Synopsis
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.
Nor do they have tails.
But they are most assuredly dead.
Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.
Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins―resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories―have only three unbreakable vows.
First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.
Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.
The third and the once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.
Review
The girl read it and frowned. “The Dead Cat Tails? Those words don’t make any sense.” “I know right,” Eveen agreed. “Is it the whole cat that’s dead? Or just the tails?”
I loved this one. That’s 3 for 3 of P. Djèlí Clark’s books I have loved and I am excited to get to Ring Shout next. As with A Master of Djinn, we follow a badass FMC. If Fatma el-Sha’arawi (A Master of Djinn) was like a female James Bond, Eveen (The Dead Cat Tail Assassins) is like a female Frank Martin (Jason Stathom’s Transporter.) She is a very skilled and capable undead assassin who also has three rules to follow.
The action scenes are the highlight for me and the book is chock full of them. Eveen has one meal at a restaurant in the beginning of the book and from then, she cannot catch a single break. She’s constantly in one dangerous scrap after another. Sometimes, it gets tedious constantly going through one fight scene after another but not in this. This is because of how well P. Djèlí Clark stages his fight scenes. Eveen is a ridiculously tough and capable fighter but also has a keen tactical awareness that helps to her advantage or during getaways. She also has numerous tricks up her sleeve and every fight is actually resolved cleverly; either through some device covertly placed in the setting previously or through simple methods that are believable.
Eveen is also a very easy character to root for. After a string of unlikeable MCs, I’m glad my last few reads have had MCs that I could immediately connect to, like, and follow. Despite having no memory, Eveen has strong character traits and very good character beats throughout the story. She is very strong and can handle any of the dangers she faces but when she feels afraid, I feel afraid. She is also witty, foul-mouthed, and deflects emotions using humor. Totally unrelatable! I also liked all of the side characters in Sky, Bassema, Fennis, The Spider, The Old Man, Valesh, etc. and totally want another installment in this world.
The world-building is definitely another one of Clark’s strengths. The whole story occurs over a carnival festival and so many tiny details, from the history, to birds, to food, to clothes, to stage shows, to different customs, to how differently different regions observe the festival made me completely immersed in the setting. Plus there were a lot of magical elements and the audiobook narrator Lynette Freeman does a wonderful job across the different voices making the story come alive in my mind. For just over 200 pages, the world is so rich in details and has a huge breadth of background lore. It’s also revealed in bits and pieces so as to not disrupt the fast pace of the story and ultimately the world itself plays a part in the ending resolution.
The ending definitely worked for me and I liked the variation of accents for one particular character that plays a major role in the ending. It only added to my immersion and I was able to understand it but there’s a chance that some readers might find it jarring and pull them out. Overall I had a great time with this book and hope the author writes more in this world in the future. If you have triggers, please check before reading because the book leans into some very dark and horror stuff.
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