![BOOK REVIEW: I Am the Weapon (The Unknown Assassin #1) by Allen Zadoff BOOK REVIEW: I Am the Weapon (The Unknown Assassin #1) by Allen Zadoff](https://starcrossedbookblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/18453088-200x300.jpg)
by Allen Zadoff
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads
Synopsis:
Previously published under the title Boy Nobody
They needed the perfect assassin.Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target.
But when The Program assigns him to the mayor of New York City, things change. Somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and a girlfriend; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's mission.
In this action-packed series debut, author Allen Zadoff pens a page-turning thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is gripping, introducing an utterly original and unforgettable antihero.
Buddy read with the amazing Anna
Eventually people stop looking at me, stop meeting my eye.
There is nothing to meet.
There is nobody here.
So here’s the thing-I’ve found out a lot about myself recently. 1. I like flawed heroes more than I do any other kind of hero. 2. I enjoy fucked up scenarios in which the main character might or might not be a serial killer or any other type of cool thing like that (Most recently an assassin (obviously ^^^)). 3. I love male main characters or POVs, if done correctly, almost more than female POVs and main characters. And, lastly, I quite enjoy not-so-happily-ever-afters…to an extent. I’m still a bleeding heart-I’ll never lose that trait completely, I don’t think.
I remember that day. That moment. The smile.
I felt it then.
This sensation.
Not a sensation, I realize now.
A feeling.
None of this is shocking, really, if you know me at all. But I don’t think I knew, myself. No, most shocking to me is that I actually found this genre. I didn’t simply stumble upon it by circumstance, but because a great friend who does break the mold a little chose to gush. That’s all it took and I broke free of my safe little bubble and emerged on the other side victorious. I have found some truly astounding characters that will likely stay with me forever, and they are all male (Okay, so, clearly everyone knows I love my heroes but it’s completely different when I’m 100% in the male’s head the whole time, cut me a little slack). My point to all this?? I am so glad that I had a friend who read something that was so interesting and took the time to tell me about it so I would take my interest and actually put it to use, because now?? I have such a wide genre opened up to me that I would have never thought to look into before this moment and I am forever grateful that I chose to stalk this person’s reviews of that earlier series because I’ve read some great, albeit fucked up, books in the last month.
There are too many things like this lately. Things I do without knowing why, motivations that I cannot fully comprehend.
Bold. Daring. And most of all…Surprisingly deep and heartfelt. It started off kinda clinical, ya know? I was enjoying it immensely, but I felt like I was a third party when really all I wanted was to be inside his head to the point where I felt what he felt. I wanted that intensity and that deep rooted connection, and for a while I didn’t get that sensation…no, sorry, not a sensation, a feeling. ;). But then something happened. Benny boy’s door started to get some action-a light knock here, a dull thud there, then someone started to pound on the door until it splintered and cracked and ultimately exploded wide open. We were suddenly in this guy’s head. We had the inside track to what his weakness was, what made him human and not just some freaky assassin kid that doesn’t have any emotion. And the minute we started to see who this kid really was?? That’s when I just knew we were in for a ride-finally.
I had feelings once, too. I think I did. But that was a long time ago.
That was before.
Pulse-pounding, heart-throbbing, unpredictable and intense. I promise you-You won’t see what’s coming. You’ll think you know, but honestly? You don’t. The fast paced plot went straight to my bloodstream and made it impossible to breathe. I was so so happy to be back into a ‘criminal-type’ mind-It was like coming home, if I’m being honest. Even more truthfully, I’ve been looking for a guy that even halfway reminds me of Jazz…and it’s hard. It’s hard when you love a character so much and can’t seem to find that connection anywhere else. It stunts your excitement of other books. It makes you crazy. And dear old ‘Ben’ wasn’t quite Jazz and the stories are wholly different….but I can’t say he wasn’t close-In fact, he really touched me and made me think of Jazz more than once. That’s all I can ask for.
You learn many things with a knife in your shoulder.
You learn how to save your life. Or how to die.
Dealing with what it means to feel, to be human, to fit in, Ben will touch your heart in more ways than one. Losing your humanity when everything has been taken from you can make you a drone-immobile, a robot. But what happens when someone breaks through your shell? Makes you feel, makes you think about right and wrong, fair and unfair. So, yes, I loved this book very much. Will it be for everyone? Most likely, not. But…for those of you looking for a fun way to switch things up? Take a chance, try something you would never have tried before…And you might just come out in love with a whole new genre.
Sam is in my arms now, her body warm against mine, her lips so close that we share a breath.
“You went away for a second,” she says.
“I’m afraid to get close to you.”
********************************************
Because me and Anna NEED another sociopath dude like JAZZ. It’s an obsession and a curse.
Mission: Find a disturbed and tortured boy like Jazz
Successes thus far: ZERO
Are we ready? FUCK YES
The search continues….
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