The Origin Story of an Assassin
Assassins are some of my favorite creatures to create. They are the Byronic hero of the literary world, moving through the shadows, doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. We root for these characters because they are vital in the international landscape, stopping wars, ending dictatorships, and otherwise ridding the world of vermin. They also protect, keep safe, and otherwise selflessly save the lives of many characters. They walk such a fine line, and the ones we (I) love the most are forever struggling with that tightrope, relying heavily on their strict but twisted moral code and sense of honor while still…well…murdering people for a living.
The dichotomy of these characters is one of my favorites to write. I thought I’d spend today deconstructing how I create a solid, believable assassin, using one of my favorites, Angelie Delacroix, as an example. Angelie appears first in the Taylor Jackson novella Whiteout and reappears in The Wolves Come at Night.
Angelie was born in blood. The sole survivor of an assassination attempt on her family, she is brought up by her morally corrupt uncle and trained away from her grief and into the vicious traditions that make him money. She eventually becomes one of the most sought-after assassins in the world for her success, discretion, and creative disposal methods. She works for an international consortium, The Macallan Group, under the ever-watchful eye of Thierry Florian.
Angelie fascinates me for several reasons.
