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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #816, Unlikely Assassins

by muffy

killers_of_a_certain_age

Deanna Raybourn, author of the Edgar Award–nominated Veronica Speedwell Mysteries, as well as the Lady Julia Grey series,  presents a contemporary stand-alone in  Killers of a Certain Age  * * *  (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook.) 

After 40 years of dedicated service to The Museum, a clandestine international organization, Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie are retiring, being sent off with an all-expenses paid luxury cruise. They are not the deadliest assassins for nothing - Billie at once notices a fellow colleague passing himself off as a crew member. A search of his cabin unearths a sophisticated bomb, large enough to send the whole ship off to oblivion.  Realizing only the Museum Board could order the termination of field agents, these 60somthing know that they will have to turn the table, rely on their training, experience, and each other to survive. 

“The story jumps back and forth between the late 1970s and early '80s, when the women were first recruited, to the present day… The writing is witty and original, and the plot is unpredictable…As the women race around the world trying to stay alive, Raybourn vividly evokes a number of far-flung locations while keeping readers on their toes trying to figure out what's going to happen next….A unique examination of womanhood as well as a compelling, complex mystery. “ (Kirkus Reviews)

AUDIO PICK

old_woman_with_the_knife

The Old Woman with the Knife (downloadable eBook and audiobook) is the first book to be translated into English for South Korean author Gu Byeong-mo.

65 year-old Hornclaw knows retirement is imminent. After 4 decades of eliminating double-crossers, corporate enemies, and cheating spouses with ruthless efficiency as a “disease control specialist”, she has to admit she is no longer as fast or as strong - liabilities for an assassin. But before she could settle into retirement, living modestly in the same small apartment, with her aging rescue dog, Deadweight, she had one last assignment. Due to an uncharacteristic slip-up, she is injured and makes an unexpected connection with a doctor and his family at an all-night clinic. But emotions, for an assassin, are a dangerous proposition.

“In (Chi-Young) Kim’s fluid translation, the novel resembles recent South Korean narratives that became popular in the United States, like Bong Joon Ho’s 2019 film Parasite and Hwang Dong-hyuk’s 2021 television series Squid Game,  like these works, “The Old Woman With the Knife” uses occasionally cartoonish action and horror sequences to offer a broader social commentary.” (The New York Times Book Reviews

*  *  *  = 3 starred reviews

 

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