Victor the Assassin is back, but instead of watching him execute hit after hit, we get to see him try to survive the CIA putting a hit out on him, and him turning to another assassin for help. I love the Victor the Assassin series, and the premise in this one sounded fantastic, but somehow, this book didn’t quite come together for me.
At every twist and turn, this story had opportunities for greatness, but for the most part, it failed to size on those opportunities. The plot seemed to jump all over the place at random, abandoning great plot lines before they could come to fruition:
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Victor versus the CIA. I was really excited to see how Victor would handle the full power of the CIA trying to take him out, what sorts of other badass assassins they would bring into the mix, and how this chess battle would play out. Unfortunately, the CIA comes off somewhat inept into this story, and the plot line largely fizzes out, with little in the way of interesting battles or strategy.
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Victor versus the other assassin. Another great opportunity was Victor’s to see how things would play out with the other assassin that Victor turns to for help. How they interact and their relationship is a highlight of this book; every time they are together in a scene, it’s electric. But there are only a handful of such scenes, and it’s over before it can really get started.
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Victor vs his targets. Some of the best parts of the Victor the Assassin books are seeing how he takes down his targets: the way he interacts with his brokers, the paranoid way he lives his life, the obsession with every detail, the meticulous planning, the ability to improvise when a plan falls apart, and him generally being a badass at everything he does. This book has shockingly little of that. I don’t think Victor is tasked with even a single hit in the entire book. Most of what he does is reactive.
It’s not a bad book, as Victor is still a great character, we learn a little more about his backstory, and there are a few good action scenes, but this book could’ve been a lot better.
