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Assassins Anonymous #3
Three Hitmen and a Baby
Not yet published
Expected 16 Jun 26Welcome back to Assassins Anonymous, where family is everything and danger lurks around every corner.
Assassins Anonymous isn't just a weekly recovery meeting for reformed killers—it's also a family.
When Valencia receives troubling news that her brother has gone missing, she wants rush off to LA to find him. But she can’t bring her baby girl, Lucia. Enter the other members of Assassins Anonymous—Mark, Astrid, and Booker, who offer to watch the toddler while she's gone. After all, they're three of the deadliest, most highly skilled people on the planet; what could go wrong?
Turns out, a lot. Shortly after Valencia leaves, Mark is summoned to the lair of Zmeya, a Russian mob boss calling in a deadly favor—she wants him to kill Astrid, his protege and friend. Mark refuses, but Zmeya reveals that she knows the identity of Mark’s ex-girlfriend . . . and his son. Either Astrid goes, or they do.
Meanwhile, Lucia spikes a dangerously high fever, and when Booker and Astrid take her to urgent care, they realize too late, that their fabricated identities are a real liability. Also, they don't know Valencia’s last name, let alone Lucia's. They can hardly blame the staff for calling the NYPD.
Suddenly the splintered group is on the run from both the Russian mob and the police, dodging bad guys and do-gooders while trying to find refuge in a city full of surveillance cameras—all without killing anyone. That is, until Zmeya captures Sara and Bennett, and Mark is ready to throw his sobriety out the window.
Assassins Anonymous isn't just a weekly recovery meeting for reformed killers—it's also a family.
When Valencia receives troubling news that her brother has gone missing, she wants rush off to LA to find him. But she can’t bring her baby girl, Lucia. Enter the other members of Assassins Anonymous—Mark, Astrid, and Booker, who offer to watch the toddler while she's gone. After all, they're three of the deadliest, most highly skilled people on the planet; what could go wrong?
Turns out, a lot. Shortly after Valencia leaves, Mark is summoned to the lair of Zmeya, a Russian mob boss calling in a deadly favor—she wants him to kill Astrid, his protege and friend. Mark refuses, but Zmeya reveals that she knows the identity of Mark’s ex-girlfriend . . . and his son. Either Astrid goes, or they do.
Meanwhile, Lucia spikes a dangerously high fever, and when Booker and Astrid take her to urgent care, they realize too late, that their fabricated identities are a real liability. Also, they don't know Valencia’s last name, let alone Lucia's. They can hardly blame the staff for calling the NYPD.
Suddenly the splintered group is on the run from both the Russian mob and the police, dodging bad guys and do-gooders while trying to find refuge in a city full of surveillance cameras—all without killing anyone. That is, until Zmeya captures Sara and Bennett, and Mark is ready to throw his sobriety out the window.
304 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication June 16, 2026
411 people want to read
About the author
Rob Hart
58 books1,052 followersRob Hart is the author of the USA TODAY bestseller ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS. He also wrote THE PARADOX HOTEL, which was nominated for. Lambda Literary Award, as well as THE WAREHOUSE, which has been sold in more than 20 countries. He also wrote the Ash McKenna crime series, the short story collection TAKE-OUT, the novella SCOTT FREE with James Patterson, and, with Alex Segura, the comic book BLOOD OATH and the novel DARK SPACE.
His short stories have been published widely, including “Due on Batuu,” set in the Star Wars universe, which appeared in FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and "Take-Out," which appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018.
He’s worked as a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He is the former publisher at MysteriousPress.com and class director at LitReactor. He lives in Jersey City.
His short stories have been published widely, including “Due on Batuu,” set in the Star Wars universe, which appeared in FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and "Take-Out," which appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018.
He’s worked as a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He is the former publisher at MysteriousPress.com and class director at LitReactor. He lives in Jersey City.
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December 2, 2025MARK IS BACK LET'S GOOOOOO!!
Sat here till release day 🧘♀️
Sat here till release day 🧘♀️
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Fast forward three years from the last amazing outing for the Assassins Anonymous gang- former assassins who have all foresworn off further killing and have formed a recovery group to support this decision and to encourage making amends to the families of their victims. Much like Alcohols Anonymous, they have steps to their program, sponsors, and much to emotionally process. Their attempts to stay clear of killing often falls into direct conflict with violent people from their past out to get them.
Mark, the group’s leader after his sponsor Kenji killed and then sacrificed himself to save Mark’s life, has invested in a new secure group meeting space and works hard to hold this “family of choice” together and focused on staying free of killing. Mark, a renown assassin who operated under the code name Pale Horse and worked for a contract group known as the Agency that claimed (falsely it turns out) that their killings were picked for world good, has in turn sponsored another agency staffer Astrid into the group.
Valencia who opted to become a single Mom faces a crisis involving her younger brother in L.A. which her mom has begged to her to sort out. She decides reluctantly she’ll entrust her adorable toddler daughter Lucia to the care of Mark, Astrid and Booker. But immediately as Valencia takes off, two separate crises emerge. Lucia comes down with a fever and when Astrid and Booker take her in the middle of the night to an urgent care, the nurse rightly suspects they’re not her parents as they don’t even know her last name, birthdate or weight. They must escape to take Lucia into hiding and dread Valencia finding out.
Meanwhile, Mark gets called off in the late evening by a text message he refuses to share more about with Astrid and Booker. Turns out that Mark, to locate Astrid in a black ops prison and thus save her life in the group’s last outing, had committed a favor to an elderly Russian powerbroker, known as the Zmeya, and she orders him as that favor to assassinate Astrid. She also threatens Mark’s ex-finance and the son of his she had after splitting up with him and raising as a single mom.
The group has 48 hours to figure out how to keep everyone safe, and to do so without killing anyone, and the breathless action commences. The characters are all so flawed, so endearing and so striving in their efforts to be better people – and you cannot help but root wildly enthusiastically for them all. Plus, each outing reveals more layers of their past histories, their personalities and their vulnerabilities- all of which makes you feel even more connected to them.
Another magnificent Assassins Anonymous adventure!
Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.
Mark, the group’s leader after his sponsor Kenji killed and then sacrificed himself to save Mark’s life, has invested in a new secure group meeting space and works hard to hold this “family of choice” together and focused on staying free of killing. Mark, a renown assassin who operated under the code name Pale Horse and worked for a contract group known as the Agency that claimed (falsely it turns out) that their killings were picked for world good, has in turn sponsored another agency staffer Astrid into the group.
Valencia who opted to become a single Mom faces a crisis involving her younger brother in L.A. which her mom has begged to her to sort out. She decides reluctantly she’ll entrust her adorable toddler daughter Lucia to the care of Mark, Astrid and Booker. But immediately as Valencia takes off, two separate crises emerge. Lucia comes down with a fever and when Astrid and Booker take her in the middle of the night to an urgent care, the nurse rightly suspects they’re not her parents as they don’t even know her last name, birthdate or weight. They must escape to take Lucia into hiding and dread Valencia finding out.
Meanwhile, Mark gets called off in the late evening by a text message he refuses to share more about with Astrid and Booker. Turns out that Mark, to locate Astrid in a black ops prison and thus save her life in the group’s last outing, had committed a favor to an elderly Russian powerbroker, known as the Zmeya, and she orders him as that favor to assassinate Astrid. She also threatens Mark’s ex-finance and the son of his she had after splitting up with him and raising as a single mom.
The group has 48 hours to figure out how to keep everyone safe, and to do so without killing anyone, and the breathless action commences. The characters are all so flawed, so endearing and so striving in their efforts to be better people – and you cannot help but root wildly enthusiastically for them all. Plus, each outing reveals more layers of their past histories, their personalities and their vulnerabilities- all of which makes you feel even more connected to them.
Another magnificent Assassins Anonymous adventure!
Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is such a fabulous series and such a clever idea. I will admit that there was a little stretch of time in which it felt like I was reading the previous two books yet again, but on steroids. But given my experience with previous books by the author, I pushed past that because I knew I could trust Rob Hart to take the book somewhere novel if I gave him a little time - and rest assured that he did.
He definitely keeps pushing his poor protagonists further and further toward the edge of sanity with the challenges they face in each new book... What keeps me coming back is the way he continually develops those characters, allowing them to take one step forward and two steps back in a way that feels so resonant with real-life change and personal Improvement. I love the increasing involvement of Lucia - she is a delightful foil and provides moments of great poignancy as well as comic relief. She reminds the former assassins of their humanity in a way that nothing else (and no one else) can, and I hope her role continues to expand.
And I *really* like the way this one ended - it's not cliffhangers so much as Promises of Interesting Things To Come, and I am extraordinarily eager to see what is up next!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
He definitely keeps pushing his poor protagonists further and further toward the edge of sanity with the challenges they face in each new book... What keeps me coming back is the way he continually develops those characters, allowing them to take one step forward and two steps back in a way that feels so resonant with real-life change and personal Improvement. I love the increasing involvement of Lucia - she is a delightful foil and provides moments of great poignancy as well as comic relief. She reminds the former assassins of their humanity in a way that nothing else (and no one else) can, and I hope her role continues to expand.
And I *really* like the way this one ended - it's not cliffhangers so much as Promises of Interesting Things To Come, and I am extraordinarily eager to see what is up next!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
“I get it. We’re all trying to punish ourselves because we think we deserve punishment. And maybe we do, for the things we did. But we’re all trying. We all want to be better. That’s got to mean something. For ourselves and for each other.”
…
“Just . . . that’s literally in the John Wick movies,” he says.
Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam books for sending me an ARC of Three Hitmen and a Baby in exchange for an honest review.
The Goodreads description of this book tells you everything you need to know about this story—honestly, it probably says much too much—so I’ll jump directly to my thoughts.
Three Hitmen and a Baby takes place about three years after the end of the second book in this series, The Medusa Protocol. All the characters who survived that story are back here, with a few new ones thrown in. As with Assassins Anonymous and The Medusa Protocol, Three Hitmen and a Baby works as an entertaining thriller with a growing cast of characters to care about. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series. Another fast, funny, entertaining entry in the series. Recommended.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book was pure chaos in the best way. It was a 3.5 star read for me.
Three extremely deadly, highly competent people are handed a task that should be simple by comparison, and it renders them completely inept. Anything that can go wrong does go wrong, and then it escalates over and over again.
Sometimes dark, often unhinged, and genuinely funny, this was a short read that hit my reading slump at exactly the right moment. It works perfectly as a palate cleanser: absurd, fast paced, and wildly entertaining.
Booker, Astrid, and Mark are put in charge of Lucia, and the story follows the chaotic ordeal they find themselves in as they confront their past traumas as former assassins and the darker aspects of that life. The story is told through Astrid’s and Mark’s POVs.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Three extremely deadly, highly competent people are handed a task that should be simple by comparison, and it renders them completely inept. Anything that can go wrong does go wrong, and then it escalates over and over again.
Sometimes dark, often unhinged, and genuinely funny, this was a short read that hit my reading slump at exactly the right moment. It works perfectly as a palate cleanser: absurd, fast paced, and wildly entertaining.
Booker, Astrid, and Mark are put in charge of Lucia, and the story follows the chaotic ordeal they find themselves in as they confront their past traumas as former assassins and the darker aspects of that life. The story is told through Astrid’s and Mark’s POVs.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Three Hitman and a Baby is the 3rd and final book in the Assassins Anonymous series. This book brings you back to NY with the original cast of characters as more of their past catches up to them (specifically Mark).
This story captured that same essence that the first book had and what I felt the second book was missing. It is a fun world to be in when all of the characters are working together to uphold their sobriety and are faced with the internal struggles of being a former killer.
I loved everything about this book and it wrapped up the series in a great way. Rob Hart does a good job of briefly recapping past events that you could read this as a stand alone and not miss out on much but you would be doing yourself a disservice if you chose not to read the book that started this: Assassins Anonymous. An underrated series if you are looking for a mostly lighthearted thriller.
This story captured that same essence that the first book had and what I felt the second book was missing. It is a fun world to be in when all of the characters are working together to uphold their sobriety and are faced with the internal struggles of being a former killer.
I loved everything about this book and it wrapped up the series in a great way. Rob Hart does a good job of briefly recapping past events that you could read this as a stand alone and not miss out on much but you would be doing yourself a disservice if you chose not to read the book that started this: Assassins Anonymous. An underrated series if you are looking for a mostly lighthearted thriller.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
If the ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS books have no fans, I am dead. I feel like these books don’t have any buzz… they are SO FUN! As I read them, I’m always like ‘This could be a John Wick or Jason Statham movie’… and then it goes and gets all meta and namedrops them. Anyway, they’re the ultimate popcorn books for me.
This time, the gang has to watch a kid. And everything goes just as you expect — it’s fun, it’s funny, until you get the good bit of drama/angst that comes with being a recovering assassin.
Is it pretty much just more of the same? Yeah. But ‘the same’ is good, so I’ll take it. I love these characters and this ‘family’ they’ve made. I highly recommend these books to people who just want an escapist kind of Popcorn Novel. And I’m sure they’ll keep delivering….
This time, the gang has to watch a kid. And everything goes just as you expect — it’s fun, it’s funny, until you get the good bit of drama/angst that comes with being a recovering assassin.
Is it pretty much just more of the same? Yeah. But ‘the same’ is good, so I’ll take it. I love these characters and this ‘family’ they’ve made. I highly recommend these books to people who just want an escapist kind of Popcorn Novel. And I’m sure they’ll keep delivering….
December 2, 2025
⭐ Review (English)
A wild, character-driven thriller with a surprising amount of heart. Hart blends action, dark humor, and emotional stakes in a way that keeps you hooked from page one. The dynamic between the assassins and the baby is both tense and unexpectedly touching. Looking forward to seeing how this chaotic, dysfunctional “family” survives the storm.
— Ehaab Elzerbawy
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A wild, character-driven thriller with a surprising amount of heart. Hart blends action, dark humor, and emotional stakes in a way that keeps you hooked from page one. The dynamic between the assassins and the baby is both tense and unexpectedly touching. Looking forward to seeing how this chaotic, dysfunctional “family” survives the storm.
— Ehaab Elzerbawy
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Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
twisty and fun book with some incredible characters and a super dramatic ending with someone you'd never expect winding up finishing it. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews