Product Description

A brand new series - non-supernatural - involving a female assassin. Nadia Stafford is an ex-cop - fired after she shot a child killer. She now works for one small mafia family: the way she sees it, no one innocent is getting hurt. But then a serial killer starts murdering innocent people in the style of a hitman. The police investigation threatens to unmask several professional hitmen, including Nadia. So she bands together with five other hitmen, including her mentor, the mysterious Jack. Together they decide to hunt down the killer - but perhaps that's just what he wants. Are they walking into a devious and brilliantly planned trap?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70553 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Review
Praise for Kelley Armstrong's first series: 'A taut, sensual thriller that grips from the first page ... sublime' Karin Slaughter ** 'Clever, quirky, hip and funny. More please!' Joanne Harris **

About the Author
Kelley Armstrong is married with two children. She lives in Ontario, Canada.

Customer Reviews

it's hard to warm to a hitwoman...
Nadia used to be a cop, but she got "retired" from the force when she took justice into her own hands and shot and killed a child-rapist. Now she makes her living as an occasional asassin, doing mob hits for a small-time "family". When a serial-killer starts using an MO that make's him look like a professional hitman, Nadia's sometime mentor Jack asks her to join a "squad" of hitmen to take down the guy who's giving them all a bad name.

Like the title of my review says, it's hard to warm to a hired killer. Yes she's got history which makes it somewhat understandble, but nevertheless our heroine is a pretty cold individual on the surface. It speaks volumes of Armstrong's skill that I actually DID warm to her in the end, and will look out for the next book in this series.

Fans of Armstrong's "Women of the Otherworld" series be warned - this is NOT SFF. Definitely worth a look if you're into crime and a strong female protaganist though.

Somewhat disappointing...
Like others I am sure, I rushed to buy a new Kelly Armstrong novel the week it came out. I wished I hadn't rushed now. I didn't find the characters fleshed out and I think it is taking the easy route to do that in later books - the book must stand alone.
There was something curiously insubstantial about all the characters, including the killer, whose motivation remained confusing. In fact Evelyn, who was pretty unlikeable was the most vibrant character.
Another reviewer said that they looked forward to the next one in this series. I would hesitate before buying it. The question is posed - can you warm to a hitwoman? And my answer is; not yet. Nadia isn't drawing me in - she just seems a bit flakey. I also found that the characters didn't stay in mind - I read the book over a week and found that I had to refer back several times - something I very rarely do. I think that perhaps it could have been edited a touch more.
I have given 3 stars as the book is well written and I am still Pollyanna-type hopeful - I still buy LKH and she is a disaster these days...

a new series!
This is the first in the new series by Kelley Armstrong (author of the bestselling 'Women of the Otherworld' novels - which starts with 'Bitten')and is a completly different genre to the other novels which she is known for. Nadia is an ex-cop turned hit women who finds herself searching for a hit-man turned serial killer. As another reviewer has said, it is hard to warm to a hitwomen but I found myself warming to Nadia straight away. Kelley has done a brilliant job with portraying Nadia and her voice and world seems real. The story is fast-paced and I couldn't stop reading it at all. I'd definitly recomend this to anyone else. The only reason it has only four-stars is because if I never give anything 100% :)

I actually warmed to this character faster than I did to the characters of her other novels which is surprising since I am a really big fan. Here's hoping the second book to this is brought out soon.