As a reader, I’m always on the lookout for that special book that feels like the author has tapped into the very marrow of existence and has poured this essence into my brain, leaving me shaken at the depth of insights into the human condition.
Sometimes, though, I’m cracking open a book just hoping to be entertained by a clever, suspenseful, witty tale that keeps me turning the pages, wondering what’s going to happen next.
I just finished a book that hits that second spot as directly as any book I can remember. The book is “Assassins Anonymous” by Rob Hart. A great piece of entertainment requires the right ingredients, properly mixed, and it is these ingredients that Hart nails.
Arresting premise: The novel opens with our protagonist, Mark, at a 12-step meeting exclusively for former hired killers who have pledged to never kill again. An ex-Navy SEAL, Mark spent years in the service of the mysterious Agency, helping shadowy figures pull the levers of power by eliminating threats. Mark was initially convinced he was only killing bad guys, but he reached a breaking point and is now a week away from his one-year chip. But after the meeting he’s attacked by a knife-wielding Russian who leaves Mark bleeding, having stolen the booklet that contains all of Mark’s past kills, which doubles as his list for those he needs to make amends to as the next part of the 12-step journey. How can Mark reclaim the life he’s trying so hard to make work when he can’t kill any of the people who are trying to kill him?
Fast-paced globetrotting adventures: The novel alternates between Mark’s present quest to stop whoever’s coming after him, and his past as The Pale Horse, the top assassin in the game. We’re in New York, Singapore and Prague in both timelines as Mark’s backstory is filled in bit by bit. The action scenes are vivid and crisp without dragging, and the dual timeline structure allows Hart to move his protagonist around the world without the reader questioning the timeline or viability of his actions.
Good secondary characters: Mark’s sponsor, Kenji, is a former assassin for the Japanese Yakuza mob who favored a sword in his work, but now runs the 12-step meetings. Kenji is Mark’s most important human connection, but also, maybe he’s double-crossed him? On his adventures, Mark is joined by the beautiful Astrid, an off-the-books medic who patches up people like Mark and manages to get entangled in the mystery. We also have Booker and Valencia, fellow assassins and anonymous 12-steppers ready to lend a hand to a compatriot. Even Stuart, a serial killer trying to suppress his deadly urges, becomes a believable presence in the world of the novel. And who can forget P. Kitty, Mark’s feline companion who goes on every adventure with his human pal?
Multiple mysteries: On top of the plot of Mark trying to get the source of who is trying to kill him, we’re asking why he left the killing business in the first place, whether or not Kenji has betrayed him, and why exactly Astrid is following a man whom everyone else seems to want to kill. The resolution of these mysteries and how they come together is very satisfying.
A wink and a nudge: While Mark’s dilemmas are dramatic and real, Hart’s arch delivery of the material imbues the telling with a certain knowingness and irony. References to John Wick and Mark’s non-resemblance to Jason Statham puts some lightness in the telling without making the whole thing ridiculous.
I read this book with a grin on my face the whole time.
“Assassins Anonymous” by Rob Hart. (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
John Warner is the author of “Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities.”
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read.
1. “James” by Percival Everett
2. “I Cheerfully Refuse” by Leif Enger
3. “Erasure” by Percival Everett
4. “Ink Blood Sister Scribe” by Emma Torzs
5. “Recursion” by Blake Crouch
— Carole D., Mount Prospect
I think the sly, quasi-coming-of-age novel “The Book of Goose” by Yiyun Li is a good fit for a reader who seems to range widely.
1. “Habitations” by Sheila Sundar
2. “Lucky” by Jane Smiley
3. “An American Dreamer” by David Finkel
4. “Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World” by Mary Beard
5. “North Woods” by Daniel Mason
— Enid C., Oberlin, Ohio
“So Much Pretty” by Cara Hoffman is a strange and intense work of suspense that has stuck with me for a long time. I’d be curious to know what Enid makes of it.
1. “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt
2. “The Seven Year Slip” by Ashley Poston
3. “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4. “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman
5. “Signal Fires” by Dani Shapiro
— Lisa P., Glenview
I’m going to send Lisa a bit off the beaten path toward a kind of ghost story that’s a moving and profound exploration of love and grief, “You Came Back” by Christopher Coake.
Get a reading from the Biblioracle
Send a list of the last five books you’ve read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com.
