A time wormhole enables the FBI, through the use of a key set to a particular historical date, to provide the ultimate safe house for witnesses who might otherwise be assassinated before they could give evidence. WARP is a very different type of story from AF (no elves, goblins etc), yet still has the flights of fancy, and attention to detail, that made those books so enjoyable. Garrick is now more than human and is determined to track Riley down and use the timekey in Chevie’s possession to make his way back to Victorian London where, with his new knowledge on all things scientific and technological, he can literally change the world.Ī change of direction but a gripping story.ĭespite being in my 60s, I am a great Artemis Fowl (AF) fan and, since Eoin Colfer was not going to write any more stories in that series, I was very interested to see how this new book developed. Together they must evade the assassin, Albert Garrick, who has been fundamentally altered by his trip through the wormhole. In modern London, Riley is helped by Chevie Savano, a nineteen year old FBI agent sent to London as punishment following a disastrous, undercover, anti-terrorist operation in Los Angeles.

program, and Riley is transported to modern day London, followed closely by Albert Garrick. Riley is saved from having to commit the grisly act when the intended victim turns out to be a scientist from the future, part of the FBI’s W.A.R.P. On one such murderous escapade he brings his reluctant apprentice along on his first killing. The assassin of the title is young Riley who has been apprentice to Albert Garrick, a Victorian illusionist who has fallen on difficult times and taken to using his unique conjuring skills to gain access to victims’ dwellings. stands for ‘Witness Anonymous Relocation Programme’. The Reluctant Assassin is the first book in the W.A.R.P. If Artemis Fowl is “Die Hard with Fairies”, then W.A.R.P.

Shortlisted for the Red House Children’s Book Award 2013

The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer