contracted as an agent to stop the destruction of earth at a cost of $2 billion dollars per year, over the course of 20 years. She doesn't need that long. Tracker sets up unsuspecting “test groups” that range in size and population from the passengers on selected flights to entire cities and countries. In addition to this, the immobilization of worldwide government and health agencies assist in the spread of pandemonium at her own hand. Told in vignettes as contagion spreads, Graves zeros in on the biological ground war as it happens with a birds-eye view, omniscient narrative.
Death By Design: I am the Storm! by John Graves is special in the genre and encompasses biological warfare in bite-sized increments. Tracker is a phenomenal character who does terrible, horrible things, but so too are those who are bent on stopping her (mostly on account of their own agenda as opposed to trying to save the world). The writing style is reminiscent of Michael Crichton where the “acts” in the novel resemble iterations, which work perfectly with the vignette format. Overall this is a book that moves swiftly from one catastrophe to the next without the slightest whiff of it smelling contrived. There are many characters and it takes a moment to establish who's who, but once you're in the story—there's no putting it down.
Review written for Readers' Favorite.
Death By Design: I am the Storm! by John Graves is special in the genre and encompasses biological warfare in bite-sized increments. Tracker is a phenomenal character who does terrible, horrible things, but so too are those who are bent on stopping her (mostly on account of their own agenda as opposed to trying to save the world). The writing style is reminiscent of Michael Crichton where the “acts” in the novel resemble iterations, which work perfectly with the vignette format. Overall this is a book that moves swiftly from one catastrophe to the next without the slightest whiff of it smelling contrived. There are many characters and it takes a moment to establish who's who, but once you're in the story—there's no putting it down.
Review written for Readers' Favorite.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews