The Killing Kind – Michael Hendricks #1 – Chris Holm (Book 3 0f 2016)
One of the sub-challenges of my 2017 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge is to read twelve books written by authors whose work I have never read.The first of those books and the third overall book read in 2017 is The Killing Kind by Chris Holm.
The Killing Kind is the first novel in Holm’s Michael Hendricks series. Hendricks is a hitman with a twist. He hits hitmen before they can complete their hit. Michael contacts the target of the hit and offers to save the target for a fee. Usually around ten times what the cost of the hit. This action helps ease Hendricks’ mind, because even though he kills for a living he is only killing killers!!
The only problem is that the people who are hiring the hitmen are losing not only hitmen, but the target is still alive and knows there is a price on his head!! So they take action and hire a hitman to take care of Hendricks! And he is one mean son of a bitch!! But he is not the only one out to get Hendricks.
Special Agent Charlotte Thompson of the FBI is also on his trail. Because Hendricks is so good at not leaving any clues at the scene of his hits, as to his identity, Charlotte has labeled him the “Ghost” With both these people on his tail, Hendricks’ job just got a whole lot deadlier!!
Hendricks does what he does well because, he was once a covert operative for a false-flag unit of the US military, .But he left his old life behind when a mission in Afghanistan went south. There was only one known survivor and it wasn’t Michael. Since the mission was off the books, Michael just let the world think he was dead., including his beloved fiancée
The only person who knows Micheal is alive is the sole survivor of the mission Lester. Myles. Lester now runs The Bait Shop a bar in Portland, Maine. In the failed mission, Lester lost his legs and now is confined to a wheelchair. .But he is a computer wiz and Michael’s right-hand man. They work well together to make Michael the success he is.
Praise for The Killing Kind
THE KILLING KIND, has garnered a lot of praise. It was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Boston Globe Best Book of 2015, and Strand Magazine’s #1 Book of 2015. In addition it was also nominated for a Barry, a Lefty, and a Macavity. Finally, I decided to read it because I saw in Mystery Scene Magazine that it won the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel!!
Final Thoughts……
Overall, The Killing Kind was a four-star out of five book for me. With every thing that he has gone through Hendricks is a character you can root for. I thought that the story line was engaging and keep the pages flying by. There really wasn’t any mystery in the story, but Holm built the suspense and tension throughout the book. Then it all exploded in the last few pages!!
I for one will be checking out Red Right Hand book two in the series! I just placed a request for the book at my library!! So Check out both of the books!!