Deadly Silence by Erik Carter

The theme here is mainly justice. There is a hint of redemption. The motives are greed and power, not vengeance. This is a short thriller novella (130 pages) featuring Silence Jones, an assassin working for a secret government agency. I know, cliché, but still fun. This is a prequel to the Silence Jones series.

Silence Jones is so named because it is painful for him to talk, so he says little. I think it’s also indicative of his style of assassination. He comes out of nowhere, does the deed, and disappears back into nowhere. We do not find out why he has this condition in this novella. I assume the first novel in the series goes into that background. This novella carries two story lines in parallel. One in current day, and one a flashback to a case when he was an undercover police officer. Mr. Carter uses this technique to give us background on Silence Jones.

The only complaint I have is the amount of attention the reader needs to pay in order to keep the two cases separate. Many minor characters to keep track of. The suspense is good. The pace is fast and kept me reading. As an introduction to this character, the novella serves well. Though somewhat cliché, it’s the kind of vigilante story I like.

There is some profanity. No on page sex. And the violence is not gratuitous. It is about an assassin, so there’s death and destruction. I’ll rank this one seventh. For the price (I got it free), it was worth the read. Even if you have to shell out $0.99, it’s a good introduction to a series that shows potential.

1. The Last Exchange by Charles Martin
2. Weapons of Remorse by Chevron Ross
3. Relentless by Ed Gorman
4. After Her Deceit by Steve Rush
5. Water Grave by Mitchell S. Karnes
6. The Book of Answers by Darrow Woods
7. Deadly Silence by Erik Carter
8. Neon Prey by John Sandford
9. Perfect Daughter by Ion Esimai

Commission Earned