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FRONTLIST/BACKLIST

Writer’s Digest

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July/August 2025

Whether hot off the presses or on the shelves for years, a good book is worth talking about.

- AMY JONES

FRONTLIST/BACKLIST

Thriller, No Killer

As I've done occasionally with this column, I've chosen to reverse the order and list the backlist title first. Rob Hart’s newest novel, The Medusa Protocol, is the second book in his un-put-downable Assassins Anonymous series, and while it can be read and enjoyed on its own, reading Assassins Anonymous first will provide a fuller experience.

Backlist

Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart

(Putnam, thriller, June 2024)

SYNOPSIS: When Mark, also known as Pale Horse, the deadliest assassin in the world, decides to stop taking jobs, he knows his life is at risk. After all, he’s made more enemies than he can count, and the organization he worked for isn’t exactly known for letting people walk off the job. But when he’s attacked after an Assassins Anonymous meeting—a support group for recovering killers-for-hire—he realizes that he’s in more danger than he thought because even if he’s trying to protect himself, he’s vowed not to kill anymore. What's worse, now that Mark has been found, everyone around him (from others at the meeting to those living in the same apartment building) is at risk of being collateral damage.

To save himself and the people in his life, Mark must figure out who is after him and attempt step number nine in his recovery process: try to make amends.

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