This was a rather difficult read for me. All elements are in that would make this a great read - mysterious criminal underground, international assassins and our hero, Diegert, who gets more and more entangled with this shadowy world of international intrigue.

Problem is in the way story is told - entire book reads like a video game script or walk through - we follow our main protagonist as he moves from one event to another and I cannot lose the feeling that I am seeing the choice for further dialog or action options in the menu - click here to pick ABC gun with such and such statistics. It is obvious Diegert comes from the troubled family and has some anger management issues but this level of adaptation to ever changing circumstances is just ridiculous. He meets a man, and when that man, for all means and purposes civilian without any links to world of violence, points out to a way how to dispose of a body Diegert takes this as something you would hear in every day life. Which is weird.

Also while Diegert's motivation is clear he is such an uebermensch that Jason Bourne should hide in fear under the bed. Nothing can shock him - when instructed to board the plane for some distant location does he think for a moment - no. He boards the plane from which he is supposed to jump out. Of course he never jumped out of the plane but hey instructions are in the back of the pack (this made my day).

So all these rushed decisions by the author makes the book seem like a set of video game action scenes. And that is a shame because if this story was developed more - bigger book or maybe two books - and events more fleshed out and entire world set up properly this would be excellent read.
I can see this is part of the series and will look for the other books in the series but I hope that author will work more on the story itself.

If you are interested in the stories about assassins, spies and shadowy world "under" the one we live in give this one a try. But keep in mind my comments, this seems to be authors first foray and it shows. I hope author continues with writing, he has a lot of ideas and with every new book they can only get better. ( )

Dawn of the Assassin, by Bill Brewer, is a book I really wanted to like. I am a fan of Lee Child and Vince Flynn so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately I could not truly enjoy it. The main character, David Diegart, was not written in a believable manner. I don’t know if it was the choppy sentences or the lack of character development, but the book made me think I was reading a first draft and not a completed novel.

When I finished the book I went on Amazon to read reviews and all of the comments made me think I did not read the same book these people did. Or they are all paid reviewers...I don’t know! What I do know is that I hope the author will evolve in his writing because I had high hopes for this book and the plot itself was fantastic. My enthusiasm and familiarity for Mitch Rapp and Jack Reacher, however, left me disappointed in how David Diegart was written. ( )

That was a wild ride, just when you get settled into a situation you get hit with a sharp turn. The hits just keep coming one after the other leaving the reader in shock. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel. ( )

I received this book as part of LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.

I really tried to finish this book but just couldn't. I couldn't for a lot of reasons. Most of the time it felt like a summary of a novel and much of the dialog was clunky. Honestly, it felt like a first draft.

But the main problem I had was with the development of Diegert and his motivation to become an assassin. I understood it on an intellectual level, (his home life, bullying, resentment, etc...) but the author didn't really do anything to make the reader feel it.

I genuinely enjoyed reading Dawn of the Assassin. Although some parts moved a little slow for me, you can't help but get wrapped up in Diegert's life, and cheer him on, even with deadly stakes. From a life of struggles to excelling, Diegert's story is absolutely captivating. If you enjoy thrillers, you'll definitely want to pick up this one! ( )