Another brilliant high-concept novel with heart from Rob Hart. His ability to blend humor with emotional resonance as the protagonist wrestles with moral/ethical quandaries is unsurpassed.

Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart. What do you do when you an assassin but want to stop killing? Join Assassins Anonymous! He tried to walk away but the past won't let him go. When Mark is attacked by a Russian as he is cleaning up after a meeting Mark is left chasing leads across the globe. The reader steps back into Mark's history to discover clues to the cast of characters, which are friends or foe. Humorous and entertaining. Recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this work for review.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book, I love books about assassins, but this didn't really hit for me. I think there could have been and should have been more. I wanted to know more about the characters and I didn't think the P. Kitty storyline was developed enough. I could see one of the twists coming from a mile away and the other didn't ring particularly true. If this was a set up for a series, I'll probably give book 2 a shot. But as a stand alone, for me, I enjoyed it but it wasn't enough to be great.

The book was okay. I wanted to read something out of my comfort zone so I requested this one after a friend had said they enjoyed the author. The book didn't really do much for me, that's more on me than the book considering it's not what I usually read. The writing was very good and I enjoyed the dialogue.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Assassins Anonymous.

The only way to describe the premise of Assassins Anonymous is if John Wick went straight and attended AA but for hired assassins.

When Mark is attacked by a Russian thug, he is forced on the run, unable to trust his former handler and the government he once worked for.

As Mark tries to figure out why he's a target, he has to avoid getting killed or killing his numerous attackers, all the while following his new code of ethics, which is becoming hard to do as he seeks answers.

The narrative is action packed, and yes, a bit hard to suspend disbelief for, but so is the premise.

The author offers flashbacks into Mark's past about his life pre-AA and how he joined the group.

There's a running joke among the supporting characters that Mark doesn't look like a typical assassin; that Jason Statham looks like an assassin but not Mark. That was pretty funny and throughout the novel, I couldn't stop imagining Jason Statham playing Mark in a meta way.

There are a few twists toward the end, one I didn't expect and I'm not ashamed to say it was because I was biased and that's on me.

The ending is a bit happy for a premise like this, but it wasn't terrible.

Mark is a likable character, including Astrid, Kenji and the AA attendees.

I really like this author and I'm surprised how versatile he is. This is a funny book about assassins in recovery, with a little romance. Travel around the world, meet interesting people, and try not to get killed by them because you're in recovery from that lifestyle now.
I saw some of the twists coming, but the book was fun. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

No surprise at all that my first 5 star review of 2024 goes to the latest from Rob Hart. I have been a big fan since I read The Warehouse and I was excited to see where he went with this one.

The hired killer genre is pretty crowded (looking at you Orphan X, John Rain and all your murderous buddies) but Hart found a great niche by combining them with addiction recovery. The blending of the two makes for a lot of great moments that are both tense and emotionally touching.

The story moves at great pace, alternating between present day and history to reveal Mark's origin. The action scenes are very well done and the humor will literally make you laugh (Ill never look at Jason Statham the same way again). There are plenty of surprise moments and the story does wrap up nicely at the end but I am sure hoping that the opening for sequels is taken advantage of. This would make a fantastic series if Hart wants to go there.

Highly recommended!

In Assassins Anonymous, by Rob Hart, Mark has stopped being an assassin for almost a year now. He attends a recovery group that similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, which is working to rehabilitate people who have spent their lives as some sort of killer and don't wish to to so any more. At the end of the meeting one day a large unknown man appears and attacks Mark. Mark does everything he can to survive and not kill the man and barely escapes with his life. As he searches for the man and why he attacked Mark, a larger plan is revealed and Mark has been pinpointed as the key to it being successful. Maybe with some help, Mark can thwart this plot and survive at least until he reaches a year without killing.
Hart has knack for writing characters with dry wit and lots of sarcasm. The reader sees Mark's constant struggle to make the right choices and can't help but pull for him because everyone is trying to be a better person. The colorful array of supporting characters that surround Mark are wonderfully unique and keep Mark guessing whose side each of them are on. The reader is pleasantly lost as to who to trust the whole way through the book. The action sequences are particularly fun, not just because they are well written, but because the reader looks forward to how Mark is going to get away/survive without killing anyone. The ending shocked me and I didn't see it coming, but at the same time it was totally believable.
Exciting, funny and enthralling from beginning to end, I recommend ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS to any reader who wants a fast read that is full excitement and surprises the whole way through.

I always have a fun time with Rob's books and this was no exception! Original, witty and action packed, this book held alot of the things I love when reading a good book. Rob seems to be able to create these characters who feel so real, it seems hard to believe they aren't!

Assassins Anonymous follows the protagonist Mark, otherwise known to his handlers and the assassin community as The Pale Horse. In the assassin world, The Pale Horse was revered as one of the best in the job until he decided that life was no longer for him. Now, he is part of a group of ex-assassins trying to put their past behind them and make amends for their wrongs. But, unlucky for Mark, his past seems to catch up with him when someone tries to kill him. Who has put this hit on him and why? The rest of story pans out trying to figure that question out. A fun cat and mouse thriller where the killer is the one is being hunted! There were a few moments where I had to suspend my beliefs but I think that is part of the fun with Rob's books. They are big, bold and extravagant and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!!

This story is told in first person by Mark. This is my second book by this author and I found it highly entertaining. Hart’s most recent book made my Top Ten of 2022. Mark is in AA: Assassins Anonymous, that is. He’s just days away from getting his one-year chip, but when someone starts targeting him, he’s worried he might fall back into old habits and, you know, kill someone, sending him right back to the beginning. Although sometimes, he only has to say his assassin name—Pale Horse—and villains immediately surrender. Others want the notoriety of taking down the master.

Mark is accompanied on his adventures by his cat, P Kitty, who he believes saved his life. Mark’s AA group consists of some colorful characters, but can he trust them? They gave up the life too, or did they? I really enjoyed Mark’s character. I loved his snarky humor and taste in movies. As he traveled the world looking for answers, we learn about his past with his handler at the shadow agency that previously recruited him from the military, and the friends and enemies he’s made along the way. Who he sort of trusts and who he doesn’t. And at the heart of the story is the toll the life of an assassin took on him and his reasons for giving it all up.

Recommended for the humor, story and action. Would love to see this character again!

Thank you to Netgalley and GP Putnam’s Sons for a copy provided for an honest review.

Fantastic thriller. Five star worthy. One part is very much the AA type meeting setting, the other part is all about the crime and the murders. Fun. Thanks for rhe arc

This is not usually the kind of book I would read, but after I read the synopsis, I was intrigued.
The book continued to get more intriguing as I read it, and I ended up finishing it quicker then I expected.
Pale Horse is an assassin who is basically the best in the biz. After an eye opening moment he decides to quit and joins a support group for retired assassins.
After an attack he is forced to figure out who is after him while trying not to get too far back in the game.
This book was oddly moving. It has a lot of action. And I enjoyed the characters and their relationships to one another.
Great 3.5 ⭐️ read.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC

At first blush, this didn’t seem like a book I’d normally pick up. But I’m a Rob Hart fan, so of course I grabbed it on NetGalley when I could. Though I was pleasantly surprised, I shouldn’t have been, knowing Rob writes well-rounded characters and puts them in complex situations.

Mark is a “recovering assassin” and is days away from receiving his one-year “sobriety” chip when he’s violently attacked by a hitman after an Assassins Anonymous meeting. In the ensuing story, Mark and a cast of assassins (both active and in recovery) fight for Mark's life while trying to figure out who's after him.

The overarching questions? Will Mark succumb to his old ways and lose his one year of sobriety? Is being a killer inherently his nature?

What happens with perhaps the world’s most deadly and effective killer starts to question what his life has been? He’s worked for ‘The Agency’ who doles out the assignments. He’s also available (via a dark web version of LinkedIn) for simple freelance assignments. He’s accumulated enough cash to avoid working for the rest of his life.

Mark (aka The Pale Horse) is good at what he does. Hand-to-hand, firearms, bombs, gas, you name it. But he’s starting to have some existential thoughts about whether all the blood he’s caused to be spilled has made a difference. A mistake sends him reeling. Searches for help. And he finds it, sort of.
There are 12-step programs for all sorts of addictions – alcohol, drugs, sex, eating. Amongst the small world of professional assassins exists a self-help group that helps professional killers (as opposed to opportunistic killers) get out of the life. Mark manages to get in. Even has his 6-month chip.

When you’re as good as The Pale Horse, a lot of people have Mark at their top of their revenge list. While in recovery, Mark manages to survive and near-fatal assault. Helped by Astrid (a former spec ops medic who is on-call to the assassin community), he recovers and now has to struggle of his internal battles between The Pale Horse’s obsession with revenge and Mark’s progress toward his own form of sobriety.

Finding the person who nearly killed him is a long chase from NYC to Singapore to London and back to NYC. Mark and Astrid are gaining, but always seem to be a step behind.

I started reading this as a break in the overwhelming task of reading The Year of the Locust, that 800-page beast we’ve reviewed here. As such, I was going back and forth not developing any real cohesion. Once some time opened, I managed to devote my full attention.

This book is a clever take on the killer-turned good guy story. The author manages to balance the struggle between the yin (Mark) and yang (The Pale Horse) of what Mark must deal with. Lots of psychological issues bubble up to help and hurt Mark’s tortured path to redemption. Like I said. An interesting take on the mystery/thriller genre that is our focus here. Worth your time.

In the acknowledgements, Hart mentions an exec at Amblin Entertainment has optioned this book. Movie or streaming? Who knows. Amblin (a Spielberg company) hasn’t had too many misses. But it’ll be a while before we know more.
Available 11 June 2024.

Thanks to the good folks at NetGalley for the advance reviewer copy.

thank you to netgalley and putnam books team for this arc !! assassins anonymous pub date is june 11 <3

i got interested by this book because of its title and plot, i mean, it isn’t everyday that we see a book about retired killers getting together for their anonymous meetings.

mark hasn’t killed anybody in a year but that doesn’t stop a stranger from trying to kill him. now he needs to go back to his old life and try to discover who hired this person and why. but will he try to kill someone on the way?

this is a good book to read in one sitting since it’s short and once you start you want to know what’s going on but the only thing that got me impressed was the events from a year ago and the final plot twist because astrid’s real background was kinda easy to figure it out.

A surprisingly heartfelt, gutpunch of a thriller? "Pale Horse" has been retired for a year, on the wagon for not killing a soul, when after an AA meeting (Assassins Anonymous, modeled after the more famous AA), he's attacked. While getting stitched up by a local off-the-record amateur surgeon, he learns he has to go on the run to save his life and confront the past that refuses to let him go. Great pacing, great reveals throughout, and wonderful character development. Yes, the body count and tension run high in this one, but so do the themes of redemption and friendship. Recommend! And if this doesn't become a movie, I'll be shocked.

Ahoy there me mateys! Like the title suggests, Mark, a former assassin, is trying to embrace a non-violent life and is a member of Assassins Anonymous which is a 12-step program.  But at a meeting, he is attacked, stabbed, and his notebook is stolen.  Can he figure out who is trying to kill him without sabotaging his recovery?

I loved the idea of assassins getting together in a meeting to talk about their feelings and show non-judgment.  I really enjoyed the idea of a serial killer being part of the group and the members being upset at killing for fun and not for money.  I thought the set-up and beginning of the novel was humorous.

What I did not expect was how the book moved away from the silly and into more of a serious thriller style.  I should have but didn't.  It was also very slow paced in parts which I wasn't expecting either.  The ending didn't thrill me either.

This sounds like a negative review but it was a quick read.  Not everything was to me taste which is not the book's fault.  Recommended to the crew.  Arrr!

I was excited to receive an ARC of Rob Hart's "Assassins Anonymous" and was thrilled with the result. The book, like its protagonist, is lean, in fighting shape, and unafraid to talk about feelings.

What surprised me (but shouldn't, given the title) is how much this is really a study of addiction and its affects on those around you (and how you can never fully undo the things you've done), but perhaps more importantly that addiction isn't just about those effects. It's also about what the addiction gives you, isn't it? An escape from yourself. Mark ran from who he'd become, but he could never shake the addiction to killing lurking right behind him, and the way it made him feel.

I won't get into spoilers, but I thought the ending was very satisfying after a wonderful build up that made me wonder how he'd wrap it all up in a clean way. Hart pulled it off, and the result is a great read without too much fluff but, unlike many action films, doesn't exploit violence just for violence's sake. Every drop of blood serves the plot.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this book to read, I enjoyed it and I would rate it a solid 3/5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing a free arc of this novel.

Mark is a former assassin who has been trying to recover from his deadly occupation through an assassins anonymous group located in New York City. The story opens with Mark being attacked by a Russian assassin, assumed to be a former enemy of his. Mark attempts to hunt down the group that wants him dead before they find him first, leading him to travel abroad and make contact with ghosts of his past.

I was so excited when I saw the book’s premise: a secret group of assassins meeting to reform their ways. The book started with an action-packed bang. I found chapter one engaging and enjoyable, and I was so excited to keep reading. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the rest of the story as engaging. Although events happen during the rest of the story, it lacks the fast-paced, running all over the world plotline that I had anticipated. He goes to a few locations, gets into fights, and then moves on. I wish Mark followed more clues in search of his nemesis.

The flashback chapters weren’t my favorite, either. By the end of the book, I had a weird sense that half the story was missing because so many chapters were recounting Mark’s former life as the Pale Horse, rather than propelling the main plot forward.

Despite some disappointment with the plotline, I did enjoy the characters. The final chapter did a good job wrapping up the story and providing closure regarding Mark, Astrid, and his fellow assassins anonymous members. All things considered, I would probably read a sequel about them if it included less flashbacks and had the characters doing more stuff to pursue their end goal.