Hitwoman: The new action-packed hilarious thriller rom-com for 2025 by Elsie MarksMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Maisie Baxter is a hitwoman for Novum, a boutique 'ethical' assassination service. She founded the organisation with her boss Gabby, a minor celebrity and charity advocate (think Spring Watch and Save the Hedgehogs), they have expanded and now have a second assassin, Owen (good looking but not very bright), a tech guy, Jason, and an admin person Sophie. One of Novum's key tenets is that Maisie (or Owen) can veto a target if they don't consider them to have committed a heinous crime, something Maisie is very proud of, and she loves that Gabby respects her choices.
When we meet Maisie she is on a job for a mysterious anonymous client (not so odd as who wants a team of assassins to know your name) who is also very specific about what they want Maisie to do and when and how, including arranging for her exfiltration. The job goes without a hitch and later the team are introduced to the mysterious client, Pascal Robertson, elusive billionaire CEO of ILS, a company which has created the world's first green fertiliser. Pascal has discovered that some of his senior management have been selling the fertiliser illegally to terrorist organisations to help them make bombs and he is determined to root out all the bad eggs ... the permanent way.
The following week, Maisie (in disguise) is headed to a Young Farmer's Festival where one of ILS's board is giving a keynote speech. She has orders to assassinate him during that speech. After setting up the tent for the following morning she joins the festivities at the bar and bumps into a handsome man who looks as out of place as she feels, the strong cider helps them form an instant connection and they end up spending the night together. The next day, Maisie watches as the ILS director is making his speech, ready to (literally) push the button, when suddenly a light fitting swings down towards him, killing him instantly. Coincidence? Or is there more than one team of assassins hired? Could it be someone from Removals Inc, Novum's main competitor who would kill their own mother if the price was right?
But when the same guy turns up at Maisie's next hit, she realises sweet, shy Will could be working for the opposition.
This gave off similar vibes to the Brangelina film Mr and Mrs Smith, and probably for that reason I did enjoy it, but it didn't feel very original.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment