BILL BREWER BOOKS

BEST THRILLERS.COM REVIEW FOR DAWN OF THE ASSASSIN

The Bottom Line: A compelling origin story about an assassin who finds redemption through a life of violence.  

Assassins are made, not born. And yet despite countless novels dedicated to professional killers, true origin stories are rare. First-time novelist Bill Brewer delivers the goods in Dawn of the Assassin, a high-octane thriller about the making of a truly lethal asset. 

Convenience store employee David Diegert might be the unluckiest person in Minnesota. Born into dysfunction, his brother is a drug dealer, and his mother, who is half-Native American, is hopelessly bullied by her sadistic husband. Accordingly, David, who has suffered the racist nickname “Tonto” throughout his small-town upbringing, has developed serious anger management issues that will both plague and fuel him as he moves forward with his life. 

After a run-in with the local Sherriff and a nearly fatal encounter with his own father, the young, sullen hothead joins the U.S. Army. During his first deployment to Afghanistan, his anger issues get the best of him, as he assaults a superior officer. David’s turning point comes after a dishonorable discharge, when he wanders into a bar called The Dark Horse in Austin, Texas. There, he takes a job as a bouncer, never suspecting that it will be a portal into a new life as a globetrotting killer, carrying out assassinations in places completely unknown to him.

Brewer’s prose is extremely spare, setting a pace as fast as a 9mm round. Readers looking for lush descriptions of the book’s exotic locales will instead be pulled into a fascinating world of power and betrayal. When it comes to David, Brewer’s stripped-down characterization feels gritty, authentic and most importantly, earned. Brewer has created a series-worthy anti-hero who ends this installment on a high note. Let’s hope Brewer has more in store for his intrepid assassin. 

KIRKUS REVIEW FOR DAWN OF THE ASSASSIN

A former U.S. soldier employs his skills to become an assassin in Brewer’s debut thriller.

Twenty-something David Diegert is stuck at home with his parents and older brother, Jake, in Minnesota. Both his father and his brother are jerks, but when David loses his job, escape seems unlikely. So he joins the Army, primarily for the college benefits. Unfortunately, his early deployment to Afghanistan is a bust. He butts heads with a corrupt superior involved in an opium operation and winds up dishonorably discharged. Next stop is Texas, where he learns about guns-for-hire gigs on the darknet. After killing two men in self-defense, Diegert cites the deaths as part of his experience when seeking hit jobs, which pay very well. He needs more fast money when the bank threatens to foreclose on the family home, which would mean his mother, Denise, whom he still loves, would be homeless. Diegert’s skills as a killer soon catch the attention of a secret facility in Romania. He accepts an invite to undergo intensive training and become an operator, provided he survives an upcoming tournament. Readers will pity Diegert despite his bad career choices; his childhood was marked by bullying, and his father made him sleep in the barn. Brewer’s novel is often grim thanks to the abundance of deplorable characters. The two most commendable are women; Denise is compassionate and resilient, and Fatima Hussain, Diegert’s trainer at the facility, is “one of the toughest, most resourceful operators.” Though this is the start of a series, the protagonist is already morphing and developing. The straightforward prose is concise, making for quick scenes and fleeting violence, with a focus on the consequences of Diegert’s work (e.g., escaping a crime scene).

A swiftly paced tale of a professional killer’s evolution.