The Reluctant Assassin

Eoin Colfer — 2013

The Matrix meets Oliver Twist, WARP: The Reluctant Assassin is the first of a major new series by Eoin Colfer, the bestselling author of Artemis Fowl.It all began with the FBI and WARP (Witness Anonymous Relocation Programme). Hiding witnesses in the past to protect the future - until now . . .Riley is a Victorian orphan, hurtled into the twenty-first century and on the run from his evil master . . .Albert Garrick, the terrifying assassin-for-hire pursuing Riley through time, along with . . .Chevie Savano, the FBI's youngest and most impulsive special agent.As Garrick relentlessly hunts them down, Riley and Chevie face a desperate race to stay alive and stop Garrick from returning to his own time - armed with knowledge and power that could change the world forever.Colfer has the ability to make you laugh twice over: first in sheer subversive joy at the inventiveness of the writing, and again at the energy of the humour - Sunday TimesReaders mourning the end of the Artemis Fowl series can take heart: this first book in the time-bending WARP series is an all-out blast. - Publishers WeeklyEoin Colfer is the megaselling author of the Artemis Fowl series, Half Moon Investigations, The Supernaturalist, Airman and The Legend of . . . books. His brilliant new series WARP is out now. Eoin lives with his family in Ireland. www.eoincolfer.com

Reviews

jess@brekker

Aug 18, 2022

[review written 2013] wow!!! i really like eoin colfer’s books. ive read several of his other ones and i really like this one. so i’ve been a fan of artemis fowl since sixth grade so that’s like … five years now? and WARP: the reluctant assassin reminded me of artemis fowl, especially the time paradox. but then again it deals with time travel just like the time paradox did. now this book was a lot darker than artemis fowl or the supernaturalist was which is why i kept seeing it in the teen section rather than the young adult. there’s more violence and a tad more cursing than i’ve seen the artemis fowl series. but it was cool. and chevie was seventeen. and oh my god i liked chevie. like. what a smartass. i liked her a lot and her backstory. riley was pretty cool too i liked him a lot. like. okay, it’s not artemis-fowl level snark, but the snark is there. (artemis fowl is one of the snarkier series. if you don’t snark in artemis fowl, you’re probably incompetent and unimportant. rick riordan and john flanagan are quite snarky too. i enjoy snark a lot.) so yeah! and the plot was good - garrick was completely off his rocker and he was a good antagonist wow. i am definitely waiting for the next book, because i really do like eoin colfer as an author (and hopefully i can get rid of my artemis fowl parallels to because like there is age difference between the girl and the boy and also a bit of a romance hint too god i need to go read artemis fowl again)

Jeni Enjaian@jenienjaian

Oct 30, 2021

I stumbled upon this book during a recent library trip and checked it out immediately. I loved the Artemis Fowl series plus the two other stand-alone Colfer novels that I've read. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book and the new series. I enjoyed it. It's well written and intriguing. Colfer certainly does not lack for unique plot ideas ripe for exploration. However, something feels missing from this series that the Artemis Fowl series had in spades. The first few chapters were odd and creepy without much explanation. Now that I've completed the book and delved into the second, things make a bit more sense but the wry humor is missing. It needs something to lighten the mood and a 17 year old FBI agent with a chip on her shoulder doesn't seem to provide that. I guess that I have to say that I liked the book but with reservations.