Scan barcode
A review by catreynolds28
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
After four decades of working as elite assassins for an organization known only as the Museum, Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie are ready for retirement. Well they’re not ready but they don’t have much of a choice - their talents are considered old-school and the organization has started to recruit more and more “gym bros” that like to blow things up rather than women that blend in and sever arteries with sharpened hair pins. The friends are gifted an all-expenses-paid vacation to mark their retirement and they get together to toast to the new chapter in their lives and live happily ever after. Just kidding - someone tries to kill them. When they discover top-level members of the Museum have ordered a termination order, they must rely on their experience, friendship, and several ways to make poisons from household objects to get their lives back.
Killers of a Certain Age is the movie RED if RED was a book, not the CIA, and the main characters were all women. It was fun. It was a fun, quick read and I enjoyed it. Billie was the narrator for most of the story and, while I liked her quick wit and sarcasm, her vague but tragic backstory didn’t add anything to the plot except to explain why she carries around a lighter. Same can be said for her “long lost love.” I also don’t really understand where her assistant/adopted daughter/minion came from and there was truly no explanation. Most of the characters had tidbits about them that I feel like were supposed to advance the plot but they missed their mark.
I’m a huge Deanna Raybourn fan and I prefer her Lady Julia Grey and Veronica Speedwell works to this book but it was cute. All in all it was a four and a half hour read and I think it was time well spent.
Killers of a Certain Age is the movie RED if RED was a book, not the CIA, and the main characters were all women. It was fun. It was a fun, quick read and I enjoyed it. Billie was the narrator for most of the story and, while I liked her quick wit and sarcasm, her vague but tragic backstory didn’t add anything to the plot except to explain why she carries around a lighter. Same can be said for her “long lost love.” I also don’t really understand where her assistant/adopted daughter/minion came from and there was truly no explanation. Most of the characters had tidbits about them that I feel like were supposed to advance the plot but they missed their mark.
I’m a huge Deanna Raybourn fan and I prefer her Lady Julia Grey and Veronica Speedwell works to this book but it was cute. All in all it was a four and a half hour read and I think it was time well spent.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore