Synopsis:
Nadia Davis is living the dream as a successful working mom with a career she loves, two adorable little girls, and a devoted husband who has no idea that she’s secretly a hired assassin – a self-admitted psychopath who only kills bad guys.
When Nadia finds out she’s been “mommy tracked” by her agency and is not getting the high profile, most lucrative jobs, she demands an important mark. Somebody worth killing.
But she’s stunned when that big kill turns out to be . . . her own husband.
Brian, the sweet, teller-of-dad jokes, devoted father and husband is a really bad guy who needs to be taken out? Has their whole life together been a lie and not just because of her omissions?
Nadia is faced with a horrible choice between the career that keeps her sane . . . . and the husband she thought she knew.
Review:
Jessica Payne is the author of Make Me Disappear, The Lucky One, The Good Doctor, Never Trust the Husband, and now Somebody Worth Killing. A resident of the Tacoma, Washington area, she plots fictional murders as she runs through the trails of the surrounding forests, aided by an internet search history that she notes “would raise eyebrows.” She writes “about mothers who know how to handle a sniper rifle and a carpool schedule with equal precision.”
Payne’s literary agent contacted her in late 2023 to ask if she wanted to write a book about a female assassin. At that moment, she was trying to help her young daughter find an umbrella. She knew she liked the idea, but when her daughter again demanded the umbrella, as only a young child can, she told her agent, “Yes! But I want her to be a mom!”
Thus, Somebody Worth Killing was conceptualized. And if readers are looking for a fast-paced, inventive, and highly entertaining yet suspenseful thriller, it is the perfect book.
Nadia’s story, related via a first-person narrative, is engrossing and sneakily thought-provoking. Nadia is self-aware. She knows she’s a psychopath who needs to kill to keep “the monster” that exists inside her satiated. To her, it feels like a pot is on the verge of boiling over, pressure welling up inside of her. She feels compelled to do horrible things in order to feel normal, but killing lets her feel okay again. And she’s fairly sure the urge to kill is genetic. She believes her grandmother killed her abusive husband many years ago . . . and recognized the monster dwelling within Nadia. But sadly, her elderly grandmother now has dementia and resides in a care facility, although Nadia attempts to extract information and guidance from her during her increasingly rare lucid moments.
In a way, this is my love letter to the modern mom who is trying to do it all. ~ Author Jessica Payne
Nadia is, however, adamant about a couple of things. First, she is not a sociopath. “I do feel things. Sometimes. For some people,” she explains. Those people include her two young daughters to whom she is devoted, and her husband, Brian. Nadia has a happy domestic life in which she is a typical wife and mother. Payne says, “Nadia is just like any other mom — she packs healthy lunches, grudgingly attends PTA meetings, and tries very hard to appear as though she is doing everything ‘right.’”
But then there’s the secret, sound-proof room within her house that is well-hidden and only she can access. And, of course, her real profession. Although Brian, her friends, and her extended family believe she is a wildly successful event planner, she goes on business trips that are actually assignments to assassinate bad people. Only bad people. Nadia has very specific standards. “I only kill bad people.”
To write Somebody Worth Killing, Payne researched female psychopaths and serial killers. She discovered that “women are better at blending in, at not getting caught.” (An observation also emphasized by author Samantha Downing in her brilliant Too Old for This.) It’s still shocking to learn that a woman is a psychopath or killer. Women are expected to nurture and care for others. “Nadia studies those around her to make sure she fits in. She watches momfluencers, smiles to appear ‘normal,’ and never lets anyone see her true self, because she knows that if they witnessed the monster that lives inside her, they’d run screaming,” Payne notes.
Things become complicated when Nadia discovers that misogyny is hindering her career advancement, She learns from her friend, confidant, and fellow assassin, Ian, that she isn’t being offered the most demanding and high-paying assignments. They are going to her male colleagues due to a perception that because she is a woman — a wife and mother — she won’t or shouldn’t take on more difficult jobs. Perhaps there is a fear that she will refuse assignments that require her to travel, leaving her family at home.
Incensed, she confronts her handler, asking, “Have I been mommy-tracked?” Even as an assassin, Nadia experiences what so many other women deal with in their workplaces: gender stereotyping and outdated, inappropriate assumptions. She vociferously advocates for herself and, in response, lands a much-coveted assignment, but it’s a doozy.
She can’t kill her own husband! He’s not a bad person. Or is he?
And if he is, can she actually assassinate him, leaving her daughters without their father? After all, if he is a fraud who has fooled her for years into believing that he is a good guy . . . what does that say about their relationship? Their marriage? Their family life? It’s a conundrum Nadia never imagined having to confront.
Payne’s tale of marriage, family, and trust is full of shocking twists. And she challenges readers to ponder — along with Nadia – how important it is to know everything about one’s life partner and have absolute mutual trust. And asks her readers to consider what they would do if they realized their partner was harboring hugely significant secrets.
Somebody Worth Killing succeeds, in large part, because Nadia is so utterly relatable. Because when she’s not pursuing her career goals, she is so completely normal, unremarkable, and empathetic. When an assignment takes longer than it should, she races to pick her kids up from school on time. She really needs a babysitter who will show up on time. She has to ensure that her children get their homework done, eat dinner, and get a good night’s sleep. Any mother who has struggled to balance domestic responsibilities and a demanding career will commiserate with Nadia, because “she’s juggling all the tedious bits of #momlife, because no mother is exempt from it—not even a dangerous assassin.”
And Payne has somehow managed to pen a story in which there really aren’t any outright villains. Remarkably, her characters are almost uniformly likeable, seemingly average people just doing the best they can at any given moment. Even if that means doing their best to score the most lucrative and challenging assignment to assassinate someone.
Payne says that Somebody Worth Killing is “for women. It’s for moms. It’s for anyone who loves a twisty thriller that also makes you laugh.” And yes, there are moments of absolute hilarity, largely thanks to the absurdity of the absolutely addictive tale. But most of all, she hopes it helps the mothers who read it “feel seen.”
Thankfully, there’s more to Payne’s deftly plotted and very clever story. Readers just have to wait for the sequel. But the publication date can’t arrive a minute too soon.
