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Step inside the mysterious, complicated and often surprisingly hilarious world of a hitman with these thrilling books about assassins.
With the innate ability to be invisible to the eye, it is exciting to see the world through the eyes of a highly trained killer.
It is easy to become utterly obsessed with the world of contract killers, and with the quirky assassins that fill the pages of these assassin novels.
Is there anything better than falling in love with a character that could kill you in a million different ways?
From a train full of assassins to a seemly ordinary older woman who kills people with poison knives, you will get effortlessly swept up in the lives of every person in these killer books about assassins.
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Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa (2010)
Follow Nanao, the self-proclaimed unluckiest assassin in the world, as he hops aboard a bullet train to complete a simple mission. However, he finds that his bad luck continues when he realizes he isn’t the only assassin onboard.
Bullet Train is written by Kōtarō Isaka and is a best-selling thriller in Japan. Originally named Maria Beetle, the book has been brilliant translated to English by Sam Malissa.
Nanao is sent on an assignment to steal a bag from the bullet train and get off at the next stop. But instead, he winds up getting into many entertaining mishaps that could only happen to a very unlucky assassin.
The bullet train is filled with mysterious, strange and quirky people, including several other assassins on their own missions.
Bullet Train was everything I wanted it to be and more. The dark mystery thriller is full of quirky characters, ironic humour, tons of action and twists and turns on nearly every page.
With characters like Satoshi, an innocent school boy who is actually a psychopath to the wacky partnership of Tangerine and Lemon, two assassins who just rescued the son of a mafia boss, Bullet Train is full of quirky and entertaining characters.
Each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view, and as it unfolds, you will learn how each assassin’s timeline coincides with everyone else.
One of the best things about Bullet Train is by the end, you will learn the fate of everyone in the book, which leaves for an insanely satisfying ending.
If you love Bullet Train and want to check out even more books on assassins, I highly recommend checking out Kōtarō Isaka’s other thriller, The Three Assassins.
READ MORE: Reality-Warping Time Travel Books
The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo, translated by Chi-Young Kim (2013)
Hornclaw, a retired assassin, is looking forward to enjoying retirement and living out the rest of her life with her dog, Deadweight. However, she slipped up near the end of her career, and someone found her true identity and is out for revenge.
The Old Woman with the Knife is one of the books about female assassins with a powerful female lead. Not only is the story thrilling and dark, but it is also beautifully written with an enjoyable main character that everyone will love.
Hornclaw’s work specializes in “disease control,” which means she kills people who have been in some very shady situations. Using one of the poison knives she has concealed in her coat, Hornclaw remains emotionless and calm as she completes another job unnoticed.
Hornclaw quickly sneaks under the radar during her contract killings as she is an older respected woman who acts and looks completely normal. However, diving deeper into the character analysis of Hornclaw shows how terribly she is treated as an aging woman in Korea.
She is a contract killer who can easily slip through the cracks and go unnoticed because as people age, they are often ignored and sometimes mistreated.
The Old Woman with the Knife is one of the best books about assassins I’ve read. It has a mysterious atmosphere which keeps secrets from you and the characters in the book.
While the ending comes full circle, it is bloody, violent, and has loads of dark humour. Will Hornclaw’s retirement get sabotaged? Will she end up as a target by another Assassin? Or will the connections she makes after retirement change her life forever?
Buy The Old Woman with the Knife
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Spy X Family by Tatsuya Endo, translated by Casey Loe (2019)
Spy X Family is a hilarious manga that follows the Forger Family, which isn’t your average family. Instead, they are a fake family as Twilight, an incredible spy, must go undercover and to complete his mission, he requires a family.
The Forgers include Twilight, the spy, his assassin wife, Yor, and their adopted telepathic daughter, Anya.
Spy X Family is one of the most unique assassin novels I have ever read. Twilight, who also goes by Loid, must stop terrorist attacks and save the world.
But, unbeknownst to him, his wife is a powerful assassin known as the Thorn Princess. If they find out about the other’s identity – would their story end in the ultimate fight?
The real star of the Spy X Family is their adopted daughter, Anya. Anya is the only one who really knows what is going on because she is a telepath. She knows everything about Yor and Twilight’s secret lives and intervenes when possible. However, her meddling often leads to confusion from everyone around her.
This manga, both written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo, is exceptionally well done and fun to read. The story gives you the perfect balance between comedic effects and serious situations.
With such excellent character work, it is so nice seeing a family who live totally different lives begin to merge and possibly, one day, become a real family.
Spy X Family, which is now an animated series, has so many twists that you won’t see coming. It is a ridiculously good book with several volumes that follow, introducing new characters like Bond the dog.
If you want a refreshingly wholesome book about assassins, you must pick up Spy X Family. Make sure you buy the next volume of the series before you finish because you will be eager to start on Volume 2 immediately.
Billy Summers by Stephen King (2021)
Billy Summers is a hitman with a fascinating moral compass. He only takes assassin jobs if he deems the target is a bad person that deserves to die.
Billy is one of the best snipers in the world and disappears without issue once his job is done. However, he wants to get out of the business but decides to take one last job before retirement. This, of course, is when things start to go wrong.
Stephen King has stepped into the world of assassin books, and his classic horror writing shines through with Billy Summers. This book features fantastic character work. Every character has a solid place in the story making friendships and relationships between the characters connect seamlessly.
Billy Summers is an entertaining read. It was easy to fall into the world and be swept up in Billy’s life. The story is gritty and real but allows the reader to find out who Billy is and uncover why he is the way he is.
The story does ramp up to get you on the edge of your seat, then switches to someone else’s story before finding out what happens.
Billy Summers features the ultimate cliff hangers that keep you locked into reading the next chapter. However, don’t worry, as the book has a solid and satisfying ending that won’t leave you feeling frustrated.
If you want to get sucked into an incredible book with excellent character development and storytelling – Billy Summers is by far one of the best assassin novels I’ve ever read.
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (1989)
Pyramids follows Teppic, a young boy next in line to become Pharaoh. Teppic is training to become an assassin at the Assassins Guild in Ankh-Morpok. While at school, his father dies, and Teppic must return to the Kingdom to become King.
In the Kingdom of Djelibeybi, everyone is obsessed with pyramids, mummification and the magic of the netherworld that exists within the pyramids.
So, the Kingdom is overrun with pyramids. Teppic adds to it by getting the biggest and best pyramid ever built for his father. This is when strange things start to happen in the Kingdom.
Pyramids features concepts of math, time and space getting entangled together all due to the building of the pyramids. Pyramids is funny and entertaining while featuring the incredible wit of Terry Pratchett.
This fun assassin book is well written and has an excellent grasp of humour while being a bit cheesy.
If you want to read one of the best books about assassins that features a camel who happens to be the world’s best mathematician – Pyramids is your book.
Grave Mercy – His Fair Assassin: A Trilogy by Robin LaFevers (2012)
Ismae is being forced into a marriage she does not want, so instead, she runs away to the Convent of Saint Mortain, who worships the Saint of Death.
The Convent trains Ismae to be a handmaiden of death and a skilled assassin who learns the art of espionage. Once trained, the spies from the Convent are sent out to kill. Their targets? Anyone Saint Mortain deems a traitor and deserves to die.
Unfortunately, Ismae’s first mission throws her deep into political turmoil. She meets up with a Duchess who, similar to Ismae, is being forced into marriage to rule the land.
The series is well-written, fun, and enjoyable with unforgettable characters. There is a whirlwind romance, murder and an engaging story about a girl who finds out that being an assassin is a lot harder than she thought it would be.
Grave Mercy is the first book in the trilogy and is a young adult fictional paranormal book – with assassins! Grave Mercy is historical fiction with a bit of a twist and not shallow like some YA novels in the genre.
The story pulls you in and keeps your attention from beginning to end. So, if you are looking for fantasy books about assassins, His Fair Assassin is the book series to pick up.
If you can’t get enough of His Fair Assassin, there are two more books in the trilogy that follow two other characters as they train to become assassins who patiently wait to serve death in the name of Saint Mortain.
The Plotters by Kim Un-su, translated by Sora Kim-Russell (2010)
Inside a seedy underground organization full of highly trained assassins disguised as an old library in the heart of Seoul sits The Plotters.
The story follows Reseng, a highly trained and skilled career assassin. Taken in as a child by an old man known only as “Old Racoon,” he has trained his whole life to become a part of the Plotters.
The Plotters, a group of assassins, don’t fully understand themselves or why they kill. However, they do as they are told and kill whomever they are told has to go.
However, things go awry, and Reseng breaks the rules. While trying to figure everything out, he runs into some of the most eccentric characters who have some interesting plans of their own.
The antics they get up to are hilarious, making The Plotters one of the best assassin books to come out of South Korea.
The Plotters is not a run-of-the-mill thriller. Instead, it has a dark and thoughtful feel that will keep you engaged and on the edge of your seat.
There is so much packed into one novel, including some fantastic action sequences with loads of twists and turns. The Plotters is poignant, violent, funny and takes you deep into how the world of assassinations is changing in Korea.