February 1, 2024
Eva and Jonathan, two assassins with a hit job on each other, crisscross Western Europe, hooking up on a sleeper train leaving Florence for Paris and bumping into each other at Versailles. It is all so inconvenient, and lust-filled, and flirty, and fun. But their mutual hit jobs are not the only high stakes in this reimagining of the romantic suspense genre. Prepub Alert.
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Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2024
In Brazier's (Girls and Their Horses, 2024) latest, two modern-day contract killers named Jonathan and Eva (aliases) meet on a train from Florence to Paris and the attraction is immediate. Neither is aware of the other's true identity, and they sleep together believing they will never see each other again. But six months later, Eva has tracked down Jonathan in Versailles in order to kill him. The games begin when they each find out that the other is their next job. Reminiscent of the film Mr. and Mrs. Smith, this novel has love, betrayal, introspection, shootouts, and a lot of lusty moments as the two killers travel across Western Europe with their lives on the line. This is best read at face value, as not much is given for readers to feel a connection to the characters. Action scenes are decently described. The puppet-master reveal is underwhelming but necessary for the plot. The novel's genre is less of a thriller or mystery and more of a romance with some action and comedic moments throughout.
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May 27, 2024
Brazier (Girls and Their Horses) elevates a familiar Mr. and Mrs. Smith–style premise to frenzied heights in this entertaining spy romance. Contract assassins Eva and Jonathan meet in the sleeper car of a train headed from Florence to Paris, and in no time, they’re having sex in the luggage compartment. Though both feel far more than a physical connection, they repress the romantic spark and go their separate ways. Six months later, they run into each other in Versailles, only to realize that each has been hired to kill the other. After much conversation (and a lot more sex), they set out to find their respective handlers and shake them down for answers, traveling from Versailles to the Cotswolds to an abandoned mansion in Bordeaux, all while battling hit men who’ve been sent to carry out the jobs they’ve refused to execute. Who wants them dead? Can they really trust each other? Alternating between the often-unreliable viewpoints of Eva and Jonathan, Brazier delivers exhilarating action, steamy romance, and enough twists to keep the pages flying. It’s a blast. Agent: Sarah Bedingfield, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary.
June 1, 2024
While traveling on the train from Italy to France, contract killer Eva meets Jonathan. It is lust at first sight, which leads to a hot hookup in the baggage compartment. However, after Jonathan then immediately ghosts her, Eva wants to kill him. Six months later, she may get her chance when she bumps into Jonathan again in France. Eva has been hired to fulfill a contract put out on Jonathan, but what she doesn't know is that Jonathan happens to be in the same line of work. When it comes to any future between Eva and Jonathan, is it now simply a matter of kill or be killed? As with her previous novels, Brazier (Girls and Their Horses) demonstrates she isn't afraid to flirt with the darker side of the thriller, and here gives romantic suspense a hard-edged makeover. Expertly switching the narrative between her two protagonists, the author fashions a high-adrenaline, twisty plot delivered in writing infused with a gallows-flavored sense of wit that's as dry as dust. VERDICT Think Hitchcock's films or Patricia Highsmith's Ripley books, but with sex and violence unflinchingly detailed on the page.--John Charles
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.