The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer

I am a huge fan of the Artemis Fowl series as well as The Wish List, so immediately when I started reading this book I had high expectations. Colfer never disappoints. Although for a quick moment, I did have my doubts. 

It starts out with a murder in Victorian London and quickly turns into a time traveling adventure with enough science fiction talk of wormholes to satisfy any geek’s heart. We meet two main characters, Riley and Chevron Savano (Chevie). There is a lot of killing in this book but it never seems overdone or mentioned casually. In a nutshell Chevie and Riley are running from Albert Garrick who has done work has both an illusionist and an assassin. Riley has been his apprentice for years, but has never taken a life. Hence the book title, The Reluctant Assassin.

The beginning of the book was a little frustrating. I’m not a big fan of time travel. Not in the slightest so when the first few chapter began alternating between 1898 and the present I was quite annoyed. Add to that the changing perspective from Chevie to Riley to Albert. It was jarring at first. But finally all the characters did end up in the same time period first the present and then 1898. 

I absolutely loved the dialogue in this book. It added to characterization with each character’s voice coming across clearly and it moved the story along at a gripping pace. You have both Riley and Albert speaking like something straight out of Oliver Twist. Which is funny because an F.B.I. agent compares Riley to the Artful Dodger. Speaking of the Bureau, Chevie is sort of an agent. More or less, she is unofficial but with some careful planning, she is on the fast track to becoming an agent. Thanks to a screw up she is stationed in London where she is assigned to babysit the wormhole that Riley eventually falls through. It’s difficult not to give away too much of the plot here.

This was a pleasant beginning to a series. The plot was well developed and almost all loose ends were tied up, just barely leaving room for more novels. Chevie returns to present day and Riley stays in his own, granted with a bit more coin to his name and even a bit of property to go along with it. Not bad for a fourteen year old. 

But what happens to Chevie when she is debriefed? Is she terminated from the Bureau for good or praised? Riley is looking for his half-brother hoping to find out his last name. Where is the brother and what is his last name? And why are there so many people in Victorian England who know more about the future than they should? Okay so maybe there are more loose ends than I realized. 

I’m going to have to reread this book. It’s going to be a good year before a sequel is released, if that soon.