Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Red Rose (Blood)
SERIES: The Deadly Rose Series
AUTHOR: Michael Kudo
PUBLISHER: Wilde City Press
LENGTH: 169 Pages
BLURB:
“I don’t like to be called an Assassin, I prefer the term problem solver.”
My name’s Alex. I’m an average guy. I kill people for a living. But don’t judge me.
I don’t take jobs on just anybody though. I only kill the really annoying people, like cheaters or abusers. So if you think about it, I’m actually doing God’s work—okay, maybe that’s stretching things a bit.
Other than the whole committing murder and trying to get away with it thing, my life is simple.
Well… except for the fact I’m in love with a fellow assassin who happens to be my mentor. I also have to make sure I’m careful when I’m on the job because if I ever fail a hit, I’ll be considered a “liability” and be executed promptly. Oh, and there’s a small chance someone in the organization is trying to have me killed. But I’ll figure that out, eventually. Did I mention I’m gay?
Okay, maybe my life isn’t so simple.
REVIEW:
I’m a little late to the game in loving all over this book but what can I say, I like to make an entrance. Well actually, I was kind of saving it up, like when you’ve got some chocolate that you know is going to taste freakin’ amazing but if you eat it, then it’s gone. Yep, I’m one of those annoying people and for the last month every time I’ve checked my list of books to review I’ve seen Red Rose sitting there and thought – ohhh yeah, it’s gonna be tasty. Cause see, I knew before I even started the book that I was going to love it. Why, you ask? Because I didn’t really want to read it. I shit you not, this is a weird…thing, my weird thing and it hasn’t failed me yet. Allow me to explain.
I like mainstream, I like stereotypes, I like being able to guess exactly what is going to happen before I even start reading the story. And those are the books I normally read. I think of them as “safe” books. But every once in a while we’ll get a review request from an author or a publisher or in this case it was J.P. Barnaby suggesting that someone at Love Bytes should really read what she thinks is a standout book, and the blurb for the book just catches my attention for some reason. If it’s not something I’d normally read I’ll just ignore it and hope someone else takes it for review. But sometimes no one does and the request just sits there and I keep looking at it and reading the blurb and thinking that that is not my kind of book but for some reason it’s calling to me and really the author went to the trouble of writing it so the least I could do is review it, right? And suddenly I’ve added the title to my review list, Dani has sent me the ARC and I’m looking at the book cover on my Kindle thinking – I don’t want to read this. Without fail, I end up loving these books! It’s like I’m book psychic, which is the absolute best kind of psychic you can be. And so anyway, the whole point of that arguably irrelevant story is that I’m saying Red Rose is a good book. Thank you for reading my review. The end.
Wait, I should probably tell you a bit more about the story. First and foremost, this is not a romance. I repeat, not a romance. Which is fine, the story didn’t need a romance but if you’re anything like me then even if a book doesn’t have a romance tag attached, you still just assume that there’s going to be some lovin’ involved. And maybe in future books there will be. Our assassin certainly wants his ex-lover back, but unfortunately Lance (the ex) is not cooperating. Lance is a bit of a dick, I really didn’t like Lance. And actually, what badass assassin is named Lance? Lance is a skater, or a surfer, or a homophobic jock. Lance is not a scary top of his game assassin. But that is really just my issue I guess.
What I love most about this story is our main character Alex, Mr. Rose to those who wish to hire him. The story is told through his first person perspective and his snarky, sarcastic ramble fills the book from cover to cover. I love snarky and sarcastic and I love characters who waffle on with a sort of random narration that tends to see their thoughts wander off on strange tangents before refocusing on the story at hand. I usually try to avoid comparisons when writing reviews but honestly, Alex reminded me of some of TJ Klune’s characters, and I obviously mean that in a very good way. I was just waiting for Alex to say that he doesn’t need weapons because he can slay them with his wit. (You can totally steal that for the sequel. You’re welcome.) But what is most fascinating about Alex is the way he comes across as a totally normal, nice though he’d disagree, guy who just happens to kill people for a living. As far as I can recall, every other book I’ve read that features a hitman will portray the guy as big, bad, broody and mean. Alex is none of those things. For the most part he comes across as kind of inept until it actually comes time for him to kill somebody. Although we learn how he joined the organization he works for I would have liked to know more about why he decided to start killing people. I’m hoping that’s further explored in the subsequent books in this series.
The ending? Well I just hope I don’t have to wait too long for the next story to come out and I am going to brag and say I kind of guessed the lovely twist that ends this first book. I guess some people would call it a cliffhanger but it’s not like Alex is left with a knife at his throat or a gun pointed at his head. It’s simply – the mystery deepens…
The next book in the series will be White Rose and no pressure Michael Kudo but, I’m waiting.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
I also loved this one. Lots of snarkiness and tons of action. Definitely looking forward to the next book.
I am all over that next one just as soon as it appears! 😉