Amazon Cover
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark
BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.
Nor do they have tails.
But they are most assuredly dead.
Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.
An NPR “Books We Love” choice of 2024, Indie Next Pick, LibraryReads Top Ten Selection, Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Selection, and Best-Of Book according to BookRiot, and ALA/YALSA Alex Award winner
Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins―resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories―have only three unbreakable vows.
First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.
Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.
The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.
MY REVIEW
Ready for a sword and sorcery book about undead assassins? This character-driven, world-building delight is a gem of action adventure.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins always complete their contract. They are raised by priests as undead without memory, family, or past. Eveen is one of their best. But her target does the impossible. The blue loc’ed 19 year old pulls a memory. Now in a city in the midst of a festival, they have until dawn to figure out the mystery of the memory, or the contract will bring death to both.
The festival and the city is Shimmering in details. Every character is rich with characteristics bringing them alive (even when they are undead). Five out of five for this book.
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[Spoiler-ish Developmental editing comment: Chef’s kiss to the midpoint. A good story has a false path to success – usually dependent on the professional skills and high expertise of the main character – they are close to success and things get dashed to bits. All planning destroyed. Nothing is salvageable. They must completely change their path and go in a direction previously untenable. This novella is a masterpiece for this particular story structure.]