I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So I'd definitely advise reading these books in order, that's not only because they are excellent but because there's instances where the characters have a past meeting.
Victor has been my favourite assassin long before he made it big, when the book was called The Killer and the author was Tom Hinshelwood on the cover.
I remember stumbling onto that book through amazon getting it and being totally blown away by it. Then it was reprinted as The Hunter and i went and got that too cause you've got to have both versions..
Erm.. Right?

Victor has definitely got into his groove again.
This was another great book in the series, I liked the ending and it's good to see Victor is heading back to the old ways.
All this CIA/M16 stuff wasn't his style.
He doesn't like blasphemy how could he stand being around intelligence agencies for god sake...
Oh my bad.. Sorry Vic.
If Tom Wood keeps writing these Victor thrillers then chances are I'll keep advising people to read them they're just that good.

Raven has been poisoned and is stuck in hospital unable to move. Her competition, so to speak,-Victor- had been tasked to eliminate her but let her live. She owes him her life.

It seems a nameless organisation wants her dead, and will stop at nothing to make it happen.

Victor is the paid assassin taking freelance and government assignments, working for both the British and American intelligence agencies. One American agent is determined to track Victor down. Victor is on the move so much no-one can track him down and his real identity is unkniwn, just a dim picture from another job.

At first I became confused by the tag line, "He tried to kill her, now she needs his help" as the first time help is required comes from Victor asking her to do for him. It does come apparent later, that she does ask for his help, but really it only covers 20% of the story, over half way through. I felt cheated by this small part of the story as it took so long to get there.

Otherwise, the story was okay, but it didn't make me want to read any of the preceding books in the series. At times, I got confused as to who the secondary characters were, so spent a bit of some chapters recalling who a person was and how it mattered to the overall story.

I received this book via netgalley in return for a honest review.

Sorry really tried to get into this book and it is probably excellent but this is not the sort of book that I generally read. Maybe if I had read the earlier books I would have understood all the characters a little bit better.

The final hour by Tom Wood.
Agent Antonio Alvarez has been tracking a dangerous murderer for years, a nameless hitman responsible for numerous homicides.
The Agency deflected him away from his search, but he didn't give up, piecing together clues and hearsay. Now a promotion has allowed him to pursue this man with a hand-picked team and bring him to justice.
Only problem is, the murderer has vanished.
Thousands of miles away, the assassin known as Victor has stopped working - recently he began to care; he made mistakes. Now he has a choice: whether to give up the life or return to being a cold-hearted weapon. But there's another killer who needs his help - and she might be harder to refuse . . .
All while the good guys are closing in on him.
Good read with good characters. Bit surprised with the ending. 4*. Netgalley and little brown book group UK.

Book seven see's the past finally catching up with Victor. This book takes the events from book one and the CIA operator told to stop hunting Victor, who is now in a position of power and wants closure on the frustration of not catching his man!! This is a good book, with Victor trying to stay one step ahead, as he is hunted on two fronts. It moves along at a nice pace, following multiple threads that lead to the final confrontation. Tom Wood does a good job and has you routing for anti-hero Victor, who although he will do some good things, if he has no use for you, he will kill you!!

I am a Victor fan.

There's this thing I have with this series where it is spot on perfect reading for me at certain times in my reading mood because I know I'm just going to really get into it and live with Victor for a while. Not that I'd *actually* like to live with Victor he's a bit up and down on whether he'll drink with you or break your neck but whatever. Nothing like a bit of danger.

Anyway, seriously speaking these are terrifically good thrillers in comparison to a lot that are out there at the moment because Tom Wood's writing style is cleverly immersive - in the way that you don't realise you are in it until you come out again. I like that as a reader and I like the lilt of the storytelling, simplistically elegant, I also like Victor as a main protagonist because he seems predictable but really is not.

In "The Final Hour" things get shaken up a bit. Raven returns (and I know not everyone warmed to Raven but I'm a little in love with her especially after the early morgue scene and then the ending) - the relationship between the two of them was one of the highlights of this instalment for me. Someone from the past is after Victor in a very focused way and by the finale I was all edge of the seat and stuff. Plus its left me rather more eager than usual for Victor 8 so that says it all really.

These are actually classically good. Great writing, great storytelling GREAT characters. Just great.

Bring on the next.

Definitively recommended.

Intelligent and knowledgeable but surprisingly stolid and unexciting as a read.