ARC Review: Assassins Anonymous #2

The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart

Publication date: June 24, 2025

Summary from Netgalley:

Welcome back to Assassins Anonymous, the only twelve-step group where joining can be deadly.

When Astrid, known in her assassin days as Azrael, stopped showing up to Assassins Anonymous, the group assumed her past had caught up with her. Only her sponsor Mark, formerly the deadliest killer in the world, holds out hope that she’s okay. Then, during a meeting, the group gets a sign, or rather, a pizza delivery. Is there another psychopath out there who actually likes olives on their pizza, or is Astrid trying to send Mark a message?

Meanwhile, Astrid wakes up in the cell of a black site prison, on a remote island. A doctor subjects her to mysterious experiments, plumbing the depths of her memory and looking for a vital clue from her past. She’ll do anything to escape, except…killing anyone. Hmm. Turns out it’s not easy to blow this joint without blowing anything, or anyone up.

ARC provided by Penguin Group via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

The first book in this series, Assassin’s Anonymous, was one of my favorite reads last year. I just loved the concept of a group of former assassins following a 12 step program. This second book was also a lot of fun and I really enjoyed learning more about one of the characters from the first book, Astrid, while still hearing about Mark’s journey to recovery as well. This one was perhaps not as laugh out loud fun, but I still really enjoyed it.

This story is split between Astrid’s and Mark’s points of view. Astrid’s is also split between present day and her past. I really liked Astrid and learning more about how she became an assassin and why she chose to leave that life was very interesting. She is a fierce example of a survivor. She is a bit hot tempered and rash at times, but I also totally got why she would act before thinking. Her journey in this book was great and I loved that she was finally able to open up to the others in the end.

Although I liked Mark’s part of this journey, I wasn’t very happy with his decisions concerning his atonement with another former assassin. I kept hoping for a better outcome from their interactions. I really enjoyed the lengths he went through to keep from killing in this one, including fighting another assassin and leaving him alive in the end. Mark’s growth as a character in this one was more subtle, but still very important.

The writing and the pacing were once again perfect for this thriller. I loved how Mark and Booker are out to rescue Astrid, but she pretty much rescued herself. The setting of the remote snake infested black site prison was well done and it felt creepy and scary all at the same time. The dialogue is snarky and well done. This was a book that I just raced through because I needed to know what was going to happen next.

If you enjoy thrillers, especially those about former killers who are trying to be better people than this is a series you need to give a chance. I love the morally gray characters, the 12 step program that they follow and all of the ways they find to not kill someone. This is also a rather funny book, if you like dark humor. You could read this as a standalone, but I encourage you to start with the first book.