coolreads# Call to Kill @definitelybooks

Kill For Me
Author: Tom Wood
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 9780751565720

Set in Central America, Tom Wood opens his eighth thriller with Victor the Assassin, now officially a gun-for-hire, having ended all previous relationships with the MI6 and CIA, in Guatemala for a gun purchase that ends up being a shakedown.

The price of the Accuracy International AX50 seems almost too good to be true, because it is. The rifle turns out to be a bait used to lure customers into the killzone, where a group of gunmen waits, having carefully orchestrated their assault.

It’s a plan that has worked numerous times already, but then again, they’ve never encountered someone like Victor before.

Lead soon flies and Wood treats readers to a great action sequence as Victor is backed into an impossible corner before the story jumps back in time to five weeks earlier to explain the lead-up to the exciting opening.

For several years, two sisters - Heloise and Maria Espinosa - have fought to regain the turf their father, once the leader of Guatemala’s largest cartel, held for decades. The catch, though, is that they’re battling from opposite sides, locked in a brutal war against one another, each desperate to take the reins moving forward.

In an effort to finally claim the throne, Heloise has hired Victor to kill Maria. The job seems straightforward at first, but Victor quickly finds that the feud is worse than he expected.

Like Heloise, Maria is protected by a large entourage of well-armed men and it will need all Victor's ingenuity to get close to her. He considers three different ways to carry out his instructions all containing certain risks to himself.

Meanwhile, unknown to him, Heloise hires another hit man to kill Maria as insurance just in case Victor fails in his mission. This new assassin kills for the pleasure of it and intends to dispose of Victor as well.

With other forces lurking and threatening to close in without warning, Victor has his work cut out for him. To complete his mission, he’ll first need to navigate his way through an endless stream of betrayal and also find a way to stay alive long enough to get the job done.

All underestimate Victor, but even so he struggles to outwit all his enemies. Could he have met at last someone who can get the better of him, especially the other contract killer who is even more ruthless than himself?  To add to his problems his latest woman is not all that she claims to be, and he needs to be extra careful about his planned assassination. Can he possibly pull it off and walk away unscathed?

Wood’s thrilling setup leads to a bloody finale that doesn’t disappoint and shows yet again why this series is one of the best action thriller franchises so far. Among his many strengths, Wood seems to always find a new way to keep his plots fresh, never repeating himself or falling into a formula to structure his stories.

Likewise, the author puts readers in the head of his protagonist better than anyone once the action starts by breaking down what Victor sees, showing how he takes in the information before him, and why he does what he does. 

That subtle infusion of his thought process is often riveting and shows just how calculated Victor is, highlighting his ability to stay calm and run scenarios in his head at times when anyone else would be crippled with fear and panic.

Fans of the series will notice a fair bit of character development here, and Wood does show shades of Victor that readers haven’t really seen before. There are moments when the author tries to humanise his ruthless assassin, making him more relatable than ever before though he’s still an antihero at heart.