Rath's Deception

The Janus Group, Book 1

By: Piers Platt

Narrated by: James Fouhey

On the cut-throat streets of Tarkis, orphaned teens like Rath end up jailed...or dead. So when the shadowy Janus Group offers Rath a chance to earn riches beyond his wildest dreams, he seizes it. But the Janus Group is as ruthless as the elite assassins it controls. Rath will have to survive their grueling, off-world training, and fulfill all 50 kills in his contract before a single cent comes his way. And ending so many lives comes with a price Rath can't anticipate. It'll certainly cost him what's left of his innocence. It may well cost him his life.

©2015 Piers Platt (P)2015 Piers Platt

Interesting story and a good listen

This was completely different than I thought it would be from the description. I like the pace of the book and find it to be engaging. I like that the main character struggles with being an assassin instead of being the hard cold guy who justifies his actions in one way or another. The end of book one left several threads loose that promise an interesting next book. I will probably pick up book 2 when I catch up on several other series I'm behind on.

One of my new FAVORITE authors!

What made the experience of listening to Rath's Deception the most enjoyable?

This is a well thought out story and well developed universe. Piers Platt ensures there is plenty of action and gives us a hero to root for, despite his profession.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the sci-fi aspect of cybernetic implants and tools like Rath's forge that add an exciting element to the story!

What does James Fouhey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration is great and perfect for this story. Fine job.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book made me want to buy the next in the series right away.

Any additional comments?

Some aspects of this book will come back into play within books two and three (I've now read all three).

* I was provided a review copy of this book by the author via AudioBookBlast.

Great Story Keeps You Wondering Whats Next

What does James Fouhey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Great Voice

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."

This is an action packed and unique novel.

Rath’s Deception by Pier Platt is the first novel in a series called The Janus Group. After becoming an orphan at a young age and fending for himself on the streets of Tarkis, Rath is recruited by the Janus Group to become a sought after intergalactic assassin. The contract is for 50 kills. If the contract assassin survives 50 kills, then he or she is entitled to 50% of the money that the Janus group made on that contractor's kills. It’s an enticing prospect, but intense prospect for a destitute young man who has never killed anyone. As Rath progresses through the grueling training and his kills mount, he becomes aware that there is something not quite honest about the Janus group. Simultaneously, the police are constantly on the hunt for a way to bring down the Janus group, which is essentially a group of highly trained and efficient murderers. Meanwhile, Rath must figure out a way to complete his 50 kills and retrieve the money that he was promised.

This is an action packed and unique novel. I really enjoyed every part of it. Rath is trained by the Janus group to become a killer, but he is still a sympathetic character. Rath is a determined, but ultimately becoming a world weary man, focused on this one objective. However, knowing his back story makes it hard not to like him. Meanwhile, the Group only seems to become more vicious and ruthless as the novel progresses. The police detective and reporter that are trying to track down the contract killers are an excellent addition to the story, because then the reader doesn’t have to hear about each of Rath’s kills and the story moves forward. I also really liked the little insights into the Janus Group’s operations that are revealed during Rath’s missions and the use of 3D printer-like technology. The one thing that I didn’t like about the novel was that it was hard to tell how much time had passed from chapter to chapter. Overall, it was fast paced and action packed story.

The narration by James Fouhey was well done. Each of the characters was distinguishable and the voicing fit the characters. The production quality was good as well. I would recommend this story to anyone who likes action packed stories about rebel assassins mixed with a police mystery.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]

REALLY BAD IT ENDS ON A CLIFFHANGER

Any additional comments?

A good fast paced romp for a Sci Fi, but is real bad it ends with no conclusion apart form you need to buy book two to find out how the story pans out. Rather disappointing.

great story

sets up one of the best series I've read. great story and characters. the development is fantastic and makes sense. so many good characters. read them all

Can't help but root for the "bad guy"

No spoilers here.

The science fiction here is interesting enough that I found myself trying to brainstorm ways to solve some of Rath's more interesting predicaments.

I find his conflict between morality and self-preservation to be compelling enough that I bought the second book in the series, but so far, Rath as a character is not particularly likeable if only because he's only interested in self-preservation. To be fair, he's shown flashes of concern for others, but circumstances simply haven't allowed things to develop further for him. He's a very flawed character and for that alone I am interested to see how his story develops over the series.

Secret Societies and Assassins

My only previous knowledge of Piers Platt's writing has been via this autobiography of his time a an Iraq War II tank driver (which I enjoyed and found to be well written). So I came into this book wondering how he would go with fiction, and science fiction to boot. The answer is - he does very well. He writes a tight, twisting tale of murder and intrigue, set against an backdrop of an interstellar empire.

Rath is a brilliant youth living on the streets when he is invited to join a shadowing assassins guild, the Janus Group. The Janus Group provide him with cybernetic upgrades and nanotechnology - better vision, memory etc. The ability to change his face to look like other people, a huge advantage when trying to stay hidden. He signs a contract to perform 50 missions for them, where upon completion he shall be given 50% of the earnings from those missions. Of course, if he doesn't get to 50, he gets nothing. And each mission is getting harder and harder to complete.

Platt writes well, giving a compelling story with interesting and believable characters. The story has several twists throughout, along with some enjoyable espionage and action sequences.

There is one major item that feels out of place and doesn't really go anywhere in this book - the inclusion of another assassin with a strong blood lust and murderous streak (killing beyond what the contract requires and taking pleasure in it). Through out the book there are several chapters or conversations about him that have no bearing on the story being told. In the end it becomes clear this character is being set up to play a significant part in book 2, but in this book the sections about him feel out of place and disassociated.

There are a few other minor things that don't feel like they go anywhere or make any impact - one example Rath has an eidetic memory but part of his cybernetic upgrades is a total recall ability, so giving him this ability naturally didn't actually mean anything. But none of these small items are an issue.

James Fouhey does good work with the narration. Enjoyable and easy to listen to he differentiates characters and provides emotion and empathy to the characters.

Book 2 has been added to my "to read" wish list....

A fun listen

What made the experience of listening to Rath's Deception the most enjoyable?

some times a good shoot 'em up is just the ticket.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reactions.

What a wonderfully exciting story.

This series starts out fast paced with the story coming together efficiently, but in no way at a boring pace. Just enough information is added to keep the world well filled without to much politics, deep thoughts or any other concept some authors get mired in. Great read and great beginning to a great series.