thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

holy fuck, i was not expecting to love this as much as i did but this was a fun, thrilling, bad ass ride! we follow mark, who is one year clean from killing anyone after joining an assassin version of alcoholics anonymous. after a meeting one night he is almost killed which serves as a catalyst for him to go on a journey to find who is trying to kill him, confronting the ghosts and haunts of his past kills, attempting to make amends, grappling with the obligation to the people who made him, and navigating the difference between the killer he was and the man he wants to be.

this was such a good book! the writing was effortless with its gritty humor, gripping metaphors, and fast paced plot. mark as a character was complex because you could feel his inner turmoil between giving into his ego as an infamous assassin and putting it aside to find moral redemption. there was a found family that i adored, a gut wrenching back story that i wasn't expecting to feel so emotional towards, and a bunch of bad guys trying to kill each other. it was funny, action packed (loved the fight scenes!), and the amount of plot twists and turns had me absolutely GAGGED! the last twenty percent of the book i could NOT put it down, i was at the edge of my seat! i found myself counting down the minutes at work until i could get back to this book because i was so eager to find out what happens next. overall this was a fantastic book and perfect for a summer read!

ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS by Rob Hart follows Mark, a man who was once a very successful assassin. He's disappointed in how mundane this terrible work has become and he's determined to give up the life of murder. There's a super secret support system for people like Mark who are looking to leave the life, a place place much like Alcoholics Anonymous, but for those with an addiction to the adrenaline high of being a killer.

When Mark is attacked by someone unknown, he is dragged back into the life he's been trying to leave behind. On the run across the world, he's trying to piece together who exactly it is who is after him while trying to keep his natural impulses toward violence in check.

I didn't know what to expect going into this, but I had seen some positive reviews so had high hopes. I am happy to report that I really wound up enjoying my time with this one. It wound up being a bit of a mix of dark humor and action and it kept me hooked to finish the whole thing in one day!

This does have dark moments and there is definitely some heavy discussions about the life of an assassins, but I also really enjoyed the humor of it. I liked the main character and his quest for peace. The story was full of some really interesting characters throughout!

Assassins Anonymous is an action-packed, thought provoking thriller that delivers quite a few twists and turns with a healthy side of sardonic humor.

The story starts off with a bang, with Mark, a reformed assassin, getting brutally attacked after one of his Assassins Anonymous meetings. Mark was once the most fear invoking killer-for-hire in the world, but for the last year, he has been "working the program" and learning to live life without using his considerable skills for murdering people. But after a year of mostly peaceful living, someone is trying to kill him, and he needs to figure out who it is without using lethal force. As he sets out on an international journey to discover who from his past is coming after him, he grapples with keeping the murderous, powerful version of himself at bay, trying to keep his sobriety, his enemies and himself alive.

I was so impressed by how this book balances philosophical and psychological questions about life and death with edge of your seat action. Mark's journey to figure out who is coming for him is just really fun reading; it's cinematic and exhilarating, with absolutely no lulls. Hart masterfully created a perfect character to grapple with the morality of killing, and gave him an emotionally harrowing backstory to bring him to the point of questioning his life decisions.

Assassins Anonymous intertwines classically fun action sequences, character development and philosophical thought experiments into one snappy package, and you don't want to miss out on it!

Before I say anything. Mr Hart, you better have at leat 11 books lined up with this character, or we are going to have words!!! And yes it's just a statement 😅🫡

Wowza, I loved every minute of this!!! Solid solid 5 stars, wish I could give it more. I literally ignored this book for months and just picked it up on a whim, not really expecting much. 🤨🤨🤨. Jokes on me, this was a masterpiece and I'm praying we get to see more of the pale horse...

Think of AA, now this time replace the alcoholics with assassins. We meet a renowned assassin who through an unfortunate event is trying to turn a new leaf. When someone tries killing him, he tries to uncover the plot behind it has he navigates the mine field of who he's trying to be and what he's always been......

Memorable line: "Jason Statham eats glass for breakfast " 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

Thanks for ARC penguin group 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Very much appreciated!!!!

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group - Putnam for this advanced reader's copy. I read Rob Hart's book The Warehouse and loved it's fun, yet creepy vibe so when I saw the author had another book coming out, I knew I had to read it. This book was super fun. There are support groups for all kinds of addicts, Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, so it only makes sense that there would be a support group for Assassins, right?! This group of assassins get together and talk and how they want to stop killing people, and how long it has been since there last kill at Assassins Anonymous meeting. Oh, and they fight over whether hitmen really belong at the meetings. And, of course, each person MUST remain anonymous at the meetings lest someone find out who they really are and come after them for someone they have killed in their past. Well, that has happened and now someone knows who Mark was in his past life and they are coming after him. This book had me laughing out loud at times with the assassin code names, fight scenes, and anecdotes. I will definitely read anything Rob Hart continues to write as he puts an interesting spin on general ideas

Assassins Anonymous was completely different from every book I read this year, and I loved it. I enjoyed the concept of an AA group and Mark trying to fight his addiction to killing as Pale Horse. Mark's character was perfect for this book, and I enjoyed the different timelines that explained how he joined the group and left his career as an assassin. Overall, this is an action-filled, fast-paced thriller that will keep you in suspense until the last page.

Assassins Anonymous comes out June 11th.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to review Assassins Anonymous. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After an accident that led to an innocent death a year ago, Mark, made the choice to leave his job and get clean. After almost a year in AA: Assassins Anonymous, Mark has learned how to breathe through his old thoughts and feelings and is making progress as a reformed assassin when he is attacked following an AA meeting. Now, Mark must figure out who attacked him and why. Is The Agency after him? How can he remain reformed and in recovery when in order to save his own life he has to take another? The worst though, is that Mark must resume his killer persona, Pale Horse, to figure out who is out for blood and lose the steps of recovery he has made.

I struggled with this novel in the beginning. Chapters jump around, so one must pay attention to the setting listed at the beginning of each chapter. Once I picked up on the setting changes, following the text became easier. I liked the plot and Mark as a protagonist. I was not able to piece together the story and characters in order to figure out the ending (which I always enjoy), but others may see it coming. Overall, I think this is a fun read for mystery lovers. I do wish more would have gone into the psychology of the incident that led Mark to AA, but it also wasn't brushed over; it was limited which made sense for the character.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart. This was a fast paced thriller and interesting story of how assassins formed a group to stop being killers. Does that kind of life ever leave you? Can you walk into a room and not feel like you have to watch your back every minute? Will your past catch up with you? Mark is almost a year into the program and he feels great until one day when he doesn’t.

This is a very different kind of thriller with humor, action, and an assassin to root for to succeed. But succeed at what? Mark is trying to maintain his sobriety not to kill, but changing isn’t easy. It is made all the harder when he is viciously attacked just after one of his AA meetings. What is an assassin supposed to do when he has the skills to retaliate, the will to stay alive but a yearning to be free of his “job” and deadly abilities. Keeping vows and surviving may not be compatible as Mark tries to learn who is behind this attack and who can he trust. Time lines give background and venues change as the author delves into Mark’s motivations and reputation. A great read for those seeking a new kind of hero. Try the book before (most likely to happen) it becomes a movie. Recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy. This was a really enjoyable book. Fast-paced, with lots of action sequences. I expect we'll be seeing a streaming or theatrical version of this book sometime in the near future. It reads like it was written with this in mind, and I'm excited to watch when it is made. Most of the characters were well developed, or developed enough to actually care about how things turn out for them. I did guess one of the twists fairly early on, but that was OK. I think it was telegraphed on purpose. All in all, an exciting read that I had trouble putting down. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed the beginning of this but quickly realized that this was the type of action driven thrillers that I do not enjoy. I could have pushed on to provide a review but I felt it would be unfairly biased by my lack of enjoyment for these type of books

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

"Yesterday matters. Today matters more."

Rob Hart has certainly hit his stride with his seventh novel, and it is no surprise to discover that the movie rights to this novel have been sold to Amblin Partners for an upcoming feature film.

A perfect blend of John Wick meets Barry, this cinematic thriller offers readers all the necessary ingredients for a summer blockbuster story that I could pitch as a flawless book for any reader. Equal parts humorous and heart-warming, I was pulled in from page one with zero lulls in this well-plotted redemption narrative.

The book's concept is that the world's deadliest hitman, Pale Horse, has left behind his violent life of crime and joined a support group with a hodgepodge band of reformed assassins ready to leave their killing sprees and peppered pasts behind them. The rules they live by are inspired by AA groups, including those celebrated moments with chips and speeches as they reach their meaningful milestones.

But in the story's opening pages, Mark (AKA Pale Horse) is attacked by a mysterious assailant. Now nursing a severe knife wound, he gets medical treatment from a woman who has bailed him out a few times before. As the two become embroiled in a life-threatening situation, they now must outrun his assailant, all while navigating Mark's initial pledge that he will not kill. You can imagine this is quite hard, especially when we uncover his God-like capabilities for both murder and mayhem.

The novel follows a nonlinear timeline, allowing us to peek into Mark's past. This reveals gasp-worthy twists about why he left his old life behind. As Mark tries to envision a new future with his kitty companion, P. Kitty, we discover all of Mark's past friends and foes in riveting detail.

The novel's bursting with film references to past assassins and more than a few eye rolls as Mark is compared to John Statham repeatedly (Dear God, please let him be the lead in the film!); you'll be laughing through much of this novel.
While the story ends tidily, I can't help but hope that this might be the first in a series—I can't imagine our journey with Pale Horse is done. I count this story among my favorite books of the year and a must-read for your summer.

Both a beautifully written meditation on redemption and forgiveness and an action-filled deconstruction of the hitman tropes, Assassins Anonymous is Rob Hart operating at the full height of his storytelling prowess. Hart keeps his recovering killer Mark and his struggle to maintain sobriety at the core of a fast-paced ride that delivers all the thrills and sharp-eyed observations you could want.

Assassins Anonymous is a fast paced and thoroughly entertaining thrill ride. I had a lot of fun reading this one. I love the characters and the plot twists were executed so well. Definitely a book to remember. Must read!!!

ASSASINS ANONYMOUS is a rare combination of action-packed thrills with a side of heartfelt emotion. Mark was once a member of a shadowy US agency and was the most lethal killer-for-hire in the world. He joined a 12-step program for former killers but the draw of his former life can’t be easily outrun when he is attacked by a mystery assailant one year into his reformed life.

Ultimately this is a tale of longing for change and finding the fortitude to make it happen. This story took some unexpected twists and went in sentimental directions I haven’t read in a thriller before. The life of an assassin is a solitary one but I loved the focus on community within the “Assassins Anonymous” group and the essential role that others play in our own healing journeys.

Despite the grit and the gore, there is unexpected tenderness to be found.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-believe yesterday matters but today matters more
-appreciate Brene Brown quotes mixed into an action thriller
-have ever desired to change your life

RATING: 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5 stars)
PUB DATE: June 11, 2024

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fast-paced, entertaining, fun at times - crazy intense at others, Assassins Anonymous is a good book! The action is bold with travel around the world to solve the mysteries.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group - Putnam for the opportunity to read this ARC.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Putnam for an advance copy of this novel about a man trying to make amends for all the wrongs he has done, and those who plotting to keep him from changing his ways.

Moderation is something that a lot of people have problems with. Especially when it something that one is good at, that gives that person a charge, and in some cases the impetuous to go on. Sometimes these things can be harmful, to ourselves or to others around us. However once started it is hard to walk away. That feeling is always there, an itch that can't be scratched. Drugs, drink, sex, even hoarding are hard to give up once one gets the taste. And so is killing. Especially if one is extraordinary good at it. Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart is a thriller about a man with a particular set of skills who wants to stop what he does best, and the increasing amount of people who want him to keep on killing.

Mark is a guy trying to change his life. Mark has taken in a cat, tried to be a better neighbor, and has entered a twelve-step program to help him with his problems. Once Mark was known as the Pale Horse, an assassin for a group known as the Agency, not the CIA, until things went wrong in his life. Now Mark is trying to take it day-by-day, as a member of a group who tries to get killers to stop killing. Mark is nearing one year since he has last killed, and has moved up to the ninth step of making amends. To do this Mark has made a list of those he has killed. One night after a meeting Mark is jumped by a Russian, who stabs him and steals his notebook. Mark is soon traveling the world, trying to determine who is after him, and how he can accomplish this all without having to unleash the beast that is the Pale Horse, something he has given so much to contain.

A very rare thriller in that the ideas are fresh, the characters are well developed, are interesting and the costs aren't the end of the world, but reverting back to a person that one doesn't like. This could have been a one-joke story, AA for killers, but Hart is much to good a writer to take the easy way. Plus there is a great cat as a companion. Mark is a very good character, one that people will find easy to root for, even while he shares the bad things that he has done. Mark has done a lot of bad things. All the characters are interesting, even the minor ones. Each one has a tale, and in many ways a pain that again makes the stakes of the book real. There is plenty of action, cool equipment, and lots of fisticuffs. Well maybe a little John Wick-y but still good. The humor is just right, especially the jokes about assassins in media, and the constant comparisons to Jason Statham.

Read this before the streaming series starts. Big action, big adventure, and some really heart breaking moments. This is the second book I have read by Rob Hart, and I enjoy the fact that Hart is always trying something new. I would like to read more about Mark and his struggles to overcome his addiction to violence. However I am looking forward anything Rob Hart writes because I already know it will be good.

Full of action and wit, I absolutely adored this. Rob Hart created the most entertaining story full of colorful characters, snarky humor, and quirky shenanigans. I fell in love with his story writing style and this unique plot. I don't think I've read anything quite like this before and this author has definitely made it onto my list. Can't wait to check out more of his books.

Immensely fun and entertaining! Maybe it's just the timing, but this was like the dark older brother of Ashley Elston's First Lie Wins. Loved how things wrapped at the end of this book, but would gladly comeback to these characters for more. There were plenty of times I quite literally gasped out loud!

I really enjoyed this one!! I was intrigued by the clever premise alone and it REALLY delivered everything I was hoping for. This book was like a feel-good assassin thriller (that’s not a real genre but I’m going with it). Yes, there are fight scenes and blood, but Hart doesn’t relish in it or glamorize it. In fact, the book focuses far more on the psychological and emotional impact killing people could have on assassins and contract killers. It’s funny and sarcastic, but also thoughtful and emotional (there were even a few chapters I caught myself tearing up!). I thought the cast of characters was great across the board- I really enjoyed getting to know them and unraveling bits and pieces of their personalities. Overall this was a really fun, comedic, and surprisingly heartfelt thriller I’d recommend to anyone!


4.25 stars