Assassins Anonymous
Rob Hart
In this thriller full of action, humor, and charm, the world’s most lethal assassin has left the violent life behind and joined a 12-step group for recovering killers. But when he’s attacked and barely survives, he must figure out who’s after him and why—without breaking his pledge never to kill again. Mark is the most dangerous killer-for-hire in the world. His nickname—the Pale Horse—breathes fear into the cold heart of every rival who hears it. But after learning the hard way that this life has made him more monster than man, Mark has left all of that behind. With the help of his sponsor, Kenji, he has joined a group of former assassins who meet in secret for support in recovery. Then he’s viciously attacked by an unknown assailant. Thrust back into the shadowy world of betrayal and assassination, injured and on the run from New York to Singapore to London, Mark must solve the mystery of who’s coming for him and why. Has the Agency decided he knows too much and must be taken out? Has a rival decided to attack now that he’s laid his weapons down? Has one of the thousands of people who might want revenge finally come for it? And how will he survive the onslaught without killing anyone? For an assassin, Mark learns, non-violence is a real hassle. A perfectly paced, globe-trotting, and action-filled thriller, Assassins Anonymous is also full of both hilarity and heart, witty and surprisingly affecting, and will delight fans of John Wick and Barry .
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The book's concept is that the world's deadliest hitman, known as Pale Horse, has left behind his violent life of crime and joined a support group for a hodgepodge band of reformed assassins all who are ready to leave their former lives behind. The rules they live by are inspired by AA groups albeit they follow a different set of outlined rules, but celebrated with chips and speeches as they reach those momentous milestones.
But in the story's opening pages, he is attacked by a mysterious assailant and, nursing a severe wound, gets medical treatment from a woman who has bailed him out before. Now the two are embroiled in a life-threatening situation to not only outrun this assailant but to do that while navigating Mark's initial pledge that he will not kill. You can imagine this is quite hard when we uncover his God-like capabilities for murder and mayhem.
The novel follows a nonlinear timeline allowing us to peek into his past which revealed gasp-worthy twists for the reason why he left his old life behind. Thanks to a new accomplice named P. Kitty, a stray cat who renews his purpose, we discover all the friends and foes of Mark's life in riveting detail.
With loads of film references to past assassins and more than a few eye rolls as our protagonist is constantly compared to John Statham (dear god, let him be cast as the film lead!), you'll be laughing through much of this novel.
And while the story ends tidily, I can't help but hope that this might be the first in a series- I can't imagine our journey with Pale Horse is done. I count this story among my favorite books of the year.
TAG: Christmas Eve, Serial Killer, Redemption Story
0It took me a minute to get into the story, but I enjoyed it. Some plot twists I didn't catch onto which is a plus to be surprised. A good book overall.
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