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The fourth novella in the Villanelle series. A fast, sexy, journey-length read.

Villanelle is a psychopath and a trained assassin, as beautiful as she is lethal. As night falls on the Ukrainian city of Odessa, Villanelle prepares to break into the fortified mansion where Konstantin, her mentor, is held hostage. In London, meanwhile, Eve Polastri of MI6 is rewarded with a breakthrough as she and her team pursue Villanelle and the shadowy network for whom she kills.

In a deadly battle of wits, Villanelle is pitted against the brilliant and ferociously determined Eve. This is a thriller series with a difference. The writing is blade-sharp, and the sex as fierce as the action.

"What I enjoy about Villanelle is that she is robotic and ruthless and kills to order, but you don’t in any way dislike her. Her effortless cool and glamour and cleverness ensure that. Villanelle is a professional killing machine and she does her job, never stopping to query the ethics or the rights and wrongs of her work. Actually, neither did I, very much. A gripping story. Well written. Fast paced. Two great female characters. What’s not to love?" Christine's Book Reviews (on Villanelle: Hollowpoint)

""Fast and furious… We can't wait for the next one. And by the way, someone get a copy of this story to Jennifer Lawrence. If she’s looking for her next franchise after “The Hunger Games,” this may be it." Howard Polskin – Thin Reads (on Codename Villanelle).

LUKE JENNINGS is the author of Blood Knots, short-listed for the Samuel Johnson and William Hill prizes, and of several novels, including the Booker Prize-nominated Atlantic. As a journalist he has written for The Observer, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and Time.

48 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 14, 2016

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About the author

Luke Jennings

30 books642 followers
Luke Jennings is an author and the dance critic of The Observer. He trained at the Rambert School and was a dancer for ten years before turning to writing.

As a journalist he has written for Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and Time, as well as for numerous British titles. He is the author of Blood Knots, a memoir, short-listed for the 2010 Samuel Johnson and William Hill prizes, and of three novels: Breach Candy, Beauty Story, and the Booker Prize-nominated Atlantic. With Deborah Bull, he wrote The Faber Guide to Ballet, and with his daughter Laura, the Stars fiction series for Puffin Books, about teenagers at a stage-school.

He is currently writing a follow-up to his 2017 thriller Codename Villanelle (John Murray). The Villanelle titles are the basis for BBC America's upcoming TV series Killing Eve, airing in 2018 and starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer.

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for Richard.
2,289 reviews178 followers
October 8, 2017
Finally the fourth short story of Villanelle which finishes these original kindle single now combined into a four chaptered novel 'Codename Villanelle'.
The normal relationship between Villanelle and her handler Konstantin is interrupted in this brief account where the mission isn't quite what she normally engages in, working as a team to rescue a hostage.
Meanwhile back in London Eve still has the bit between her teeth determined to stop at all costs the unknown female assassin.
Overall a good series of episodes from the chronicles of this mysterious hit woman, devoid of real emotion, a model sociopath who uses sex as an extension of control but is incapable of sharing meaningful relationships.
The ending promises more but it will now be judged on its united format which by nature of its four separate parts perhaps does not make for a smooth read.
Profile Image for Ashley Cartwright.
165 reviews
May 30, 2018
I’d really love to know if the writer is planning to finish the books, or is this the natural conclusion in his mind, I haven’t found a interview yet that says, onto the tv adaption next.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews

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