Kill for Me

Victor the Assassin #8

by Tom Wood

Lethal assassin Victor lands in the middle of a Guatemalan cartel war in the latest nonstop thriller from the international bestselling author of The Final Hour.

Victor is the killer who always delivers...for the right price. And Heloise Espinosa, patron of Guatemala's largest cartel, is ready and willing to pay him just that to eliminate the competition--her sister. Heloise has been battling Maria for control of the cartel in an endless and bloody war. Now Victor decides who survives. An easy job if it weren't for the sudden target on his back.

Victor's not the only one on the hunt. Someone else has Maria in their crosshairs and will do anything to get the kill. In the middle of cartel territory with enemies closing in from all sides, Victor must decide where to put the bullet before one is placed in his head. His only chance at survival is to team up with the one person who may be as deadly as he is...

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Audiobook, Action, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Suspense

476 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 6, 2018

About the author

He is the author of the Victor series of 10 novels and 2 ebook novellas. Tom also wrote the standalone thriller A Knock at the Door under the pseudonym T W Ellis

Victor 10, TRAITOR, is out now in UK, IE, AS & NZ.

Subscribe to Tom's newsletter to stay up-to-date, and have the chance of winning signed copies and more: tomwoodbooks.com/newsletter

Reviews

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kill For Me - Review & Blog Tour

I started reading Kill For Me on 10/22/2018 and finished it on 11/8/2018. This book is a great read. I enjoy reading about drug cartels, especially in a city with two drug lords and the conflicts surrounding it all. It’s interesting how these tough guys are always surrounded themselves with layers of protections. Victor is a cool character. He’s confident and knows his stuffs. He’s always prepared in case someone threatens him, he has dirt on them to threaten them back. I like how he calculates the different paths to take whenever he’s stuck in a difficult situation. His quick decision to kill is a bit tough to stomach.

This book is told in the third person point of view following Victor as he meets up with Jairo to buy a black market gun in the middle of nowhere. He’s currently in Guatemala. Victor knows he’s going into a trap and calculate when things will escalate but he heads into it anyway. Then the book switch gears to 5 years earlier and readers are following Luis Lavandier, an adviser to Heloise, powerful drug cartel in Guatemala City. Heloise is looking for a good hit man to take out a rival and Victor might just be the guy to do it. There are many more views from supporting characters when their roles appear on this book. The chapters are short.

Kill For Me is truly a killing read! It’s well written. I don’t like the romance much because they are more of a quickie than anything. It comes and goes quickly. Women drug lords and women who is considered dangerous is definitely an interesting take. I like Joanna, a banker watching out for money launderer, in this book. Her crime scene deduction is fun to read. I like the twists and turns near the end. Luis’ calculating mind is interesting to follow as well at the Czech guy and Victor. All of the characters seems confident and know exactly what to do, even though the job is new. That seems unlikely because personally I struggle when I’m assigned a new job. Although this book is about the sisters, their role are more dormant than I prefer. Overall, the read is still good and I do recommend everyone to read it.

Pro: fast paced, adventures, calculating, mystery, suspense, drug cartels, foreigners, Guatemala

Con: more killing than I’m interested in, main characters seems to know what to do every step of the way

I rate it 4.5 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Berkley Publishing for inviting me to host a blog tour. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

[Sean Peters (A Good Thriller) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest story from Tom Wood and his great character Victor The Assassin.

Freed from previous employers the CIA and MI6, Victor is a killer for-hire whose sense of self-preservation trumps all else. Yet as betrayal and counter-betrayal unspool in the vicious family feud, Victor finds himself at the centre of a storm even he could be powerless to stop.

Lethal assassin Victor lands in the middle of a Guatemalan cartel war in the latest nonstop thriller from the international bestselling author of The Final Hour. KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSE...

Victor is the killer who always delivers...for the right price. And Heloise Salvatierra, patron of Guatemala's largest cartel, is ready and willing to pay him just that to eliminate the competition: her sister. Heloise has been battling Maria for control of the cartel in an endless and bloody war. Now Victor decides who survives. An easy job if it weren't for the sudden target on his back. ...AND THEIR ENEMIES CLOSER.

Victor's not the only one on the hunt. Someone else has Maria in the crosshairs and will do anything to get the kill. In the middle of cartel territory with enemies closing in from all sides, Victor must decide where to put the bullet before one is placed in his head....

The advantage of reading the whole series in order is you get to know Victor and I cannot help but like his character, love the character. Tom Wood has the perfect character and personality and creates a great story, with two nasty sisters, another assassin on the loose, a great sassy DEA Officer as well as some nasty cartel nasties.

Slower in pace to some of his previous novels due to the detail of the planning, but the strength is the story and how it builds to a very clever and complex and fast paced ending.

Maybe I am biased as I just love the character, but as usual for a Tom Wood book. Five stars

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was genuinely excited by the totally unique premise that the synopsis talks about, not only that but the setting is also highly original, being set on the streets of Guatemala City, Central America and is based around the drugs trade and the prevalence drugs and gangs have in Guatemalans lives. Although this is crime fiction, there is no doubt in my mind that this appears to be a wholly authentic presentation of the country and its troubles so I would certainly not be shocked to learn that the author had carried out research into his latest book. The story follows two feuding sisters and an amoral hitman known as Victor and the fast-pace propels you from the beginning to end at an enjoyable canter.

This was a stonking read and the first title I have come across from Tom Woods. Sometimes, because the crime fiction industry is so big with tonnes of authors writing in the genre that you often overlook some names. I am of the thinking that if they are worth devoting time to then you will come across them again. I have NetGalley to thank for introducing me to Mr Woods - I found this tense, exciting and immensely thrilling. I wonder if Woods' other books are as dark and gritty as this but I guess I will have to find that out for myself. I am about to go and purchase his back catalogue once i've concluded my review.

The ending definitely left me with the impression that another book is on the cards - I would jump at the chance to read the sequel and will look out for it when it's announced!

Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK/Sphere for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Copied from blog tour review*

So I’m winging it a bit this morning having been very lazy about writing up reviews in a timely fashion, also I have the slight problem that this is one of those books in a series that I’ve loved from the start so eventually you end up repeating yourself on an endless loop.
General consensus seems to be that I can just say “It’s bloody good go and get it” whilst  also pointing out you get a lovely orangey cover to boot and adding that  “Kill For Me ” is hot for all the right reasons, job done.
However if you’d like a bit more here’s 8 reasons I love the Victor series in no particular order.
1. Victor. Obviously. No brainer.
2. Great writing. I mean really great writing.
3. Avoids being formulaic. Every one has it’s own thing going for it.
4. Unpredictability. See point 3 above.
5. No pressure. I have zero doubts going in that I’m in for a great read.
6. Poison Snowflake (Just because)
7. Terrific storytelling. Has both style and substance, one not being sacrificed for the other.
8. Victor. (It bears repeating)
Overall Kill For Me is just a really great book like those before it. Genuinely as a reader you can’t ask for more than that. Pick up any one and you won’t be disappointed.
Highly recommended.

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.5* of five, rounded down for squick factor overload

I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

My Review: You know how it's always the civil wars with the most casualties? You know why that is? Family hates with more passion than any other enemy. And Victor the Assassin has just taken a job to kill one sibling at the behest of another. (They're criminals. Don't stress.)

You don't often find series novels based around an amoral assassin that are simply unputdownable. This is one, though the pinnacle is still Tom Ripley. We're not up that high. But the story being told, with all its rage-fueled violence, is really shockingly...moral! The right things happen to the proper victims, the best thing that could ever happen being the end of this feud between crime-boss sisters and it does.

In a very unexpected way. Lots of fun to read, perfect for the beach, and written with a deftness that renders the experience invisible and effortless. (But *really* violent...so much so I was squicked a time or two, which is why it's not a higher rating.)

[Bodo Pfündl · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You never know how brave you are until you’re scared.”

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the author, which however, didn’t influence this review in any way.

Tom Wood has never been one to repeat himself and his newest Victor thriller is no exception. While KILL FOR ME doubles down on the beloved ingredients of Wood’s previous works – there are more heart-stopping action scenes, unpredictable plot twists and fascinating insights into Victor’s mindset than ever before – it also takes Victor’s character arc into uncharted, exiting territory, which makes for a fantastic reading experience.

KILL FOR ME finds Victor trapped between a rock and a hard place. Just freed from his previous employers and presumed dead by the rest of the world, he has found a new appeal in life and therefore is willing to try out new things – like a dose of pretended normalcy for instance. This however, has the potential to further complicate Victor’s life, when the contract he accepts proves to be one of the most challenging of his career…

The book feels like a Tarantino western in many ways; the violence has a bloody, visceral splendor to it and most of the characters involved, are utterly despicable human beings. Also, the setting of Guatemala City fits the story perfectly. Wood’s descriptions are so vivid that you can literally feel the humidity when Victor walks through a sunbaked side street. The terrain also comes with its own unique trappings for Victor, who, as a foreigner, stands out in Central America like a sore thumb, despite his best efforts.

The action is fast and brutal and once the betrayals and counter-betrayals unspool and the body count rises by the hour, it becomes increasingly clear that Victor might not be able to walk away with his head still attached to his shoulders. The most fascinating aspect of the eighth Victor novel however, is the evolution of its main character. Tom Wood artfully walks the tightrope of widening some cracks in Victor’s emotional armour, without taking away his unique edge. As a result, the emotional payoff is immensely rewarding for long-time readers.

To put it in a nutshell: You have never seen Victor so vulnerable emotionally, nor so capable professionally. Like his creator, Victor is at the very top of his game and the resulting inferno makes for one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time. So don’t miss out on this masterpiece!

[Diane May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally write reviews and you can see that. But I have a confession to make... I'm a book addict who's in love with Victor, and Tom Wood is one of my favourite writers. So I just couldn't not write a review.

I will skip the description bit, you can read that in the blurb, and just get straight to the point. I loved it! But this is not enough to make you log into your Amazon account or run to the nearest bookstore and buy it, is it now? Although you should. Trust me when I say it, any and all of Tom Wood's books are a must-read if you enjoy crime thrillers written exceptionally well and with enough twists and turns to make you want to call in sick to work just to finish the book. And Kill For Me is no exception. It's hard to put down. If you're familiar with this series you love Victor just as much as I do and already know you have to read this one too. If you're not, however, here's a bit about the most dangerous and highly addictive assassin in the whole world: you can hire him if you need to kill someone (although you might not afford him unless you're the CIA or the patron of Guatemala's largest cartel), he's super intelligent, more lethal than a battalion of pissed-off marines, you see everything he sees in great detail and understand every decision he makes to the point where you feel like you're the one fighting and killing all those bad guys. Reading the books in the series in order lets you get to know Victor really well and you know for a fact that he's not the one to allow himself... feelings. Of any kind. Untill now. In comes the sassy and sexy DEA special agent Joanna Alamaeda, and Victor... well, I'll let you discover what Victor does, I don't want to spoil it for you. I just want to say this: I liked this twist in the plot. :)

Of course there are other characters in the book and not just Victor. The ruthless Heloise Salvatierra, patron of Guatemala's largest cartel, who rules through fear and hates her sister so much that she hires Victor to kill her; sicarios, thugs and other bad guys who want Victor dead for one reason or another, but only manage to get themselves killed by him. There's non-stop action, twists and turns, fighting and killing, lots of planning too, and enough intrigue to keep you hooked the whole time. The writing is beautiful, Tom Wood is a great storyteller, the characters are complex and everything flows naturally. The setting is exotic and you can't help but feel the heat and humidity in Guatemala city, along with the hardships and violence people have to deal with on a regular basis there.

What more can I say without revealing too much? Just this: buy it or borrow it, kill for it if you have to ;), but read this one and then come back and tell me I was right.

[Nikola · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can also find this review on my book blog.

Victor is an assasin who gets hired by a variety of people to do the dirty work for them but what they don’t know is that Victor isn’t a regular assasin – he’s a highly intelligent and dangerous one. A war is taking place in Guatemala between two sisters who are drug lords. Both want to dominate the drug ‘scene’. One of the sisters, Heloise, calls Victor and hires him to kill the other, Maria, in order for her to rule the kingpin. From this point on we are taken on a whirlwind of events – from plotting a murder to Victor having another killer on his back. All of this takes place in Guatemala where every move has to be carefully calculated.

Kill For Me is the eighth book in the Victor the Assasin series by Tom Wood. I haven’t read the previous books in the series but can say with certainty that this book can be read as a standalone – you needn’t worry that you’ll miss something. Although at times there are a few events that reference past books a vast majority of it is very much new and it’s not confusing. Victor is such a interesting character and what makes him interesting is his profession – a killer you can hire to murder someone for you. It was very fun getting into the mind of this character and see how he operates as well as perceives the world and people around him. Victor is a very, very intelligent character and I assume that his past experiences gave him more insight into people and how they operate. He is manipulative, calculative, cunning and very dangerous. I seriously wouldn’t want to be his enemy!! What I found interesting in this book was the detail in it, the story was very complex and it gave the book life. At times there were other POVs which were great and gave more information to the reader. I rarely read these kinds of books but after this one I definitely need to read more of them! One thing I must say is that people might find Victor to be annoying, full of himself but that’s just who he is even though he did sound very pretentious at times.

I would recommend Kill For Me to every thriller/action genre reader because they won’t regret picking this book up. Tom Wood will take you on a thrilling roller-coaster of a ride into Guatemala and the dangers that lurk there.

I would like to thank the publisher Little Brown UK (Sphere) as well as Millie Seaward for sending a copy of this book my way in exchange for an honest review. All opinions written here are my own and are not influenced by anything.

[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Booktrail the locations in the novel here:
Travel to Guatemala City

A funny thing happened with this book. I read it, totally loved it, had a feeling that the author would be like Indiana Jones, only to then meet him at Harrogate and find that he’s one of the nicest and funniest people out there. He also has a very nice collection of hats fyi.

Now this novel…..Very Tarantino and with as much grit and adventure than you can throw a stick at. Eighth in the Victor series and boy, these characters aren’t getting any nicer to like! However, they’re gripping to read about even if I did sweat with the violence added to the humidity of the Guatemala city setting. Setting is not a huge part of the story but it captures nicely a part of the world where gritty story lines and shadowy characters explore with an added sense of excitement.

Death and killings stalk the streets and the off beaten track here. Victor is in danger from the get go and the pace never lets up. He’s a dark horse that one -but he seems to develop to another level in this book as many scenes and scenarios seem more personal and inward looking. A gritty, fast-paced and gripping read. Too much here to review but one to read if you like your thrillers hard hitting, hot and humid and your characters emotionally and professionally complex.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA?

“If you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you might as well teach it to dance.” ― CIA officer Robert B. Baer.

“Why were we so full of hope in those days? Looking back, I see so clearly that violence was worsening. Living through that time, we didn’t see that. We believed in our capacity to grow a great country. A just society.” ― Guatemalan, Kaimana Wolff.

“See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That's literally true.” ― Economist Milton Friedman.

Ah, illegal narcotics. It’s like gambling in a way. Nearly impossible not to make a tidy illicit profit from such poison. In the last century the global consensus on narcotics gradually came to criminalization of them by moral crusaders. This century however, the West takes the opposite approach. Legalizing them and making it acceptable and okay to light up and get one’s fix. If the societal trend continues, the drug lords of the world may die off, unable to adapt. One person who is tries to adapt is the baddie of the book today’s review focuses on.

Adaptability is one of the great strengths of thriller novelist Tom Wood and his fictional anti – hero Victor the Assassin. Over the course of 7 books, Wood has gone from strength to strength, establishing himself as one of the top contemporary British thriller authors in the game today. His creation, Victor the Assassin is the black knight in a genre full of lily-white knights in shining Armor, a true anti – hero who captivates us as he does the cruel, necessary things that other thriller heroes falter at doing.

Living by the Mattis maxim, ‘polite, professional but have a plan to kill everyone you meet,’ he’s a higher class of killer, dignified as he sends you to your doom. In book 7, he successfully adapted to new circumstances, negotiating a severance agreement with his masters in the Anglo – American intelligence community while being pursued by a do – gooder who just didn’t know when to quit.

Now, back on the private circuit, Victor The Assassin finds himself experiencing the freedom he had lost in book 1, that as a private gun for hire, not beholden to the global powerplays of professional spies and geopolitical chess masters. In “Kill for Me”, we get a first taste of that freedom as Victor finds himself engaged in “conflict resolution” of a “sibling rivalry” and finds the situation highly suitable to break out his set of special skills that have caused death and suffering to hundreds of bad men and women around the world. Now to the review. When both sides are bad, can you pick your own?

The novel begins at a beach on the East Coast of Guatemala. Victor is making a gun buy, having mail ordered a great British export, the Accuracy International AX 50, the best anti material rifle in the world. The people selling the rifle however have other ideas, having come up with a simple rip off the customer with a hail of bullets scheme using their AX 50 as bait for rich criminals. Unfortunately, for them, Victor picks apart their trap, and leaves them all choking on their own blood as the wild stray dogs of the Central American countryside come to pick the flesh off their still breathing corpses.

We then cut fives weeks back, explaining how we got to this point. The most powerful drug lord in Guatemala Heloise Salvatierra suffers a bombing attack on her limousine, the bomb being a present from her sister Maria who is fighting over the inheritance their father Manuel left them. Deciding that they’ve reached an impasse, Heloise and her French boy toy Lavandier decide on the classic solution of a professional assassin from out of town to decapitate their enemy faction. They fly to Madrid and after a surprising job interview, Victor is hired, but unbeknownst to him, Heloise breaks one of the rules he laid down. Methodically stalked by hot shot competition, Victor sets to work in a new hemisphere and a new chapter of his life. From lavish mansions to seedy tropical bars, as Victor gets deeper into the job, he finds himself facing a predicament where no side should be trusted. And as he gets closer to his prey, only one question remains. How do you make sure your own side wins out in the end?

In terms of plot, Kill For Me is a masterpiece. More of an epic crime thriller than the spy novels of the earlier books, it nonetheless packs all the tradecraft, research and enough weapons for a gun nut or thriller devotee to be satisfied. The writing style is still slick and cinematic, with the story flowing without interruption. When reading this story, it feels like the author has wanted to write this book for some time, an epic crime drama that departs from the pure espionage of his past works.

And it shows. I am not a fan of most crime thrillers but since reading the Orphan X books which blend neo noir vigilante arse kicking with the tradecraft and weapons of spy thrillers, I’ve come to appreciate them a little more. Wood has done something similar here, crafting a story about a crime family breakdown, full of larger that life players, graphic brutality and a whole lot of manipulation. The worst of human nature is out in force in this story, with the evil seemingly holding all the cards, the only good guys and girls impotent and only the amoral gunmetal grey spectre of death having any hope of vanquishing the bad guys.

Action and setting? Superb. The last time the author tried to write a crime thriller in book 6, I felt he didn’t put in enough action scenes. Here however, it’s packed to the brim with glorious action scenes, that do the intended epic crime drama justice. From the in-media res opening where our man massacres ill – trained cannon fodder, to a back-room bar card game gone wrong and even an infiltration of a massive super yacht worthy of the most challenging splinter cell game levels, the author continues to place Victor into new, exciting situations where the body count jumps by leaps and bounds.

Moving the action from Europe, Victor’s primary place of work and play has also expanded the variety of backdrops on which the action takes place. From cartel Haciendas in the Central American mountains, to a plush super yacht where vice and death go hand in hand and a climax in a massive, gaudy Casino – hotel property development where one of the best gun battles in the series takes place, Victor’s world hasn’t lost the trademark cinematography that has made it pack that extra punch in a packed genre.

Research? Despite being an epic crime thriller, a genre which is known for authors being willing to play fast and loose with the real-world details of the narrative, the author has not skimped for this novel. Similar to how Greg Hurwitz brought the sort of violent gunplay found in a Gray Man/Mitch Rapp novel to a crime drama, Wood maintains all the tricks, tradecraft and authenticity of the previous espionage plots Victor found himself in. From an accurate depiction of the preparation work one needs to do in setting up an anti – material rifle (not ready to fire out of the packing grease), to the unarmed combat tactics Victor uses, we also have an excellent demonstration of scouting tactics and even the dynamics of survival/resistance to interrogation methods. Kill For Me is a very smartly written crime drama, with all the details having a place and purpose in Victor’s overall scheme as he begins closing in on the big payday.

Characters? Quite a few standouts, but for brevity’s sake I’ll focus on three. Victor and the Sisters. First, Victor. After fleeing from his work as a deniable asset, for one of the most powerful men in the Company and a mid-level officer of the firm, Victor has started a new chapter in his life as a contract killer. And boy is he loving it. Thrust into a situation where his client is fickle, and where he hasn’t operated before, he nonetheless takes to Central America like a shark to water. For most of the story he is on top form, methodically setting up the end game while knocking off those foolish to try get in his way. He even breaks out his borderline sociopathic manipulation skills in the climax to trap his enemies in a situation where they cause their own self destruction. Wood also gives us a more human Victor. He strikes up a casual relationship who unbeknownst to him is an officer of the law. He gets caught at one point and is briefly on the back foot for a few minutes. But as soon as you see the persona briefly breaking, it reasserts itself and more bodies hit the floor. Bit by bit, Victor has come far as a character despite wearing a mask made of plastic surgery, a thousand lies, a million omissions and half a dozen false identities. I cannot wait to find out a bit more about him.

Next, we have the sisters. Heloise and Maria. Sibling rivalry can be destructive especially when one is fighting over control over the inheritance. Both are larger than life characters, strong, tough women who in a patriarchal, Hispanic society have bent the men around them to their will through sheer strength of personality alone….and also unpredictable madness and psychopathy. As Central American crime lords, they are not at the top of the tree like the Mexicans, but slap bang in the middle of the Americas, gives them a lot of advantages, namely a monopoly on a choke point and US law enforcement not coming to kill them. However, due to their twisted upbringing and the business they’re in, they squander these advantages and the final battle which Victor comes into is the start of their downfall. Heloise and Maria make great antagonists and channel the real life ruthlessness of legendary female criminals like the paranoid Griselda Blanco or the Mexican Queen Of the Pacific who haven’t been given a time to shine in most media focusing on the global war on drugs.
Constructive criticism? Nothing I can say really. I was satisfied with Kill For Me and consider it a marked improvement over book 6, the author’s previous attempt at making a crime drama. It maintains the momentum of book 7 and for once, I can say that it is a book within the series that new readers can pick up and start from.

Division leads to decadence, decay and death. So ends Kill For Me where all four things happen. And Victor is the death in the piece. No boundaries, no borders. Going beyond the confines of Europe has paradoxically breathed new life into contemporary thriller fiction’s most ruthless and implacable harbinger of death. With its fun, unpredictable plot, large destructive set pieces which are a delight to read and behold, and a cast of intriguing, bombastic characters that our anti – hero runs into or runs through like a knife, Kill For Me is one of my top thrillers of 2018, and a perfect start in the new chapter in the life of an assassin.

RECOMMENDED.

[Nick Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Wood continues to show us what a good writer he is. Victor the assassin is devoid of character yet has carried eight books with ease.
Here Victor accepts a job in Guatemala where one of two warring sisters has hired him to take out the other. Both are running crime gangs and both want to be on top.
So, as Victor spends time settling into Guatemala trying to identify a weak spot in the security of the sister, he finds his own diversions which break some of the rules he has set himself.
Obviously the usual tradecraft and focus is here, but it is also an unusual and interesting setting. We get a sense of the time and effort setting up an assassination while also having to watch your back. It feels so accurate and genuine you do wonder if Tom Wood has another job beyond writing!
As always this is intelligent and well-paced, an amoral anti-hero that you still root for. His brutality is not focussed on the innocent but you do find it odd that you want him to succeed when he is very much not a nice man.

[Hayat · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Rellim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kill for Me is the 8th Victor the Assassin book by Tom Wood. While I love a series where you can dig in and events continue to unfold and build on each other – this was a bit of a departure from that with completely new locations and characters. I still enjoyed it as much as I’ve enjoyed all the others. This book ties with No Tomorrow as my favorite of the series.

The premise seems simple, kill the sister. As with all of Victor’s jobs, nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted. Two warring cartel factions leave a spider web of duplicity to navigate. Even those who hired him are hiding information. Another assassin on the scene complicates things even further.

I love the way Wood brings all these tiny stories and events together. Individually all intriguing and suspenseful but culminating into a fast paced and unpredictable ending. Victor remains an enigma that acts in surprising ways while still so very him.

The only problem with this book is that now I desperately want to listen to book 9, A Quiet Man… alas the audio isn’t available yet.

Narration:
Rob Shapiro continues to give Victor a consistent sound and personality that has made these audios so easy to binge. He also does a fantastic job with all the accents and a delivery so seamless that I’m completely absorbed in the story. He continues to be one of my favorite narrators.

[Barry who enjoys well-written thrillers, mysteries , & espionage & loathes romance, horror & supernat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kill for Me is the eighth book in the Victor the Assassin series and I have read and enjoyed all of them, some more than others. In my view, this was not one of Wood's better efforts.

The plot was excellent and certainly done well enough to keep my interest up. As is typical of Wood's books, the characters were interesting and one or two were very interesting, although I thought that one of the better characters could have been better used - he was a main character and very quirky and interesting but he played too small a role, in my view.

Where the book fell down for me was Wood's tendency to ramble on for far too long on occasion. Perhaps, like Alexandre Dumas, Mr Wood is paid by the word but, unfortunately, Kill for Me was no The Man in the Iron Mask. On one occasion, I couldn't figure out what happened to a particular character - not a good thing.

It wasn't a bad book and because of the plotting and the characters, it did maintain my interest enough to complete it but...

The End

[Donna Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://donnasbookblog.wordpress.com/...

I really, really enjoyed this story – what a fantastic plot line!!

Victor is a brilliant character, I loved his personality and thought his character was very well developed. The plot was fantastic and full of grit and determination from Victor to succeed and he has quite a lot to face from what is thrown at him.

I will admit that this is the first book I have read by this author and I can be 100% honest when I say it certainly won’t be my last – I loved his writing style!!

Five stars from me for this one, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it will be one I am very highly recommending!!

[14 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best thing about the Victor books is that while Victor makes mistakes, he rarely makes them twice and they are never egregiously stupid - which would go against his character. You either rise to his level or die quickly. His intellect continues to grow, and just when you think someone may get the drop on him, he adjusts IMMEDIATELY.

My single favorite phrase in all of the books is "Victor remained silent." This is usually code for "Victor is probably going to kill you for saying/doing this."

[Tracy T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Series (Audible review)

Oh noooo, I just listened to the last book in this series and I so hope there will be more.

I absolutely love Victor the Assassin! What a great character.

This book was great, all these books are great. I am so glad I found this series.

Action, adventure, killing bad people, great character, fun, fast paced and exciting!

Rob Shapiro is the perfect narrator! He does such a fantastic job on all the voices and has a great reading voice.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally autonomous again, Victor accepts a job that drops him the middle of a cartel war in Guatemala. Sisters Heloise and Maria Salvatierra are engaged in a bloody ongoing feud for control over their late father's cartel. Having had no luck in permanently getting rid of her rival thus far, Heloise decides to outsource the task to a highly efficient, highly recommended killer. Once it turns out that Victor is not the only one gunning for this particular target, however, a change of plans might be in order.

Solid, actionpacked thriller that kept me hooked, though as far as this series goes, this one was fairly middle-of-the-road IMO - not the worst book in the series, but didn't live up to the brilliant previous book.

[Paul Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read

All good things must come to an end.

Throughly enjoyed each of the books. But each book stands on it own.

[Carien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! I will definitely miss Victor. Hoping that Tom Wood will consider one or two more.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was released in November, but then I found out it already came out so I scrambled to read it, haha.

This novel is another great addition to the series, and like always, the author doesn't follow a set formula. Unlike the previous book, this one can be read as a stand-alone (but seriously, everyone should read the entire series because it's that good).

In the middle of the novel, I had to put the book down and wonder, "Why on earth do I like reading about Victor, who is such a terrible person?" Victor isn't exactly a bloodthirsty, murderous villain, but he's not a hero and definitely not a good guy. (He does have principles though.) The fact that readers can be sympathetic towards such a cold person like Victor, shows how good of a writer the author is. Like in the other novels, we get more little details about Victor's past. I really do hope we get a prequel somewhere, so readers can see what Victor was like before he became the hardened assassin he is now.

Unlike some of the other novels, this one didn't exactly have an overall tense, suspenseful tone. It's a good change, because we've been used to Victor being on the run or hindered by outside influences. Instead, we get to see what Victor is like when trying to complete a contract, and it's pretty cool to see all the different approaches/methods of assassination Victor considers, especially when he actually has choices and isn't forced to follow orders.

But of course, things don't go smoothly, and Victor has really bad luck in this novel, haha. But it's Victor, so expect some badass moments as he handles situations which go terribly wrong. The action scenes were as amazing as usual, with good description of how Victor fights his opponents. The author also explains things to readers with concise descriptions, so we don't get any info-dumps a lot of other thriller/action novels suffer from.

Joanna was an interesting addition to the novel, and I hope we see more of her in the next books! It was nice to see her influence on Victor, especially since Victor is, well, Victor.

The plot twists were great (then again, they always are), and even though I should have gotten a decent handle on Victor's personality after eight novels, I still get thrown off by some of the actions/choices he makes. He's a frightening enigma, and I can't wait to read more about him.

Also I forgot to mention how much I love Victor's deadpan (and sometimes dark) humor, which never fails to make me laugh.

[Pierre Tassé (Enjoying Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of his better ones, either that or I am just taken with Victor The Assassin. Always exciting and always some new items to throw into the mix...Well, I'll just go on to the next book....WHAT? Not Out!!! Mr Wood, get your Next Victor Novel out....readers are anxious ;)

[Abibliofob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was one of the best Victor stories in quite some time. So many twists and turns. If you haven't tried this series I strongly recommend it.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read

[Brandon Buzarde · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ride continues.....Such a fun series.

[Donna ~ The Romance Cover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally, when a series changes narrator I absolutely hate it, you just get used to the character's voice and them "bam" it all changes. However, the new narrator did a great job, and once I'd got used to it, I reveled in the effort and the way he threw himself into Victor's character.

Because this is book eight, I don't want to repeat myself as I have found myself often doing. Once again, the plot was original, Victor was his formidable self and I just absolutely ADORE him. How can I possibly adore an assassin?

I love Tom Wood's writing, his storytelling is effortless, full of twists and turns and always original. You would think he would have run out of ways of delivering a gripping story by now, but no, every single time he just nails it.

I cannot recommend this series enough.

[Kathie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up. I’m a fan of Victor. He has a sense of honor even though he kills people for money. His ability to kill and get out of impossible situations reminds me of action movie heroes. I guess he’s an antihero. He is such fun to read about! This one has twists and turns because no one is on the up and up and poor Victor has a job to do and has to eliminate threats. Very fun and unique premise. Now I just have a long wait until the next book is published. Sigh. Recommend if you like fast paced action thrillers. Lots of murder but thankfully not too gruesome in detail!

[Mel Raschke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Victor book # 8. New author for me. The book was action packed throughout and I was certainly never bored. For those that have yet to read any of the Victor the Assassin books, do yourself a favor and start at the beginning with The Killer. That is where I will start now that I know it is a series book.

[Michael Feuerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Victor book

Absolutely gripping and entertaining! The writing and plots keep getting better with each book. Looking forward to the next one.

[Jim Morton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely terrific story. Twists, great detail, compelling characters. Tom Wood is the best.