“Assassin Eighteen” follows the first book in the series, “Seventeen: Last Man Standing” by John Brownlow. Each “assassin” is named for his numerical place as the world’s top killer for hire. When the up and coming prospective assassin manages to kill the current top assassin, he or she then takes that top role and assumes the next number as his or her “title.” In the first book, Seventeen was given the assignment to kill Sixteen, and while he didn’t quite manage to do that—Sixteen died nevertheless—and Seventeen followed Sixteen just as naturally as two follows one on a number line.

Now Seventeen tells us right from the start that he’s retired, and he’s waiting for the person who aspires to be Eighteen to come and kill him. In first person narrative, he tells us his story. Because we learned a lot of his story in the first book in the series, I highly recommend reading that novel first. Although this works fine as a stand alone read, you’ll be missing some of the background of Seventeen’s life and how his childhood experiences honed him and turned him into a remorseless killer if you start the series with this sequel.

What we learn about him in this novel, as he shares more of his background, is a story we did not learn in the first novel. It’s about what might have been the only time Seventeen fell in love. And ironically, it was with another killer. In the first novel, we learn about those who control hired killers, people who are ex-CIA or handlers who act as middlemen between those who are hiring and the actual assassins. In this novel, it’s all about Seventeen and how he is forced to complete an assignment due to something he had never anticipated: a personal weakness that no hired killer ever wants.

The Seventeen in this novel is a softer man, a killer who looks back on his life with some regret. Although he doesn’t shy away from violence, he also chooses when to deploy it and when it’s unnecessary. The plot, in a sense, comes full circle from the first shocking sentence to the perfectly predictable (read the title) but also shocking ending. So there are no huge twists here, but rather a gripping, action-filled (really, nonstop thrills) read with plenty of unexpected emotions and tender feelings popping up where they have no business being. He’s a killer, for heaven’s sake. He isn’t supposed to be protecting others and risking his life to save the world.

But there you go. Seventeen is not the same cocky killer full of braggadocio and bravado. He’s a quieter, more thoughtful killer who really wants to leave the killing behind. But once you hit the pinnacle of killer-dom, and are given a number, you aren’t allowed to go quietly into that good night. Ever.

The chapters are very short, and as with the first book, it serves to keep the reader going. I kept reading and reading until it was ridiculously late. I highly recommend this series to those who enjoy reading novels with ticking clocks, daring exploits, dangerous deeds, and courageous characters. Evil ones, too. Plenty of evil characters for everyone. And you just know that some will escape justice to live to strike again in the next novel in the series.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.