Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is a solid book, a fast-paced, no bullshit spy thriller, as promised. But I have ludicrously high standards, and this one is falling short. If I didn’t love the show, I wouldn’t have liked this book at all. The characters are much more fully psychologically realized in the show, and much more complex. The relationships between the characters in the show (Villanelle and Konstantin; Eve and Nico; Eve and Bill; Villanelle and Eve) are much more compelling and act as complicating factors for the plot and the characters’ emotional landscapes. The book is somewhat flat in comparison. The prose wavers around from clumsy (especially some of the dialogue), to clinical (very effective for the genre), to competent, to the occasional artful turn of phrase.

It is nice to read a quick spy thriller. I got this one on sale for a dollar or two on Kindle, but I’m not going to buy any more of these. If I get the urge to read any more of the series while waiting for the next season of the show, I’ll get them from the library.



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