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Exit Strategy
by
Kelley Armstrong
suspense in a paperback edition that was published by Bantam Books on June 26, 2007 and has 480 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon, Audibles.
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Broken, Personal Demon , Living with the Dead, Men of the Otherworld, Tales of the Otherworld, Frostbitten, Dates from Hell, Made to Be Broken, The Reckoning, Spell Bound, The Gathering, The Awakening, "Hidden", The Calling, Aftertaste, Kisses from Hell, The Rising, Omens, Wild Justice, Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions, Visions, Deceptions, The Masked Truth, City of the Lost, Empire of Night, Forest of Ruin, Betrayals, A Darkness Absolute, Indigo, Rituals, The Unquiet Past, This Fallen Prey, Stolen, Rough Justice, Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted, Broken, Waking the Witch, Portents, Missing, Alone in the Wild, Watcher in the Woods, Otherworld Secrets, Wherever She Goes, "The Case of the Half-Demon Spy", "Escape", Otherworld Chills, A Stranger in Town, "Bargain", Hex on the Beach, "Recruit", "Checkmate", "Framed", Cursed Luck, High Jinx, Bitten, Driven, "Forsaken", The Deepest of Secrets, "Dead Letter Days", Men of the Otherworld, The Boy Who Cried Bear
First in the Nadia Stafford suspense series, it’s very well titled as it sums up the entire purpose for the anti-hero and his spree.
My Take
A very unexpected story from Armstrong as there is nothing of the paranormal in this series.
It’s a fascinating look at the methods and concerns of a hitman especially their wariness around each other — never know when one of your fellows will take a contract on you… Then there’s the business end of things: how a gunman gets a contract and how each decides their own ethics and obligations of killing.
I do love Jack’s style of speech. It cracks me up — no pronouns and an average of three words per sentence…when he talks. I can’t imagine how Armstrong managed to write his dialog and maintain the consistency!
I don’t quite buy Armstrong’s portrayal of Evelyn. She writes her as a twisty sort of character and, no, I don’t trust Eve, but Armstrong needs to do some more work on her for me to really feel the menace I think Armstrong is trying to convey.
I am really looking forward to Made to Be Broken.
The Story
There’s a nation-wide serial killer who appears to be choosing his victims out of a hat and is taunting the FBI with his ability to kill anywhere, anywhen. It also seems that he may be a contract killer — and all this indiscriminate killing is giving hitmen a bad name.
The Characters
The story serves to introduce the series’ primary characters — Nadia, Jack, Evelyn, and Quinn, hitmen all — who decide that their profession will be best served by their ganging together and finding the killer.
Nadia is an ex-cop with a bad past that affects her life 24/7 with wonky decisionmaking. Now, she’s a hitwoman with a moralistic bent — she only kills people who deserve it, and it helps to pay the bills on the Canadian lodge she bought after she retired from the force. Between the killing and the lodge’s offerings of spelunking, rappelling, riding the rapids in kayaks, and shooting on the lodge’s range, Nadia manages to feed that adrenalin rush. A different kind of rush sweeps in when the lodge hosts its repeat guests — groups of cops and soldiers.
Jack is a tough, unemotional man who only kills for pay and has chosen to mentor Nadia in the killing business instead of passing her onto the gameplaying Evelyn. Just to make things interesting, Jack has never taken on a partner before, certainly never a woman, which leads his fellows to wondering about Nadia’s place in his life.
Evelyn has retired from playing an active role; now she plays behind the scenes using the Internet to search out and sell information while she jerks everyone’s string. Quinn is a hunky cop who is more interested in justice and plays both sides to ensure it.
Minor players include the Thomassini mob family who regularly contracts with Nadia to hit someone for them about twice a year; the very dead cousin Amy, the font of all Nadia’s fears; Felix is a political assassin with a bent for high-tech gadgets bringing his expertise to the vigilante group seeking the serial killer; Mitch Dylan is a Toronto homicide detective who’s been coming to the lodge for the past five years, bringing his friends, hoping to get lucky with Nadia; and, Emma and Owen are a retired couple who do a lot of the work at the lodge — Emma is a wicked-good cook especially loved for her apple pie while Owen takes care of outside maintenance and leads the guests on nature hikes, fishing expeditions, and canoe trips.
The Cover and Title
Great cover! It’s very clean with a hint of menace in Nadia’s casual pose on the front.
The title is what they suspect, that someone has an Exit Strategy out of the life.
