THE PERFECT ASSASSIN
SUMMARY
Divine justice is written in blood.
Or so Amastan has been taught. As a new assassin in the Basbowen family, he’s already having second thoughts about taking a life. A scarcity of contracts ends up being just what he needs.
Until, unexpectedly, Amastan finds the body of a very important drum chief. Until, impossibly, Basbowen’s finest start showing up dead, with their murderous jaan running wild in the dusty streets of Ghadid. Until, inevitably, Amastan is ordered to solve these murders, before the family gets blamed.
Every life has its price, but when the tables are turned, Amastan must find this perfect assassin or be their next target.
REVIEW
When you read a title like The Perfect Assassin you would expect a world filled with assassins battling amongst themselves, poisoning, stabbing, and (if the book is in the science fiction and fantasy section) using magic against each other until only one assassin survives. You would expect the protagonist to initially follow orders, only to strike out on their own as they are betrayed and almost killed, leading to them plotting against the antagonist until a larger betrayal is discovered, thus putting the assassin protagonist in the right.
This is not that book.
So now that your expectations are properly erased, what is the Perfect Assassin?
Set in a desert based community, tensions are often put to the test during the end of a season when the water runs low. But when a killer starts killing seemingly random citizens, hiding their bodies so their jaan (spirits) can run free causing havoc, things are put in even more tenuous situation. When a newly graduated assassin is given the task of finding said killer, things get even worse. Considering said assassin doesn’t want to kill, and you’re looking at the Perfect Assassin. It’s a book of tradition, obligation, and budding feelings.
Yes, you heard right, budding feelings. That’s what honestly surprised me the most about this book, not that there were feelings and emotions, but the extent to which these emotions drove the story and the superb way that K.A. Doore captured the emotional intricacies of falling in love. I know, not what you were expecting, but Doore masterfully captures the subtle intricacies and shifts in Amastan from when he first meets Yufit. Not only are these emotions well crafted, but Doore actually takes the time to build upon them slowly, allowing the emotions to take the driver’s seat in terms of the pacing of the book. While technically Amastan’s search for the killer moves the plot along, it is really his budding feelings, and realizations of said feelings toward Yufit, that drives the pacing. This does something that I did not expect Doore to be able to pull off, it creates a complex and full character that readers are sure to commiserate with. Considering the protagonist in question is an assassin in a desert based community who I have very little in common with, it is truly a testament to Doore’s writing craft that I was able to relate so much with Amastan.
All in all, while The Perfect Assassin does have murder, magic and intrigue, its shining achievement is its relationship between the characters, and it’s for this attribute alone that I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for intense and realistic character relationship and development.
INFO
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: March 19, 2019
Price: $17.99
Link to Buy: https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Assassin-Book-Chronicles-Ghadid-ebook/dp/B07CG4LGKZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4W2U6WPJWP5P&keywords=perfect+assassin&qid=1560399107&s=gateway&sprefix=perfect+ass%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1#customerReviews
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