Date Published: June 2007
ISBN: 978-0-553588194
Thriller
Paperback
Reviewed by Gina
A former cop, she’s the owner of a mountain lodge, a place to go to get away from the hustle, bustle and noise of the city.
She’s a killer for hire. A hit woman who can take a man…or woman…down in any manner of subtle ways. Nadia Stafford doesn’t kill indiscriminately nor does she take just any job. The people she sends to the great beyond deserve what they’re getting on some level. They’re the bottom feeders who no one is really going to miss when they are gone but whose departure may well lead to a collective sigh of relief. Not that what she does is right. After all, murder is still illegal.
Returning from a job, all Nadia really wants to do is return to her lodge and kick back to live her “other” life. With some of the cops she worked with on location it’s not exactly easy for her to slip away to talk with her mentor, a man known only as Jack. Jack, an enigmatic man of indiscriminate age, shows up now and again. With respect for his personal privacy and the code shared by hit men and women, she doesn’t probe into his personal life. She doesn’t even really ask about his professional life. However, when one of their own begins killing a combination of criminals, innocent bystanders and targeting other contract killers, she and Jack join forces to bring this monster down. Turning to a long time pro, an older women named Evelyn who is still among the best, Jack and Nadia begin their pursuit of the lethal killer. Time and again they come close, so very close to catching the man dubbed the Helter Skelter killer, yet each time he manages to escape. When Nadia becomes his target she soon learns she has no where to hide.
I got hooked on Kelley Armstrong after reading BITTEN and have thoroughly enjoyed the Women of the Otherworld series, especially BROKEN, which is an “Elena and Clay” story. After immersing myself in Ms. Armstrong’s world of witches, werewolves, ghosts and vampires, to name a few, I was quite curious to see what she did with a contemporary thriller without the paranormal beings present. Too often when an author first makes the move from one genre to another their writing hits a few bumps. Not so with Ms. Armstrong. Not only is Nadia a fascinating study in contrasts—a former cop who still believes in protecting and serving, but supports herself by taking down the worst society has to offer, but every character in EXIT STRATEGY is multilayered and attention getting. Even the minor characters of Grace and Cliff in the opera house are mesmerizing in their interactions. By the end of their scene I was holding my breath, waiting for the shoe to drop as the outcome of that short but so very potent chapter ended.
As with Eve’s decision in HAUNTED, EXIT STRATEGY pulled me in two directions at once. After all, Nadia is breaking the law. She is killing people. But she’s killing people who would otherwise continue to hurt others. She’s servicing society, but at the same time, can her actions truly be justified? Ms. Armstrong knows how to draw in a reader, intrigue him or her and weave her take around them.
I personally wanted more for Nadia at the end of EXIT STRATEGY, but the fact that it is book 1 of the Nadia Stafford series and the promise of a new assignment looms, I was okay with the ending. After all, she and Jack may eventually have that happy ending…or not. In either event, EXIT STRAGETY should be placed on your “must read” list.
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