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Three Assassins

A propulsive thriller from the Japanese bestseller and award-winning author of Bullet Train

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Three Assassins

By: Kotaro Isaka, Sam Malissa - translator
Narrated by: Adam Sims
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

THEIR MISSION IS MURDER. HIS IS REVENGE. A propulsive new thriller from the bestselling author of BULLET TRAIN.

Suzuki is just an ordinary man until his wife is murdered. When he discovers the criminal gang responsible he leaves behind his life as a maths teacher and joins them, looking for a chance to take his revenge. What he doesn't realise is that he's about to get drawn into a web of unusual professional assassins, each with their own agenda.

The Whale convinces his victims to take their own lives using just his words.
The Cicada is a talkative and deadly knife expert.
The elusive Pusher dispatches his targets in deadly traffic accidents.

Suzuki must take each of them on, in order to try to find justice and keep his innocence in a world of killers.

PRAISE FOR BULLET TRAIN:

'Unlike anything you're likely to have read before...white-hot with double-crosses' Financial Times

'Entertaining...high-speed...with lots of twists and turns...it has a Tarantino-meets-the-Coen-Brothers feel to it'The Times

Part high-octane thriller, part farce, this is an unusual and thoroughly enjoyable read' Guardian

The action accelerates up and down the ten carriages but the question is: who will get off alive? Daily Mail

© Kotaro Isaka 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Crime Crime Thrillers Genre Fiction International Mystery & Crime Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Fiction Assassin
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Critic reviews

Three Assassins...showcases Kotaro Isaka's Tarantinoesque blend of offbeat wit and stylised violence (James Owen)
[A] mesmerising tale of how life is simultaneously cheap and precious, and the past catches up with us all. (Laura Wilson)
Highly entertaining... grips with plenty of twists before delivering a stylish and fitting finale (Jon Coates)

Delivers an unusual journey. The eponymous killers - along with a man bent on payback
for the death of his wife - are engaged in a dance of death
Isaka knows how to keep his readers on their toes. His characters are colourful, varied and morally despicable.
Entertaining...high-speed...with lots of twists and turns...it has a Tarantino-meets-the-Coen-Brothers feel to it
Unlike anything you're likely to have read before...white-hot with double-crosses
High-octane...an unusual and thoroughly enjoyable read
All stars
Most relevant
I loved bullet train and pre-ordered this as soon as I could and I wasn't disappointed. the story is a smooth ride and seemed to be over far too soon for me. I would have happily had more. The author is such a good storyteller.

As for the narrator, I went through a journey with him, just like on bullet train when i first listened to the sample before buying. With his general narration, i wasnt sure if i was going to manage to get to the end. However, if you have heard a small clip before buying and felt the same then please be reassured. The voices the narrator uses for characters bring them to life. He really is brilliant with the character work in my opinion.

Had to give it 5 stars...

A great story and selection of voices

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This is my third Kotaro Osaka after Bullet Train and The Mantis, and I’ve loved all of them. There’s a curious sense of tenderness under all the thrills and violence, and an interesting sense of morality and redemption in each of them - or perhaps I’m just projecting. Anyway this is another surprising, absorbing and convoluted yarn, well translated and brilliantly read/performed by Adam Sims. Highly recommended!

Terrific

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really enjoyed this book, just wish it had been longer. would love to read more by this author. the narrator is very good, lots of different voices for the characters, really brings them to life.

Great story

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wonderfully put together. a strange and mesmerising story. narration of the characters amazing. to the end you didn't know what would happen thank you.

very interesting story

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It’s Murakami on steroids. Love this author. Hope all his books are translated into English

Love this author

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