I very much enjoyed the dynamic of How Hard Is It To Kill?, the second novel from Mac Alexander, a thriller author located in the south Wales Valleys. It centres jointly on a hitman – Niko, who does his job with a blithe kind of pride – and two members of a police force, veteran DCI Stanley Wood and his younger understudy Verity.
Comparable to the proto-Killing Eve book series Villanelle, with a nod to the discovery of H in Line Of Duty (I won’t tell if you don’t ask…), here the confident descriptions of movement between marksman and the officer is – as always – a game of cat and mouse. As for Verity, despite her abilities in the field of murder solving she swiftly proves to distract to Wood. I was curious as to how this relationship might resolve itself; the DCI’s professional responsibility tainted by his apparent belief that his sidekick’s primary attributes are sexual in nature. (Hypothetical: how might this power exchange play out in reverse, with Verity in charge and Stanley as the new sidekick?)
All the same, I was willing them to find the evidence needed to establish the identity of Niko’s secret organisation, known as T.S.A., and How Hard Is It To Kill? is worth a read at your earliest convenience.
How Hard Is It To Kill?, Mac Alexander (Vanguard)
Price: £12.99. Info: here
words BILLIE INGRAM SOFOKLEOUS
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