Unfortunately, I am no longer interested in reviewing this book on my blog. Thank you for this opportunity.

I really enjoyed this story. Assassins, spies, the very rich trying to control the world and those that try to stop them, all wrapped up in non stop action. Good characters and a great storyline which isn't finished yet!

This one just didn't work for me. The characters felt quite superficial, the suspense was lacking and I didn't find it particularly engaging. The writing itself was fine, but it wasn't enough to keep me invested in the book. Basically this one didn't work for me.

Excellent tale of two equally determined professional women engaged in espionage and murder. A very good start to what promises to be a gripping battle of good versus evil wrapped up as good. Can't wait for the next instalment.

Oxana Vorontsova has had a tough upbringing and then her father is murdered. She avenges him and then apparently commits suicide in prison only to be reborn as Villanelle. Villanelle has been taken in hand by Konstantin who puts her through several gruelling regimes to toughen her up and to turn her into a cold, dispassionate killer for hire – the ideal assassin. Eva Polastri is a section leader at MI5. Her path crosses that of Villanelle when a high-profile Russian is murdered in London and Eva suffers the consequences.

The idea behind the thriller isn’t new as “Nikita” follows a similar storyline. However, having read both books this beats the original in every single respect. It is superb. I consumed it in a 24-hour period and for once was delighted with the final pages when invariably this type of ending leaves me disappointed and frustrated.

The writing is intelligent. The building of the personalities is excellent. Luke Jennings is a master of the use of language and in just a few words he can paint a vivid picture where many others fail miserably. The counterpoint between the two female characters is very well done and led me to care about both for very different reasons. I knew I would feel the loss of either.

A follow-up book is being written and I shall be first in line. During further research, it was no surprise to read that the book is to be turned into a TV series in 2018 by BBC America. I do hope it is aired in the UK and I pray that they do it justice.

mr zorg

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

This book lacks a coherence, due in part to the origins of the four chapters that were released previously as individual novella.
The start of the book works well but although there is a chronological progression the second half of the book fails to take the story forward.
Villanelle is a product of broken childhood in Russia, often placed in care as her lone parent, her father led a violent life.
When he is killed by a crime syndicate his daughter taking on board all the weapon skills he taught and imbued her with strikes to revenge his murder.
She is found languishing in the prison system and like hollywood's Nikita is turned into a killing machine. Trained in every aspect of the assassin's art she becomes a go to contract killer.
I liked her ingenuity, her coldness and disconnect. She is a controlled sociopath and for the moment her handler is Konstantin who recruited her. He works for a mysterious group of 12 who meet regularly and vote to confirm their decision to put out a contract. Their status isn't clear but they seem to represent a group interest of western business values.
That they seem to arrange the murder of extreme criminal warlords or political extremists you would think that no-one would lament their passing.
However when a MI5 operative, Eve, responsible for high end celebrity's security, loses a Russian politition on her watch she learns to hate the mysterious assassin. That Eve is to be Villanelle's nemesis is a little difficult to factor into this story but their final showdown lies ahead of us.
A fast paced thriller with an engaging protagonist that is a good read to escape into for a few hours.

The story as it starts is reminiscent of a French Assassin Nikita but as the story unfolds we are faced with a far different character. She is a person who has learnt the ability to become any number of different personas so as to approach her prey and kill and escape without any trace, killing mercilessly any possible witnesses. Being a narcissistic psychopath she takes pleasure in doing this and between missions she satisfies her desires by likewise targeting victims to seduce and leave without trace. A most unsavoury character. After many high profile hits it comes to the attention of criminal agencies that there is a mysterious female assassin at work connected to some organisation unidentified. The story ends with the need for a team action to which the assassin has to join to eliminate a security gap. This then compromises her security while at the same time MI 5 has a lead into the secret organisation for which she works. This sets the scene for another story

Female super assassin. Fit. Feisty. Fantastic. An exciting take the superhero genre. Very cold-blooded and threatening. Born Oxana, she killed the men who murdered her father. She went to jail. Released, she agreed to become an assassin and changed her name to Villanelle. No one knows who she is or how many she's killed. Until ex-cop, now MI5, Eve Polastri gets on her tail. Eve, married and emotional, cannot let Villanelle get away with it. Following her around the globe, Eve is determined the killing has to stop. But at what cost to her marriage? With lots of action, Codename Villanelle follows in the wake of Bourne and James Bond but has its own twists and turns that make it worth a read. If there's a follow-up, I'll give a whirl.

I really enjoyed this book which was originally four short reads. It follows the story of Oxana who kills the men responsible for her father's death. She's set to spend a long time in prison when she's approached and offered life in prison or to be trained to become an assassin and thus Villanelle is born. Her mentor is Konstantin whose the go between between her and the shadowy group of 12 who decide who she's to kill next...

Eve, a former MI5 employee has been tasked with the job of hunting Villanelle down. ... It's a fast paced story (I'm hoping there will be a part 2!)

A series of 4 vignettes from the life of a Russian female assassin, this is very like La Femma Nikita but without an overarching storyline. A quick and smart read, lots of technical details, slick killings, a psychopathic heroine and the 'good' woman out to catch her. Enjoyable but feels like offcuts from a proper full-length novel.

This is a very enjoyable load of old hokum. It could be utterly dreadful – a ruthless, beautiful highly trained female assassin (the eponymous Villanelle) working for a shadowy group of ultra-rich people protecting their own interests isn't exactly a fresh-sounding set-up - but it's well done and actually very entertaining.

I've largely summarized the plot in the last sentence, but we also meet a British intelligence operative whose mission it is to catch and kill Villanelle. She is a rather engaging character: brilliant and determined but unglamorous and ordinary in her personal life, she makes a good foil to Villanelle's character, and I like that the two chief protagonists are both women. Luke Jennings writes well, presents a good, detailed background and creates pretty believable scenes and characters - within the overall implausibility of the whole thing, of course. He structures the plot well and I found it an exciting and easy read.

I did think that a couple of the sex scenes were gratuitously explicit – especially one in which a potential target for Villanelle visits a brothel and indulges in some, shall we say, very niche practices which were described in needlessly graphically detail. Also, this is the set up for at least one more book; there is no real resolution at the end and I'm not sure that the idea will carry a series. Nonetheless, I did enjoy Codename Villanelle and I will look out for the sequel. Recommended.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)

Ths is a collection of 4 kindle single stories about Oxana Vorontsova, a young woman who kills the men responsible for the death of her father. This lands her in prison, where she is approached with a deal. Oxana becomes erased with the cover story that she dies, and she acquires a whole new persona, Villanelle, and trained to become an extraordinary assassin in strong echoes of Nikita. Konstantin is the representative of the 12 powerful men who sanction Villanelle's hits. The stories are interconnected with recurring characters. The first story gives the backstory of Oxana and her conversion to Villanelle. We learn of her personality, she is a sociopath with an inability to access human emotions such as empathy or compassion. She is, however, superb at learning to simulate emotions for power, sex and for exposing the vulnerabilities of her targets.

Villanelle's first hit takes her to Palermo and a much feared Mafia boss with a host of enemies. We come to see just how talented and cold a killer she really is, although she does go off the page when it came to her instructions. There is a detailed breakdown of her abilities, her observational skills, reactive speeds and sensory powers are phenomenal. Her second hit brings her to London, where an elaborate plan is devised that targets a charismatic Russian fascist leading a growing movement. We encounter Eve Polastri, and her deputy, Simon Mortimer, working for MI5. Initially Eve rejects the need for protection of the Russian but changes her mind. Entering Eve's radar is the awareness of a highly able female assassin operating globally. Eve ends up working on a solitary aim of identifying this assassin in a covert operation at MI6. The third hit is in Shanghai, the leader of the White Dragons, FatPanda and the fourth has Villanelle in Odessa as events turn in an unexpected direction.

These stories give us remarkable insights into the killing machine that is Villanelle, her warped sense of the romantic, her inner drive and need to kill that gives her a high that nothing else matches. She has a need to manipulate, and dominate her sexual encounters, which include men and women, although once she achieved her conquest she loses interest. Luke Jennings expertly documents her character development and Eve's, as she becomes obsessed with hunting down Villanelle after traumatic events take place. The author does a tremendous job of making Villanelle monstrous but never less than compelling. A great collection of stories. Many thanks to John Murray Press for an ARC.