As a fan of movies, some of the most interesting movies I have ever watched, are movies about assassins. There is something cool, about a hired gun, and their focus on completing a job, a concentration that most of us wished we had. Some of my favorite movies including assassins include the Smokin Aces series, which both celebrated the genre’s awesomeness and absurdity. Then there is the is underrated Sylvester Stallone boiler, The Specialist, which gave film fans a different view of him as an actor and in a character, which exuded cool.

One of the more interesting entries in the genre, has been on television, which includes Bill Hader’s Barry and Chloe Sevigne’s transgender contract killer in Hit & Miss. Then there is the hilarious and off kilter parody on the genre starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in Killing Gunther, a movie that showed how many of the archetypes in the genre can be ludicrous. I wondered if that same premise, was taken seriously what type of movie it would have been? One such scenario is played out in the full tilt parade of assassins’ story, Dead Man’s Party.

In the first few pages, we meet our antagonist, known simply, as “Ghost”, an assassin on top of his game, and finishing a job, whose odds were impossible, but that what makes him the best. At the most inopportune time, Ghost hears some life changing news and acts erratically, something that would end up hurting him sooner rather than later. What unravels is a “Dead Man’s party”, which is a hitman’s farewell game, one where they can be only one left at the end. As he finds trouble at every corner, every assassin he may have worked with or against, has come for his head, and no one is quite ready, especially Ghost, as he can trust no one. By book’s end, Ghost finds out who has set him up but just when he thinks its done, nothing is ever what it seems.

Overall, an excellent book which feels like a much bloodier John Wick, one which lifts the genre to new heights. The story by Jeff Marsick is fun, twisted and pulse pounding. The art by the creative team makes the story even better. Altogether, a great story that will make new fans of the crime noir genre.

Story: Jeff Marsick Art: Scott Barnett, Sandra Hogue & Katelyn Amacker, Erica Schultz
Story: 9.0 Art: 7.7 Overall: 9.3 Recommendation: Buy