Audiobook Review: Killers of a Certain Age, by Deanna Raybourn

At first, I thought Killers of a Certain Age was going to be a kind of tongue-in-cheek cutesy assassin story. After the introduction, when the women were fighting for their lives, the tone changed, and I found it to be pretty exciting.

Billie is the narrator of the present time. She is one of four, recently retired women, who have worked for the past 40 years as assassins. The organization they work for, the Museum, started out as a Nazi-hunting squad, but since the Nazis' numbers have dwindled, their mission is to investigate, target, and assassinate unscrupulous people all over the world.

The four women have been sent on an all-expenses-paid cruise as a retirement gift. Turns out their real gift is finding out they, themselves are targets of the Museum. Once they figure this out, they are on their own to escape their former colleagues who are now trying to assassinate them and to figure out why they have been targeted.

Their methods are creative and intriguing. The four each have different personalities and different strengths. We get flashbacks of how they were recruited and trained 40 years ago, and some of their early missions are described.

They can trust no one, as we soon find out. Their destiny seems an impossible one to escape. There are surprises all the way through, and I only figured out the situation as the characters did.

All in all, Killers of a Certain Age was time well spent. Oppenheimer and Delaine, the narrators, did a great job. (One did the present, and the other did the flashbacks.) I would recommend this one if it sounds interesting and highly recommend the audio version.

Published by Berkley, 2022. Penguin Audio.
Audiobook obtained from libro.fm
368 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

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Audio Book Review: The Diamond Eye, by Kate Quinn

 After thoroughly enjoying The Rose Code, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to listen to The Diamond Eye. I was not disappointed.

Quinn has the ability to take a little-known aspect of WWII and make it so compelling. In The Diamond Eye, she tells the story of a Russian woman sniper, Mila Pavlichenko, who is a real-life historical figure. 

I enjoyed the first part of The Diamond Eye the most. The part where Mila is learning to shoot, joining the Russian army, and killing over 300 German Nazis. Later, Mila becomes a propaganda tool for Russia, traveling to the United States and meeting President Roosavelt and becoming friends with Eleanor. The story involves a plot to kill the president, which Mila becomes involved in. While this adds much tension to the story, I found it a bit far-fetched (although very entertaining.)

So I really enjoyed the entire book, but I guess I thought there was more truth to the first part. However, when I read the end piece where Quinn describes where she got her information (a lot from Mila's memoir, Lady Death,) I realized that there is a lot of truth, even in the last part of the novel.

The audio version of The Diamond Eye is excellent. The reader, Saskia Maarleveld, has an accent, but it is very easy to understand and adds to the story. The voices are distinct, but not overly done. 

If you enjoyed The Rose Code, you shouldn't miss The Diamond Eye. If you are at all interested in WWII fiction, both of these books are must reads. Quinn is a master storyteller, and I intend to keep her on my list of favorite authors.

Published by William Morrow, March 29, 2022, HarperAudio
Audiobook obtained from the library
448 pages

Rating: 5/5

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Book Review: An Assassin's Guide to Love & Treason by Virginia Boeker

If you are really interested in Shakespeare's England, An Assassin's Guide to Love & Treason will certainly entertain.

Katherine Arundell's father is a Catholic in 1602 when Queen Elizabeth is attempting to make England a Protestant country. Katherine's father doesn't do a very good job of hiding his religion and when the queen's guard comes to arrest him, they kill him.  Katherine hides and then escapes to London with the horse groom, Jory, who also aspires to be a priest.

Katherine finds the men whom her father was working with on a plan to assassinate the queen and vows to help them to avenge her father's death.  Katherine becomes Kit, a boy, who must obtain a part in Shakespear's new play, Twelfth Night, that will be performed for the queen.  Kit will kill the queen during the performance. Kit is successful in getting the part but doesn't realize she is walking into a trap.

The other narrator is Toby, who works for the queen to discover the network of people who are planning the assassination.  Toby has set up this play just to lure the assassins to make their move.

Things get convoluted when Toby and Kit develop feelings for each other.  Toby thinks Kit is a boy, and well, there is also the problem that Kit is the assassin that Toby is supposed to turn over to the queen's guard.

The middle of An Assassin's Guide to Love & Treason gets really slow.  After Kit gets the part in the play, the relationship between her and Toby develops very slowly.  And the assassination is planned...very slowly.  And Toby tries to figure out who the guilty party is -- very slowly.  Nothing much happens.

Even though our main characters are teens, the book reads more like an adult book.  The pacing is too slow and meticulous, and the details too many.

The ending, however, is very exciting and satisfying. I would recommend this to teens who are very interested in Shakespeare or the time period.  Or those that really enjoy historical assassins.

Published by Little, Brown BFYR, October 23, 2018
ARC obtained from School Library Connection Magazine
384pages

Rating: 3.5/5

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Book Review: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

I have read a few of Bohjalian's books and enjoyed most of them.  The Flight Attendant definitely fell into that category.

Cassie is a flight attendant laying over in Dubai.  She hooks up with a passenger she met on the flight and gets blackout drunk. This isn't unusual behavior for Cassie. When she wakes up, she remembers sharing a bottle of vodka with a female visitor that this man worked with, she remembers the sex, and she remembers leaving to go back to her hotel.  So why is she waking up still in this man's room?  And why is he dead in bed next to her -- his throat slashed?

Cassie takes a shower to wash off the blood, tries to clean up all her fingerprints, and leaves to catch her flight back to the states. Things slowly begin to fall apart for Cassie, and thankfully she does retain an attorney pretty early in the process. But she's pretty stupid at times and doesn't always follow her attorney's advice.  And when pictures show up with a woman wearing the exact scarf Cassie purchased in Dubai, it seems everyone knows Cassie isn't telling the truth.

When she does tell the truth (or most of it), it doesn't help.  Basically, Cassie is a mess.  And the fact that the man she was with might have been a spy, and the woman that was a guest that evening doesn't seem to exist, puts Cassie in a different kind of danger she never anticipated.

I was easily wrapped up in The Flight Attendant, and rooted for Cassie, even as she continued to blunder through her situation. The pacing is good and Bohjalian has a gift for description. My only complaint is the ending.  There is an epilogue, but I wish the story had gone another step before the epilogue.  I felt like, "Wait....What??" I didn't quite understand how Cassie got where she was, and exactly what was her situation.  Maybe it was just a bit too sinister and twisted for me?  I needed an explanation.

I would recommend The Flight Attendant, and also that you go back and read Bohjalian's The Night Strangers and The Sleepwalker, a couple of my favorites. The Flight Attendant contains lots of promiscuity and sex, but nothing graphic.  Reserve this one for older teens.

Published by Doubleday, March 13, 2018
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
368 pages

Rating: 4/5

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DNF Book Review: Cold Barrel Zero by Matthew Quirk

OK, so I didn't finish this one, but I read over half of it, and it's a good book. So, why didn't I finish it? Well, it's just not my kind of book. Or at least it's not the right book for me now. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes your reading experience is affected by your mood, or the last thing you read, or the next thing you want to read. Or maybe I just got impatient, because Cold Barrel Zero is very detailed.

It's hard to describe Cold Barrel Zero because it is complex. It's about two groups of people who are after each other because of supposed atrocities committed long ago. One group is the military and the main character is Riggs. The other group are the supposed renegades, led by Hayes. Then Thomas Byrne, who hasn't seen Hayes for years gets roped into this horrible situation because he' in the wrong place at the wrong time. For Byrne, it's help or be killed.

There is a lot of action, but it's kind of the same action repeated over again, which is the main reason I gave up at 55%. It's a long book -- or at least it seemed like it. I didn't need more action, I just needed the answers to come a bit more quickly. Cold Barrel Zero is purposefully confusing at the beginning and many characters are introduced quickly. The best part is the fact that the reader really doesn't know who is bad and who is good. I'm not really sure anyone is good in this one. But after over half the book, I was still totally in the dark. I needed some breadcrumbs, so I could stay interested in the outcome.

Quirk also uses some jargon that I didn't understand and some references that made no sense. One example is when he talks about a group of high powered people at a meeting and says, "they were all mandarins." Huh? The dictionary on my e-reader didn't have an explanation. When I go to dictionary.com the sixth definition says: "An influential or powerful government official or bureaucrat." Thanks for expanding my vocabulary, but I think Quirk is being purposefully obtuse. These types of phrases occur too often and disrupted the flow for me.

I found myself resenting this story and wishing it would just be over. That's when I decided it was time to quit. A certain case of "it's me, not you" because really my complaints about Cold Barrel Zero are minor, and if you like these types of high tech, military terrorism stories, then you should go for it.

Published by Mulholland, March 29, 2016
eARC obtained from NetGalley
211/384 pages

Rating: DNF

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Book Review: Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers

Assassin's Heart has a very unique world and premise, but took a while to hook me.

Lea Saldana is a clipper. A clipper is an assassin, but one who kills for their god so that the victim can be reborn. Lea's family is the number one clan in the kingdom of Lovero. She is in a secret, forbidden relationship with Val, a member of the rival clan, the Da Vias, who are hated by all of Lea's family.

During the night, a fire rips through the secret home of the Saldana family and all are killed except for Lea. She's on the run, realizing that the Da Vias are responsible for the murders of her family and will soon be coming after her. She vows to seek revenge and kill them all.

She makes a daring escape through a field of ghosts and hides in a town where she believes her estranged uncle lives. She wants to convince him to help her go after the Da Via family. This kingdom is very different, believing in a different god, and having no clippers. She meets Les, who her uncle has begun to train as a clipper. Her uncle makes it very clear that he will be no help, so Lea promises Les she will finish his training and he can help her kill the Da Via family.

I found Assassin's Heart to be slow and repetitive for about 60% of the story. I had a hard time picking it up to read, and I'm not sure why. I didn't really like Lea -- she made some stupid decisions for no apparent reason. The plot progressed very slowly. But at about 60%, it really took off and I finished it in pretty much one sitting. It was worth the wait, but I really think some of the beginning could be trimmed a bit without affecting the story.

I'm also not a fan of the "turn" the story takes with regard to Lea and Les. I can't really say more without spoilers, but it just seemed a bit like Ahiers took the easy way out.

Assassin's Heart introduces another kick-ass female assassin, which seem to be prevalent in recent YA fiction. I haven't got enough of these books yet, so Assassin's Heart is a worthy addition to the genre. I believe this is a stand alone, or at least it reads like one, given there is actually an ending to the story. I greatly appreciated that.

While I had some problems with the story, I am still excited to introduce my students to Assassin's Heart.  I think there will be a lot of fans.

Published by HarperTeen, February 2, 2016
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
432 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

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Book Review: Hit by Delilah S. Dawson

Just a reminder that I'm hosting the 2016 EBook Reading Challenge if you are interested.

I loved the unique and troubling premise of Hit. It's definitely a "what would you do?" kind of book.

The country has been bought by Valor Savings. The national debt became so huge, that this company bailed it out and now controls everything. Patsy has been forced to become an assassin to save her and her mother's lives. Her mother built up so much debt that when Valor demanded immediate payment in full, there is no way she can. The only choice is death or for Patsy to become a debt collector for five days.

No one in the country knows this is going on. Patsy poses as a mail person. She gives these victims the same ultimatum that she got. If they refuse, she shoots them with a gun provided by Valor.

The idea that the fine print on a credit application could allow this to happen gets you thinking. How often do you "read the fine print?" Well, none of these people did and now Valor is allowed to basically do whatever they want. Scary.

The premise is intriguing and the book moves at a good pace. There's more to the story, including a romantic interest, but I don't want to spoil anything.  You do have to suspend some disbelief, since it seems so easy for Patsy to kill people. I mean, she's upset but she gets over it way to easily. She doesn't consider giving up her own life and her mother's. She pretty much accepts her fate and gets on with it. I don't really think that is realistic. I'm sure there would be much more mental turmoil than is depicted in Hit. There are also a couple places where the violence is pretty graphic and gory, so prepare for that.

But it is a compelling read and a great one for discussion. This was chosen by my kids in book club, and I can't wait to discuss this with them next week at our meeting. Pick this one up if you get a chance. It can't help but make you think.

Published by Simon Pulse, April 14, 2015
Copy obtained from the library
324 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

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Book Review: Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin @ryangraudin

Wolf by Wolf is a thought-provoking story about what might have happened had Hitler been victorious in World War II.

In this version of history, our main character, Yael, has escaped from a Nazi death camp but only after being experimented upon and almost killed. The doctor was trying to turn her into an Aryan by using drugs to change her skin, eye, and hair color. A side effect of this treatment is that now Yael has the power to shape shift. She can put on the face of anyone she sees.

Hitler has continued to take over land and try to rid the world of entire civilizations. He and  Emperor Hirohito have taken over the Eurasian continent and northern Africa. In the "present," which is 1956, Yael has trained with the resistance to impersonate a teen, Adele, who has won the coveted Axis Tour, an annual motorcycle race from Germany to Tokyo. Adele was the first female to ever win (or even compete in) the race. Now Yael will kidnap her, impersonate her, win this year's race, and assassinate Hitler at the Victory Ball.

We get Yael's backstory in bits and pieces. She describes the people who the five wolves she has tattooed on her arm commemorate. These wolves are designed so they hide the tattoo of her prisoner number that she was given while in the death camp.

Wolf by Wolf is hard to put down. The pacing is nonstop, and the racing is brutal and sometimes deadly. Yael's road to victory is not straightforward, and she must make difficult choices. The descriptions of the death camp are horrifying (as they always are.) The whole shape shifting thing is a bit far-fetched, but that's not what the story is about. It serves a purpose.

I hope Wolf by Wolf gets some attention. I believe it could be the stepping off point for some interesting conversations about racism (both historical and current) and being true to oneself. Or as the author's note says "to impart a deeper understanding of what humanity is capable of. Both the good and the evil." Lots of food for thought.

Published by Little, Brown BFYR, October 20, 2015
eARC obtained from NetGalley
400 pages

Rating: 4/5

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Book Review: Boy Nobody (I Am the Weapon) by Allen Zadoff

To clarify first: This book was originally published as Boy Nobody, which is the version I have in my library. Then the name was changed to I Am the Weapon and a new version was published. I hate that. It's so confusing.

After Boy Nobody's parents were killed, he was taken in by The Program (who his parents also worked for) and trained to be an assassin. After years of training, he is unemotional and very good at his job. He's never had any problems fulfilling his mission until he becomes emotionally involved with one of his targets.

While Boy Nobody is a familiar story, it is exciting and fascinating. To see the way this boy thinks because of his brainwashing is stunning. Yes, you have to suspend some (much) disbelief, but that's expected in any book where a 16 year old is an assassin. Boy Nobody is a page turner for sure. And as a bonus, I was totally surprised by the ending. I didn't expect him to do that. And that's all I'll say about it.

Boy Nobody (I Am the Weapon) has a tidy resolution, but it's the first book in a series, and I'm looking forward to continuing. The next two books have been released and are I Am the Mission and I Am the Traitor.

Boy Nobody is a very quick read with a lot of half pages and would be great for reluctant readers. This one has been nominated for our Abe Lincoln High School Book Award for 2016, and I'm excited to push it at school this year.

Published by Little, Brown BFYR, 2014
Copy obtained from the library
337 pages

Rating: 4/5

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