killers of a certain age by deanna raybourn

It is fierce though not always loud-in places it is almost gentle-but the telling is so en pointe, so confident, so almost joyous in its intent that as a reader you feel utterly held and challenged to keep up with the rush of considerable action.Ī couple novels of crime & mystery, though utterly different in tone and style, have struck me with a comparable trifecta of well-balanced character, plot, and voice: Dorothy L. Killers begs to be on the big screen (though I confess I dread that, fearing a glam casting and a male-gazing direction that would ruin all).Īnd the narrative voice burns with its focus. There is more than one moment that seems incredible, but the flow of the action sweeps you along with a complicit wink. The plot is patterned like a detailed tapestry, every move stitched, every knot tied just so. (Perhaps one can be inspired to higher levels of self care even if covert assassin is not our job title.) That’s the grace of fiction and, in this case, Raybourn’s stylish speed and narrative flash. I can imagine that there are some who will find these “impossible old bitches” as Billie calls themselves at varous points implausible in terms of their ability to recover quickly enough from various injuries or overextension to save the day, themselves, or each other.

The very real notion of what age does to a body, the female body in particular, is not shied away from. There seems to be a future tense cinematic awareness on her part but one can envision one’s own Billie, or Akiko, or Kevin by the way they move, their mannerisms, and the impact of their respective pasts. Raybourn tells you how people look with an easy swiftness. Secondary and even minor characters are sketched with sufficient verity. The main four women in Killers have solidity initially a bit too 007 but their eventually revealed backstories flesh them out credibly. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman-and a killer-of a certain age.” 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. 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. When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. 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.

“Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.īillie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. As always, I am interested in the how and how well of a tale, not a specific running through of events.

Killers of a certain age by deanna raybourn