Killers of a Certain Age: A Novel by Deanna RaybournSeries: Killers of a Certain Age #1
Publication Date: September 6, 2022
Pages: 368
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★½
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Publisher: Berkley / Penguin Random House
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
“This Golden Girls meets James Bond thriller is a journey you want to be part of.” -Buzzfeed
Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.
They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire – it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.
Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.
When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death.
Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman—and a killer—of a certain age.
REVIEW
Ever wonder what James Bond would be like as a 60-year-old woman? Deanna Raybourn’s Killers of a Certain Age answers that question with style, wit, and a body count.
Meet Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie – four assassins pushing 60 who’ve spent four decades eliminating the world’s worst people for a shadowy outfit called the Museum. Just as they’re ready to trade their garrotes for gardening tools, someone decides these retirees need a permanent retirement. Big mistake.
What follows is a masterclass in why you should never underestimate women of a certain age. These ladies turn society’s tendency to ignore older women into their secret weapon. Need to plant a bomb in broad daylight? No one looks twice at a woman fumbling with her purse. Want to slip past security? Just act like someone’s confused aunt.
Raybourn’s writing crackles with humour and heart. One minute you’re laughing at the women’s banter about knee replacements and hot flashes, the next you’re holding your breath as they execute a hit with surgical precision. It’s like Golden Girls meets John Wick, and somehow, it works brilliantly.
The novel isn’t perfect; some side characters feel a bit thin, and a few plot twists are telegraphed early. But these are minor quibbles in what’s otherwise a knockout story about friendship, aging, and the satisfaction of proving that experience beats youth every time.
3.5/5 stars
Perfect for: Anyone who’s ever been underestimated, fans of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club, and readers who like their thrillers with a side of sass.
