Seventeen by John Brownlow.
YOU'LL NEVER KNOW MY NAME.
BUT YOU WON'T FORGET MY NUMBER.
An OK read. Good story. Just didn't really connect with characters or story. 3*.

He is Seventeen. Most recent in a line of spies. Who does he work for? The highest bidder it would seem. Who can he trust? Nobody. Seventeen is the best at what he does, but when he's seen to be losing his edge his bosses put him up against better than the best - his retired, long disappeared, predecessor, Sixteen. Seventeen has to find him wherever in the world he's hiding, and kill him. SO begins a series of adventures with a couple of sidekicks along the way. Gripping, explosive and a good read. #netgalley #seventeen

This was a fast pace read depicting the story of a professional killer who gets his new assignment to remove number 16. And everything that he goes through.the book is full of violence but also love peeks it’s head in as well. 17 meets lots of troubles as he plans to assassinate 16 as nothing is what it seems to be.
This is a great read with a superb unexpected ending.

One to Fifteen are dead, and Sixteen disappeared years ago. Jones, not his real name of course, is now Seventeen, the World’s top trouble-shooter – in the sense that if someone is trouble he shoots them, or stabs them, or blows them up . . . You get the picture? Assassins like him are hired by international companies and governments to deal with problems which they cannot deal with legally. They are obtained through intermediates so there is always plausible deniability. Today he is in Berlin tasked to take care of the Head of an international arms company. Jones likes to think that he only kills people who deserve to be killed, people who commit serious wrongs. In this he is deluded but, in any case, it doesn’t stop him entering the company HQ and killing all of the senior management (collateral damage). Fortuitously, or so it seems, another job suddenly comes up in Berlin involving a brush-by information transfer which he has to intercept, retrieving the information and if necessary killing the people concerned. He does this successfully, but this seems to have triggered something else because two other (lesser) assassins try to take him out and fail. Later, talking to his Handler, the only person who actually knows his identity, he is given a new task which is to find and eliminate Sixteen. One of the many reasons he is Seventeen is because he has access to superlative technologies that he can use in the trace (another is his extensive range of weaponry) so it is a relatively short time before he finds and tries to kill the man who was Sixteen – all the time distracted by trying to figure out what cock-up has put him in the line of fire. And that’s when everything starts to fall apart.
This is basically a spy thriller with a seriously dangerous protagonist hunting with the intention of killing a possibly even more dangerous target; and both men are practically indestructible, surviving injuries that sound as if a full trauma team would be needed. The pace is extremely fast, and the style is laconic, with no nuance and very little which is not relevant to the progress of the plot. We do learn of the events that made him a killer, and then the best killer, but almost all of that is directly relevant to the progress of the story. Chapters are all very short, which adds to the feeling of pace and there is a slight feeling of set-piece plotting. The author is a very experienced screenwriter and that may explain the latter. However, readers of this genre will find it completely satisfactory as there are lots of violent conflicts, shootouts, car chases, and a little sex.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

This book was not as exciting as I expected, I really wanted to like it as the concept grabbed me, but how many times can you be hunted or hunt, the setbacks were endless and it was just monotonous in the end, I really wanted to love it and as it is the start of a series I am not sure where it can go before it becomes repetitive.

Thoroughly entertaining story of two contract assassins up against one another but why is the main question. Starting with a kill order in Berlin swiftly followed by another which seemingly is never done and then an attempt on his own life the man known as 17 starts to query his own actions. His predecessor 16 vanished some time ago but 17 is now tasked with finding and eliminating him but why? It all develops splendidly into a blood soaked yarn with lots of twists in the action leading to a satisfactory conclusion.

I very much enjoyed this thriller, the concept intrigued me and I was hooked quite early on. A great thriller for this Summers beach read - it will have you finishing it within hours!

Thanks for letting me read an advanced copy for my review

Seventeen is basically a hired hitman for anyone who needs to be rid of trouble - including governments or world leaders! He gets hired through an intermediary who passes the info on using burner phones. He doesn't use a name only the number and that's because sixteen disappeared years ago never to be seen again. Now seventeen has been hired to find and kill sixteen -his worst nightmare they've never been up against each other and only know if each other through reputation. Without giving too much of the plot away he finds sixteen but he's already on to him and knows he's trying to.kill him so is ready for him! Long bloody fights ensue and eventually they team up.against their 'handlers' . Loved the fact that they worked together in the end as there were so many similarities between them. Seems a cross between Homeland and Spooks. If you love world security thrillers then this is definitely the one for you. High action and very exploisive! Many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book lives it and will be recommending.

Seventeen is a fast paced action thriller in the Bourne Identity style. Our main character is a spy/hitman type who is commissioned by unspecified governments to undertake contract assassination work. He claims to have no name any more; he is known just by his number: Seventeen.

The novel is narrated in the first person, pretty much in the form of a confession to camera - so various usages of the second person to represent direct speech to the reader; plenty of exposition and explanation, and also reflection on the events that are unfolding, reassuring the reader that Seventeen will come through it all unscathed to be able to do the telling. Maybe this is meant to create immediacy, but it actually feels a bit like Masterchef.

Seventeen is supposed to be the best in the industry - having taken over from Sixteen after the latter upped and disappeared. Seventeen is one of these perfect spies who can predict everyone's precise moves, can trace anyone through conveniently inserted unique details, whose gun never jams and whose memory is infallible. And you kinda go along with it because the premise seems interesting for a while.

After about a third of the novel, it becomes quite clear how it is all likely to pan out - and that requires the key characters to behave quite inconsistently with what they have said and done up to that point; and to know things they could not possibly know. The absence of fixed names becomes a narrative problem as characters have to address one another using pseudonyms they could not have known. It becomes progressively less interesting and descends into silliness. By the end, I really couldn't suspend disbelief and the final scenes - full of explosions and gunfire - just seemed to be included as a contractual requirement. Every action movie needs a fiery crescendo.

Seventeen is a quick, easy read. It is mostly entertaining. But it is also fundamentally flawed and something of a cliche.

Overall an okay read....

Unsure what to say for this, not what I thought, whilst the chase is on... I felt it was a bit flat. Overall an okay read, but it didn't have me on the edge of my seat, didn't pick up pace for me.

I really enjoyed “Seventeen” at the beginning, particularly the short snappy chapters and the character’s sardonic tone. After a while it got a bit same-ish with cultural references without context and lots of unfamiliar jargon that was a bit jarring to read. A great summer read for fans of espionage fiction and films.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

John Brownlow’s Seventeen is an edge of the seat espionage action thriller. Not usually my choice of read but I found this book intriguingly ‘unputdownable’. It has all the hallmarks of a comic book superhero villain but with more credibility and some surprisingly darkly humorous interjections. No giveaway plot insights here - it needs to be read. A thoroughly brilliant read!

This took me a few hours to read, but in one day. The action kept going so I kept on reading. The characters were well written and the plot was descriptive enough that I could imagine scenes as I read. In my opinion a book well worth reading

Strap yourself in and hold on tight you are in for a hell of a ride. The story of contract killers who go up against each other. Not my usual genre but WOW what a read!!!
I was immersed in this story and felt like an invisible bystander with a front row seat to all the mayhem and carnage that ensued. This book was definitely not what I was expecting it was so much more. A rocket powered thriller which definitely left me wanting more but let me get my heart rate back to normal first WOW WOW WOW!!!!
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

A spy thriller!

Seventeen refers to the number of the current pre-eminent assassin in the murky world of black ops. Let’s call him Jones as it the only name he uses although we know it’s not his real name. He gets an assignment in Berlin to kill some VIPs, it’s a walk in the park for him. When he calls his handler, known only as Handler, he gets another job at short notice. He is to intercept a ‘brush pass’ at the Berlin Tiergarten (basically the zoo). This job is not so neat but he gets it done as he is a consummate professional. Only as he is decompressing in the hotel after a busy day he nearly succumbs to a beautiful woman who turns out to be an aspiring Eighteen!

His next assignment from Handler sets his spidey senses tingling though. He is to kill Sixteen - the top assassin before him who dropped completely off the radar 8 years ago. If he doesn’t accept the job he will be finished anyway and someone will be gunning for so him he has no choice but he doesn’t understand why this has to happen now, after all this time.

Jones takes his time in tracking down Sixteen and getting the lie of the land. I enjoyed this part of the story a lot. A successful spy/assassin is more than just a killing machine, they have to be logical, analytical and make connections between disparate sets of data. It reminded me a lot about how Jack Reacher thinks. Jones knows Sixteen is a formidable opponent but even so he is shocked at just how formidable.

The two have a few run-ins, neither getting the upper hand, until they have a frank discussion and realise perhaps they are both being played and the stakes are potentially world changing. Who is gaming who? Who can they trust? Will either of them actually live long enough to find out?

I’m on a real roll here, this was yet another rather different, very entertaining, action packed thriller. I also loved the writing style - short, sharp and blunt. The dialogue is crisp and quite snarky in places which I love. You can’t help liking this bad boy and rooting for him as his motives become slightly more righteous. Action junkies should love this one! Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

3.5/5

The book tells the story of Seventeen, the ultimate badass and the best hitman in the world. Why Seventeen? Well, he’s the 17th person in history to receive this distinction. Governments call on his services when diplomacy fails. Every other high-profile hit man has a target put on his back. Realistically, there’s only one person who’s not afraid of him - Sixteen, his predecessor who disappeared some time ago.

When Seventeen is tasked with finding and killing him, the mission goes awry, and the hunter becomes the hunted. But there’s another layer to the story and a nice (though not really surprising) twist waiting for both readers and Seventeen.

Let’s be clear right here and now - Seventeen is a congenial, fast-paced, undemanding thriller in which the thrills come from well-executed nonstop action. Although the story doesn’t attempt to delve deeply into the characters' souls, it makes them sympathetic and fun to read about. Seventeen isn’t very complicated, but if you like James Bond movies and the like, you’ll get a kick out of watching it play out.

Seventeen is tightly plotted and a lot of fun. With its short chapters and edge-of-your-seat action, it’ll make commute or leisure time more exciting and enjoyable.

I thought this was a highly original, and at times thought provoking book. It was pacey and well written, and kept me guessing. Good book.

A compelling assassin thriller. Excellent plotting good characters non stop action thoroughly recommend this book.
I received this book from Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for a review.

This isn't the usual type of book I pick up but I'm really glad I did. After a slowish start the pace really picked up and from then on it was relentless. The twists and turns never let up until the very end and I found it to be a totally gripping read from start to finish. Highly recommend this.

I wasn't a fan of the style of writiing but once I get used it worked keeping me turning pages.
It's a fast paced, adrenaline fuelled, and gripping mix of thriller and spy story that kept me on the edge.
It was a fan read and I recommend it
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine