Assassins have no fun…at least that is how Jake Monday feels. Sure, it pays well and has tons of great benefits like beautiful women, fast cars and expensive clothes. But, when you hate your job, how can you enjoy its perks?
Jake finds that although he excels at killing, he finds no joy in it. His employer continues to push him to his limits, forcing Jake to re-evaluate his career choice.
A chance meeting with a woman aboard a flight to Los Angeles leaves Jake questioning more than his occupation. She leaves him with a strange gift and a feeling that they are somehow connected.
Before Jake can unravel the mysterious woman, he takes an assignment that changes his life forever. The stakes are legendary, the danger acute, and the world may never be the same.
"It's another exotic, high stakes thriller that doesn't really thrill and spends more time showing off the wonderful world it inhabits than getting down to business."
Reviewer: Angel for Bookangel.
Jake Monday is an assassin and one of the, if not, the best in the business. Working for the Galbraith Alliance, a secretive organisation, who specialise in this kind of action, Monday finds himself contracted to assassinate the lovely Giselle Chaput only to find himself not trusting of the company he works for. When he decides to save her life instead of carrying out the contract, he finds out that the stakes he has been playing for are far higher than he expected.
This is not a bad thriller, the writing is fairly punchy and the locations suitably exotic and expensive for an international assassin of mystery. The characters are all rich, powerful and all act like they walked off the set of a James Bond movie. The plot is suitably convoluted, with backstabbing and two-timing taking place all the time, but it lacks a certain life to really want to make you really interested in it. It all feels a little formulaic in terms of what is happening and there isn't enough of a strong basis in this opening novel to really keep the interest. Well, there is one thread in the story, which may prove interesting, and that is to do with Mr Monday's history, a history he cannot quite remember and the few references to it are far more interesting than his day to day role. Hopefully, this will become more prominent in future stories.
There is also one big problem with this story. He is a top class assassin and the one thing you never see him do is actually kill anyone. You start after he has carried out a contract, he also gets into a few fights, but you are never actually shown a life being taken by him. Other people do, but not the master assassin.
Overall, it's another exotic, high stakes thriller that doesn't really thrill and spends more time showing off the wonderful world they inhabit than getting down to the actual business they are supposed to be in. Fans of the genre will probably enjoy it, but it's a bit too superficial for me. Rating:3
