Pandabearbooks

Book 2 in the #boutofbooks read-a-thon was luckily a whole lot better than the first one. I didn't have many expectations for this one beforehand, and purchased it semi-randomly on Audible to have something to listen to on my walks. Funnily enough, I ended up listening to it while making a scarf, but that's neither here nor there.

I'm not usually one for the James Bond / Batman type of protagonist, or the story that flies from one action packed scene to another, but something about this was different. Despite being the ultimate hitman (with the weakness of having a conscience) Evan Smoak is not your typical macho man main character. Something about him seems vulnerable and maybe that's what makes him almost relatable. Despite what he is and what his history has been, he's still human.

This story was not perfect, but where the plot or the characters had their flaws, they were written in a way that made me care for them and above all, to believe them. The story was well written and fast paced (made even more so by the fact that I listened to it in double time.) The final plot twist was not entirely unexpected, but still managed to shock me enough to go from "I'm not sure if I'm interested in the sequel" to "I can't wait for the sequel to come out in January".

Definitely a great thriller with one of my new favorite male protagonists in a long while.