ASSASSIN EIGHTEEN follows the opening installment of John Brownlow’s series, SEVENTEEN: Last Man Standing. Each "assassin" is named for his numerical place as the world's #1 killer for hire. When the up-and-coming prospective assassin manages to kill the current top assassin, he or she then takes the latter role and assumes the next number as his or her "title." In the first book, Seventeen was given the assignment to kill Sixteen. 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.

"I highly recommend this series to those who enjoy novels with ticking clocks, daring exploits, dangerous deeds and courageous characters. Evil ones, too, as there are plenty of those for everyone."

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 a first-person narrative, he shares his story. Because we learned a lot about him in SEVENTEEN, I highly recommend reading that one first. Although it works fine as a stand-alone, if you start with ASSASSIN EIGHTEEN, 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.

What we find out about Seventeen in this novel, as he shares more of his background, is a story we did not hear about in the first book --- what might have been the only time he fell in love. And ironically, it was with another killer. In SEVENTEEN, 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 ASSASSIN EIGHTEEN, 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 stunning 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 assassin who 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 novels with ticking clocks, daring exploits, dangerous deeds and courageous characters. Evil ones, too, as there are plenty of those for everyone. And you just know that some will escape justice and will live to strike again in book three.