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gillianw's review against another edition
3.0
April 2021 - Trigger warnings abound (mention of childhood trauma and sexual abuse among others) but somehow it has it’s funny moments. The series gets better, but no less triggery, as it goes on. Definitely not for the squeamish.
Re-read June 2018 - I definitely liked this book more the second time around. The relationship between Frank and Vincent is fucked up, but I still loved it anyway.
There was a little bit of wasted potential in this debut novel about an assassin and his accidental protégée, but on the whole I quite enjoyed it. Frank is a killer for hire who becomes responsible for teenaged Vincent when Frank's handler sends Vincent on a robbery gone wrong. Stumbling into Frank's arms after being stabbed, Vincent spends his recuperation becoming enamored of the stoic killer who ends up taking Vincent on a road trip instead of following his handler's orders to have Vincent killed.
While I liked Frank's relationship with Vincent as it progressed from savior to protégée to lover, I thought it was kinda weird that Vincent was portrayed as being some sort of super-twink, able to attract any man within mere seconds (68 seconds in one case). If that was really the case, Frank likely would have been knocking boots with him way sooner then he did. I also thought it was odd that Frank was presented as a bit of a renaissance man who read classic literature, spoke seven languages and killed for cash, but blushed when Vincent flirted with him. It just seemed like that behavior was at odds with someone who could kill without conscience. Also, the ending didn't work for me. It was rushed and didn't really jibe with the rest of the book.
Despite those minor annoyances, I did enjoy the story and I'll definitely read more by this author. 3 stars.
Re-read June 2018 - I definitely liked this book more the second time around. The relationship between Frank and Vincent is fucked up, but I still loved it anyway.
There was a little bit of wasted potential in this debut novel about an assassin and his accidental protégée, but on the whole I quite enjoyed it. Frank is a killer for hire who becomes responsible for teenaged Vincent when Frank's handler sends Vincent on a robbery gone wrong. Stumbling into Frank's arms after being stabbed, Vincent spends his recuperation becoming enamored of the stoic killer who ends up taking Vincent on a road trip instead of following his handler's orders to have Vincent killed.
While I liked Frank's relationship with Vincent as it progressed from savior to protégée to lover, I thought it was kinda weird that Vincent was portrayed as being some sort of super-twink, able to attract any man within mere seconds (68 seconds in one case). If that was really the case, Frank likely would have been knocking boots with him way sooner then he did. I also thought it was odd that Frank was presented as a bit of a renaissance man who read classic literature, spoke seven languages and killed for cash, but blushed when Vincent flirted with him. It just seemed like that behavior was at odds with someone who could kill without conscience. Also, the ending didn't work for me. It was rushed and didn't really jibe with the rest of the book.
Despite those minor annoyances, I did enjoy the story and I'll definitely read more by this author. 3 stars.
tinkcourtney's review against another edition
5.0
Dark but fun at the same time
I’m not sure what it says about me that I enjoyed this book. There are probably triggers galore, and the main characters are closer to sociopaths than good guys, but despite the violence and tragic backstories, it managed to somehow be lighthearted in a way, and despite questionable morality, the guys were likable.
The story is told from Vincent’s point of view, who is 16 at the beginning and 18 at the end, and his sense of humor kept this from being TOO dark for me to enjoy. Like his comment that was something along the lines of “how could I not love a man who folded the clothes he just strangled me with.” Frank is protective and possessive, and not someone I’d ever want to get on the bad side of. Vincent was a good match for him, helping brighten his existence.
This book was suggested to me after reading Hidden in Darkness by Alice Winters, and while that one was much more of a comedy than this, I can certainly see similarities. If you like chipper younger guys keeping scary older ones on their toes, check that one out too.
I’m not sure what it says about me that I enjoyed this book. There are probably triggers galore, and the main characters are closer to sociopaths than good guys, but despite the violence and tragic backstories, it managed to somehow be lighthearted in a way, and despite questionable morality, the guys were likable.
The story is told from Vincent’s point of view, who is 16 at the beginning and 18 at the end, and his sense of humor kept this from being TOO dark for me to enjoy. Like his comment that was something along the lines of “how could I not love a man who folded the clothes he just strangled me with.” Frank is protective and possessive, and not someone I’d ever want to get on the bad side of. Vincent was a good match for him, helping brighten his existence.
This book was suggested to me after reading Hidden in Darkness by Alice Winters, and while that one was much more of a comedy than this, I can certainly see similarities. If you like chipper younger guys keeping scary older ones on their toes, check that one out too.
divapitbull's review
5.0
Chance Assassin loses half a star for meandering a bit once it hits the middle; but I’m rounding up as overall Vincent’s voice is thoroughly entertaining. The story, or more accurately the characters are odd and quirky but extremely engaging and likable. As far as amoral murderers go – they’re quite sweet. Frank is a hit-man, who works for his handler- the rumpled, rode hard and put away wet, walking ashtray, that is Charlie. Frank is an enigma – cold, efficient, hollow eyed, hit-man and shy, insecure, blushing, animal lover with a weird penchant for random acts of human kindness towards certain people. He comes across as sort of on the spectrum in his social awkwardness, but really, it’s more to do with his traumatic childhood and lack of normal human experience.
The story is told from Vincent’s (or V. as Frank calls him) point of view; and I found it pretty damn funny. Vincent also comes across as sort of on the spectrum too, but he’s just quirky. He has constant diarrhea of the mouth with no filter. Especially when he’s nervous – he’s just one running monologue. And he’s incredibly vain. Vincent meets Frank when he’s 16, and an odd job that he’s taken from Charlie goes drastically wrong. He’s been on the streets since his parents died, surviving by bjs, pick-pocketing and dismal luck in finding sugar daddies. He makes his interest in Frank known immediately and repeatedly; but Frank has morals and committing the felony of sexual relations with a minor is a hard limit. The felony of murder is perfectly fine – because hit-man.
This is a very character and dialogue driven story and these aspects are in a way, more significant than the plot. Although there is a plot, despite that it starts to wander away at some point. Having accidentally killed someone Vincent decides that he rather quite likes the adrenaline rush; and since he wants Frank and Frank is an assassin, then in order to share his life – he needs to be an assassin too. Frank definitely returns Vincent’s interest – despite his high moral standards; and while he won’t have sex with him (until he turns 17, making it legal somewhere) he will begin training him to be a killer.
The story requires some degree of suspension of disbelief to really get into it, and to enjoy the characters and root for their happiness. But once you get there – they’re so darn cute together; and V.'s view of life is hysterical.
The story is told from Vincent’s (or V. as Frank calls him) point of view; and I found it pretty damn funny. Vincent also comes across as sort of on the spectrum too, but he’s just quirky. He has constant diarrhea of the mouth with no filter. Especially when he’s nervous – he’s just one running monologue. And he’s incredibly vain. Vincent meets Frank when he’s 16, and an odd job that he’s taken from Charlie goes drastically wrong. He’s been on the streets since his parents died, surviving by bjs, pick-pocketing and dismal luck in finding sugar daddies. He makes his interest in Frank known immediately and repeatedly; but Frank has morals and committing the felony of sexual relations with a minor is a hard limit. The felony of murder is perfectly fine – because hit-man.
This is a very character and dialogue driven story and these aspects are in a way, more significant than the plot. Although there is a plot, despite that it starts to wander away at some point. Having accidentally killed someone Vincent decides that he rather quite likes the adrenaline rush; and since he wants Frank and Frank is an assassin, then in order to share his life – he needs to be an assassin too. Frank definitely returns Vincent’s interest – despite his high moral standards; and while he won’t have sex with him (until he turns 17, making it legal somewhere) he will begin training him to be a killer.
The story requires some degree of suspension of disbelief to really get into it, and to enjoy the characters and root for their happiness. But once you get there – they’re so darn cute together; and V.'s view of life is hysterical.
shemi's review
3.0
I had a hard time with Vincent being 17 for most of the book and when they started having sex. I didn't think it was necessary to the character (development), and/or story line. I think that held me back from fully connecting to the characters.
liza5326's review
4.0
It took me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did, I was addicted!! How can you not fall for a teen assassin-in-training and the experienced assassin who saves his life? Little by little, we learn about the mysterious Frank and the romance builds between them. It was a great story and I am eager to read the next one!
hpstrangelove's review
5.0
Definitely not a book for everyone; underage sex, murder, and humor leading to romance, but it worked for me. I enjoyed the slow development of Vincent and Frank's relationship. Charlie is flat out scary. I was not expecting what happened in the end; I always appreciate it when an author can do that to me.
leelah's review against another edition
5.0
5 Stars read for me.
I struggled for quite some time how to write this review simply because I don't think that there's anything I can write that can do justice the awesomeness that this novel is.
My friend asked me to describe her the book that got me so excited in one sentence and I said to her:
"It's a very dark love story, but funny and positive in Tarantino kind of way."
If it was me, I would be all over it after this description, but this book features very twisted or distorted love relationship,so it makes it hard to recommend. I also think it's one of the most beautiful and honest mm love relationships I ever read. It just doesn't fit in your usual mold. The story is told from first person POV- Vincent's. Vincent or V is absolute delight to read. I think I could read 100 books more from his pov- he has that funny, refreshing and interesting view of world.I'll give you few of his gems:
-Poor Frank. He was probably completely normal when he didn’t have to deal with someone like me. Everyone I spent prolonged periods of time with ended up wanting to cause me harm in one way or another. I likely would’ve driven my parents to child abuse if they hadn’t wisely gotten themselves killed before I reached my hormonal teenage years.
-Ernest’s last night on earth was a nice one. The stars were out, the weather was warm, and he’d get to see a real blond before his insides were introduced to the outside.
Yup, that's V for you. Face of an angel, mouth of a pirate and mind of psychopath in becoming. :)
I couldn't believe this a debut novel! I think Nicole Castle and I are going to have nice writer/reader relationship. I saw on her blog she's working on a sequel to Chance Assassin and I can't wait to be inside world Castle created again. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.
angelas_library's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not entirely sure what I just read, but I think I really liked it. :-)
the_novel_approach's review against another edition
5.0
I spent a lot of time before writing this review trying to decide whether I was going to call Chance Assassins: A Story of Love, Luck, and Murder a romantic novel. My final opinion, after much pondering, is that Chance Assassins is the most deliciously fucked up romance I’ve ever read, and it’s perched at the very top of my list as the best book I’ve read so far this year.
Nicole Castle has written a masterpiece of unconventional romantic fiction, narrated by the endearing and magnetic young antihero Vincent Sullivan. Vincent is just sixteen years old when the story opens, but he’s far from an innocent, wide-eyed teen. Orphaned and having sex with married men from the time he was twelve has informed every single aspect of Vincent’s being. Simply put, Vincent is an opportunist who’s not averse to giving blowjobs and letting men use his body to keep a roof over his head, but he draws the line at prostitution. Vincent equates sex with security to a certain extent because it’s an affirmation of his desirability, but sex is also insecurity because it’s no guarantee that he’ll be kept. Vincent’s unwitting vulnerability is what makes him the perfect target for Charlie, the man who hires Vincent when the boy is at his lowest, to pull off a job that ends in Vincent being stabbed and him committing his first murder.
Frank Moreaux is the man who answers the hotel room door when Vincent stumbles miles through the snow, bleeding and nearly dead on his feet, to get to Charlie—whom Vincent is sure will be able to put him back together again. For Vincent, even in his stuck pig state, it’s love at first site when the tall, dark and handsome stranger answers the door and catches Vincent in full swoon. Frank is as cold and deadly a killer as has ever been written: enigmatic, provocative, brutal at times, but is, at the same time, innocent in many ways. Where Frank is a socially dysfunctional introvert who reads with a passion understood only by the book obsessed, Vincent is a socially dysfunctional extrovert whose knowledge of pop culture and his running monologues often befuddle Frank, and watching these two fall in love—Vincent trying his sixteen year old best to seduce the man twice his age (who Vincent is also sure is straight and hates him)—is exquisite. These two assassins fall in love while ending the lives of the unfaithful, and with every single hit, the reader is rooting for the killers to win.
Frank and Vincent’s sexual relationship begins when Vincent is just seventeen years old, so if the idea of that makes you uncomfortable this is probably a book you’ll want to avoid, but the fact of the matter is these two men work so perfectly together that it’s easy to forget V is the younger of them, not to mention the line is often blurred between who is predator and who is prey. Vincent is the Narcissus, Frank’s eyes the pools into which V gazes and is lost. These men are both so broken in such utterly different ways that together they make an entirely new sort of broken that makes them whole. Their immoral compasses are so attuned to each other, they’re both so entirely without conscience yet are so incredibly in sync with each other, that together the rough sex and the violence in general are as seductive to read as it is for Frank and V to participate in.
I’m in awe of this author’s ability to write a story starring not one but two characters who should be unappealing in every way. Nicole Castle has made Frank and Vincent loveable to a degree that has left me obsessing over this book. It’s a hallmark of truly brilliant storytelling I haven’t experienced since reading Maria McCann’s As Meat Loves Salt and I fell for the insane Jacob Cullen. This author’s writing style is fresh, her characters funny and vibrant, her version of romance refreshing, and this book is one disturbing, endearing, horrifying, and sexy surprise after another.
Les Recidivists, the continuation of Frank and Vincent’s incomparable love story, is already loaded on my Kindle just waiting to be devoured, word for delightfully twisted word.
Nicole Castle has written a masterpiece of unconventional romantic fiction, narrated by the endearing and magnetic young antihero Vincent Sullivan. Vincent is just sixteen years old when the story opens, but he’s far from an innocent, wide-eyed teen. Orphaned and having sex with married men from the time he was twelve has informed every single aspect of Vincent’s being. Simply put, Vincent is an opportunist who’s not averse to giving blowjobs and letting men use his body to keep a roof over his head, but he draws the line at prostitution. Vincent equates sex with security to a certain extent because it’s an affirmation of his desirability, but sex is also insecurity because it’s no guarantee that he’ll be kept. Vincent’s unwitting vulnerability is what makes him the perfect target for Charlie, the man who hires Vincent when the boy is at his lowest, to pull off a job that ends in Vincent being stabbed and him committing his first murder.
Frank Moreaux is the man who answers the hotel room door when Vincent stumbles miles through the snow, bleeding and nearly dead on his feet, to get to Charlie—whom Vincent is sure will be able to put him back together again. For Vincent, even in his stuck pig state, it’s love at first site when the tall, dark and handsome stranger answers the door and catches Vincent in full swoon. Frank is as cold and deadly a killer as has ever been written: enigmatic, provocative, brutal at times, but is, at the same time, innocent in many ways. Where Frank is a socially dysfunctional introvert who reads with a passion understood only by the book obsessed, Vincent is a socially dysfunctional extrovert whose knowledge of pop culture and his running monologues often befuddle Frank, and watching these two fall in love—Vincent trying his sixteen year old best to seduce the man twice his age (who Vincent is also sure is straight and hates him)—is exquisite. These two assassins fall in love while ending the lives of the unfaithful, and with every single hit, the reader is rooting for the killers to win.
Frank and Vincent’s sexual relationship begins when Vincent is just seventeen years old, so if the idea of that makes you uncomfortable this is probably a book you’ll want to avoid, but the fact of the matter is these two men work so perfectly together that it’s easy to forget V is the younger of them, not to mention the line is often blurred between who is predator and who is prey. Vincent is the Narcissus, Frank’s eyes the pools into which V gazes and is lost. These men are both so broken in such utterly different ways that together they make an entirely new sort of broken that makes them whole. Their immoral compasses are so attuned to each other, they’re both so entirely without conscience yet are so incredibly in sync with each other, that together the rough sex and the violence in general are as seductive to read as it is for Frank and V to participate in.
I’m in awe of this author’s ability to write a story starring not one but two characters who should be unappealing in every way. Nicole Castle has made Frank and Vincent loveable to a degree that has left me obsessing over this book. It’s a hallmark of truly brilliant storytelling I haven’t experienced since reading Maria McCann’s As Meat Loves Salt and I fell for the insane Jacob Cullen. This author’s writing style is fresh, her characters funny and vibrant, her version of romance refreshing, and this book is one disturbing, endearing, horrifying, and sexy surprise after another.
Les Recidivists, the continuation of Frank and Vincent’s incomparable love story, is already loaded on my Kindle just waiting to be devoured, word for delightfully twisted word.