The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.
Nor do they have tails.
But they are most assuredly dead.Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins―resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories―have only three unbreakable vows.
First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.
Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.
The third and the once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.
****
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.
Review:
P. Djèlí Clark has quickly made his name known in the fantasy genre and I adored his steampunk Cairo world. In the Dead Cat Assassins, we follow Eveen, a literally dead assassin with no recollection of her previous life, serving out a contract as an assassin. After an assigned job, certain memories begin returning to her and it’s a race against time to figure out why. While the Dead Cat Assassins was entertaining and the quirks of the many assassins we come across fun to read, I found the worldbuilding quick flat compared to Cairo. The time-travel aspect at the very beginning definitely threw me for a loop, but by the end I was kind of rolling with it. Probably the strongest aspect of this novella was the action and fight scenes. Clark has a deft hand with painting action and describing a scene in a way that’s fun and easy to follow as a reader. Overall I rate this book a 4/5.
r/Fantasy 2023-24 Bingo Squares:
- Criminals
- Published in 2024
- Author of Color
- Survival (hard mode)
Publication Date: 6 August 2024
Publisher: Tordotcom
Format: ebook, ARC
Pages: 224
Word Count: ~47,000
ISBN: 9781250767042
Buy It Here: Amazon | Google Books | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads