I love the concept of KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, perhaps because I am "of a certain age." Deanna Raybourn certainly writes authentically about women in their 60s.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have been assassins for over 40 years, working for an organization nicknamed "The Museum." Their job has been to kill bad guys, beginning with Nazi escapees, followed by drug overlords, crime bosses and other evil people. Now these four women, who trained together in their 20s, are taking the first steps toward enjoying a well-deserved retirement by embarking on an all-expenses-paid cruise courtesy of their former employer. But what happens when they realize that this excursion is intended to be the end of their lives?

"Sometimes a book is such an enjoyable read that it's delightful escapism. KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE is precisely that kind of novel --- equal parts thrilling and fun."

The ladies’ reflexes might be a bit slower than when they were younger, but with age comes wisdom and experience. The men on the board of directors who are targeting them for reasons they can't understand have seriously underestimated them. Isn't that the way it often is with men? Along with Mary Alice's wife and Minka, the young woman who Billie has taken under her wing and who excels at creating fake documents, they are willing to fight for their lives using every method they've been taught.

Raybourn's writing is exquisite as she takes us back and forth from the perilous present to the women’s provocative past, where we see how they were recruited and what they did on some important jobs. Cleverly, the past is written in the third person, while the present is narrated by Billie. The book begins with an assassination from the past involving the four women and two of the men who will be important in the present-day story. From the start, Raybourn makes us smile as she humorously depicts the at-times bloody descriptions of the women wreaking death on unsuspecting individuals, most of whom are men.

Teamwork and dedication to justice can overcome even substantial odds, and if anyone is going to get the best of those out to kill them, it's these four indomitable ladies. Sometimes a book is such an enjoyable read that it's delightful escapism. KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE is precisely that kind of novel --- equal parts thrilling and fun.