... so they get away with murder. It's their super-power." -- Herself Sometimes literally, at least in the case of the main characters in Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. They are employed by a shadowy organization that had its origins in the post-WWII Nazi-hunting era and then expanded its mission to hunting other "deserving" groups such as human traffickers and arms dealers. The four main characters are "women of a certain age" who are looking forward to retiring from their successful careers as assassins. Their employer is sending them on an all-expenses-paid cruise in the Caribbean to celebrate this milestone and to thank them for their efforts. Some gold watch, huh? Needless to say, things don't go as they had expected, and they find themselves calling on their well-honed skills to figure out who has marked them for elimination. ‘I am interested in justice, not the law. There is an unfortunate difference.’ The plot is engaging, a real page-turner in places, and the main characters are people I'd enjoy meeting since I'm not in the demographic that is targeted for professional attention by their employer. The characters are also realistic about the limitations imposed by their ages. These limitations, while not belabored, act as an additional opponent at times. Buzzfeed describes the book as "Golden Girls meets James Bond", but I don't think this is accurate. Our heroines are neither fantasy wish-fulfillment characters who are unencumbered by an unreliable memory or gimpy knees, nor are they humorous because of their frailties. Our old gals are just getting on with it and working with the tools they have available. I'd love to see this made into a move or mini-series - although well-loved books often disappoint when they move into a different medium. Comments are closed.
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