BLOG TOUR: Assassin Eighteen (Last Man Standing book 2) - John Brownlow

'I am waiting for someone to kill me. Tonight would be a good night for it.'

Agent Seventeen, the most infamous hitman in the world, has quit. But whoever wants to become Assassin Eighteen must track him down and kill him first.

So when a bullet hits the glass inches from his face, he knows who fired it - doesn't he?

But the sniper isn't the hardened killer he was expecting. It's Mireille - a mysterious, silent child, abandoned in the woods with instructions to pull the trigger.

Reuniting with his spiky lover, Kat, Seventeen must protect Mireille, and discover who sent her to kill him, and why.

But the road he must travel is littered with bodies. And the answer, when it comes, will blow apart everything Seventeen thought he knew. 

What did I think?

Assassin Eighteen is the second book in the Last Man Standing series but it is so good that you can totally read it as a standalone.  I loved Agent Seventeen but Assassin Eighteen completely blew me away and the pair of them together are simply earth-shattering.

Seventeen is living in Sixteen's house and waiting for Eighteen to come along and kill him.  Things don't quite go to plan when the shot that Seventeen is expecting doesn't kill him but instead leads him into a complex web of danger and destruction with another target on his back.

The pacing is blisteringly fast and my eyes were zipping down the page faster than my brain could read the words.  I absolutely love John Brownlow's style of writing; the chapters are short and punchy but every single word is impactful and effective.  A couple of chapters have no more than two words but they are perhaps the most heart-stopping and tense chapters I have ever read.

There aren't enough words to describe how amazing this book is - it's an absolute must-read and easily one of my favourite books of 2023.  I'm going to be shouting about Assassin Eighteen for a long time - it's JAWDROPPINGLY BRILLIANT!  DO NOT MISS IT!

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

Follow the tour:

BLOG TOUR: Seventeen - John Brownlow

ONE HUNDRED YEARS. SEVENTEEN ASSASSINS. ONE HELL OF A RIDE.

A LARGER-THAN-LIFE, NON-STOP BLOCKBUSTER THRILLER FOR FANS I AM PILGRIM AND GREGG HURWITZ FROM HOLLYWOOD SCRIPTWRITER WITH FILM RIGHTS SOLD IN A MAJOR DEAL...

YOU’LL NEVER KNOW MY NAME.

BUT YOU WON’T FORGET MY NUMBER.

BEHIND THE EVENTS YOU KNOW ARE THE KILLERS YOU DON’T.

WHEN DIPLOMACY FAILS, WE’RE THE ONES WHO GEAR UP.

OFFICIALLY WE DON’T EXIST, BUT EVERY GOVERNMENT IN THE WORLD USES OUR SERVICES.

WE’VE BEEN SAVING THE WORLD, AND YOUR ASS, FOR 100 YEARS.

SIXTEEN PEOPLE HAVE DONE THIS JOB BEFORE ME.

I AM 17. THE MOST FEARED ASSASSIN IN THE WORLD.

BUT TO BE THE BEST YOU MUST BEAT THE BEST.

MY NEXT TARGET IS 16, JUST AS ONE DAY 18 WILL HUNT ME DOWN.

IT’S A DOG-EAT-DOG WORLD AND IT GETS LONELY AT THE TOP.

NOBODY GETS TO STAY FOR LONG.

BUT WHILE WE’RE HERE, ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT WE WIN.

VISCERAL, CINEMATIC AND INSANELY ADDICTIVE, 17 WILL KEEP YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT AND LIVE LONG IN THE MEMORY. UNTIL 18 COMES ALONG ... 

What did I think?

No wonder the blurb for Seventeen is written in capital letters; this is a book that grabs you round the neck and shouts in your face the moment you turn the first page.  It's an absolute firecracker of a novel and I LOVED IT!! 

It's written in the first person and has short, punchy chapters so it feels as if the protagonist is talking solely to you.  I really liked 17 and his cool, calm and collected way of thinking and working.  There's so much going on that I almost forgot to breathe and this is one of those books where your eyes jump down the page quicker than your brain can read.  I had to cover the page while I was reading to stop my naughty eyes from skipping ahead.

17 carries out his tasks quickly and efficiently; that's why he's the best.  Assassins usually inherit their position following the death of their predecessor, however, 16 disappeared leaving a loose end that needs to be tied up.  17 must find and kill 16 but he needs to have eyes in the back of his head as there's always the danger of the hunter becoming the hunted as new assassins compete to be crowned 18.

I loved everything about this book: the writing, the plot, and the characters.  The action doesn't let up for a moment and the pacing is lightning fast.  It's an intense and exciting rollercoaster of a thriller that had my heart pounding and left me breathless.  Absolutely brilliant!

Filled with espionage, danger and tension, Seventeen is a raw, gritty fast-paced thriller that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.  I devoured every single carefully crafted word and couldn't read it fast enough.  It's destined for the big screen (movie rights have already been sold) and I, for one, can't wait to see it.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

About the author:

JOHN BROWNLOW HOLDS BRITISH/CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP AND LIVES TWO HOURS NORTH OF TORONTO. HE WROTE THE FILM SYLVIA, STARRING GWYNETH PALTROW AND DANIEL CRAIG, THE TV SERIES FLEMING ABOUT IAN FLEMING’S WORK AS A SPY AND THE GENESIS OF JAMES BOND, AND THE TV SERIES THE MINIATURIST, ADAPTED FROM JESSIE BURTON’S BEST-SELLING NOVEL. 

YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @JOHNBROWNLOW

Follow the tour:

How's the Pain? - Pascal Garnier

Death is Simon’s business. And now the ageing vermin exterminator is preparing to die. But he still has one last job down on the coast, and he needs a driver. 

Bernard is twenty-one. He can drive and he’s never seen the sea. He can’t pass up the chance to chauffeur for Simon, whatever his mother may say. As the unlikely pair set off on their journey, Bernard soon finds that Simon’s definition of vermin is broader than he’d expected … 

Veering from the hilarious to the horrific, this offbeat story from master stylist Pascal Garnier is at heart an affecting study of human frailty. 

What did I think?

Pascal Garnier is certainly what I would consider one of my great finds of 2020 and I was so looking forward to reading more of his books after I'd read and enjoyed A Long Way Off.  I picked up How's the Pain? and I was hooked from the first shocking chapter, unable to put the book down until I had greedily devoured every single perfect word, flawlessly translated once again by Emily Boyce.

At 171 pages, How's the Pain? is a short book but my goodness, there's lots going on in it.  I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions as, although it's considered to be in the noir genre, it's very funny.  By carefully choosing his words, Pascal Garnier creates such well developed characters that the reader really gets to know over the course of the book.  Even though he has a dubious career, I really liked Simon and I loved the interaction between him and his new acquaintance Bernard.

The writing is sublime and the narrative is sharp and witty, making the story flow beautifully and it's easy to read in one short sitting (I think it took me about 90 minutes to read).  It's definitely a book I'll read again, as I'm sure I'll have missed some things at the rate I was reading, and I've no doubt that I'll still find the same parts hilarious.

Filled with dark humour and quirky characters, How's the Pain? is completely magnifique!

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for me to read and review; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon