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"Professional assassin John Lago faces off against his deadliest adversary yet--his wife. At the end of The Intern's Handbook, John tracks down his nemesis Alice but instead of putting a bullet in her head, he puts a ring on her finger and marries her. Together, they execute a hostile takeover of Human Resources, Inc., the "placement agency" that trains young assassins to infiltrate corporations disguised as interns and knock off high profile targets. As HR's former top operatives, they are successful until conflicting management styles cause an ugly breakup that locks John out of the bedroom and the boardroom. But when Alice takes on a new HR target, John is forced to return to the office battlefield in a role he swore he would never play again: the intern. What starts out as a deadly showdown turns into the two of them fighting side by side to save HR, Inc.--and their marriage" --
Reviews with the most likes.
Another great book from Shane Kuhn. Again they gave one of his books a different title in Europe. This time Shoot the Messenger.
This time around I was expecting the way Kuhn writes so I didn't think it was as funny as the first one. But I was still completely sucked into the story and needed to know what happened next. Sue was a great addition to the book. Read it. I heard a movie might be on the way based on the first one - can't wait for it and can't wait to see what John Lago does next.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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John Lago is back, folks – and he picks up right where he left off, with some of the most adrenaline and testosterone-fueled writing you'll come across this year. That may not be your cup of tea.
Hostile Takeover is one of those sequels I didn't think needed to exist. Seriously, who was dissatisfied with where things ended up for Lago? It was narratively sufficient as it was – but as the opening lines of this book could've literally been the next page in The Intern's Handbook, it's hard to complain.
So, John decides to tie up two loose ends: 1. Alice and 2. HR, Inc. He marries Alice and the two take over HR but it doesn't take too long (at least not many pages) before both of those go wrong – they break up and she kicks him out of the company (not really spoiler material, folks, it's in the Jacket Copy). John switches to Plan B, the complete destruction of both. Which is not the most mature of plans, you've got to admit.
Which is the bulk of the book – John going undercover again, John trying (and/or being the target of) elaborate assassination schemes, great fight scenes and enough munitions used to make Michael Bay choke. All delivered in that movie-obsessed, rapid-fire (no pun intended) narration that won over so many fans before.
I thoroughly enjoyed, have used already, and will continue to do so, Lago's comments on the movie Fletch. It was that line that reminded me how much I liked the first book.
Did I enjoy this as much as The Intern's Handbook? Nope. Only because it didn't blow me away with it's freshness. But it's a worthy sequel, as good as it's predecessor and leaves me wanting more. An intense, fast read – buckle up and enjoy the ride