The Perfect Assassin

A ruthless captor. A deadly lesson.

By: James Patterson

Narrated by: Joshua Kane, Suzanne Elise Freeman

Brought to you by Penguin.

At this school, the first lesson is survival.

Dr Brandt Savage's plans for his sabbatical from the University of Chicago change drastically when he is enrolled in a school where he is the sole pupil.

His professor is relentless in her lessons. She's also his captor.

Savage is forced to undertake intense physical and mental training, with no idea why he was chosen or what is expected of him.

But as he learns more about his abductor, Savage discovers just how deeply entwined their lives are. And why, together, they must make a pledge:

Do right by all, and wrong to no one.

© James Patterson 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critic reviews

Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried... there's no stopping his imagination. (NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW)

No one gets this big without natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades. (LEE CHILD, bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series)

Patterson boils a scene down to a single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It's what fires off the movie projector in the reader's mind. (MICHAEL CONNELLY)

James Patterson is the boss. End of. (IAN RANKIN, bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus series)

James Patterson is the gold standard by which all others are judged. (STEVE BERRY, bestselling author of the Colton Malone series)

Patterson is in a class by himself. (VANITY FAIR)

A good start but a disappointing end

The initial part of the story is intriguing and captivating, but it seems the author ran out of time and tacked on a B-grade Hollywood movie ending. There are some unexplainable coincidences which seem like lazy writing, and which have the effect of taking away from the believability and overall quality of the story.