The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer

 Riley wants to be a CIA agent more than anything, but she botches her first assignment and is sent to London to babysit a strange piece of old tech. Riley lives in Victorian England and is the apprentice of a man, Garrick, who used to be an illusionist and now is an assassin for hire. Riley doesn't like his mentor, especially when Gerrick pressures him to make his first kill. The man they intend to kill turns out to be a scientist from the future, who, at the point of death is whisked back to the modern age, taking Riley and Garrick with him.  Riley knows how evil Garrick is and convinces Riley that it is worth following Garrick back into the past to stop him from completing his evil plot. 

I was excited to find another sci-fi series by Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl series. As I started to read it I was surprised to find the writing clunky and awkward.  I wondered if Colfer had started to go senile or something.  Later in the story (much later) it is revealed why the writing style is so bad, but I think it was a gimmick that went wrong. I don't actually want to read poor writing just to get a clever plot twist at the end. That being said, the story line is good.  It is interesting and the final resolution satisfying. I think, though, before I read the next in the series I am going to listen to the sample to make sure the writing style is back up to the Artemis Fowl level. (321 p. 2013)