Killing Sarai (In the Company of Killers, #1)

by J. A. Redmerski

[Berls]

My Initial Reaction…
I have to give a great BIG THANK YOU to Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer for telling me I would love Killing Sarai. Kimba – you were SO right! I jumped in- after discovering that I’d owned it for MONTHS after buying it for only $0.99!!- without even checking what it was about and loved it.

The Characters…
Killing Sarai is told from the point of view of Sarai and Victor – and this is one of the few times that I think losing either point of view would have ruined the book. Seeing both of their perspectives was absolutely essential for me.

I loved Sarai from the get go – though it took me a long time to imagine her as a 23/24 year old. It wasn’t until maybe a third of the way through the book that she grew up in my mind. I don’t know if that has something to do with the way she was described or the instant connection I had between this story and The Professional, although the two stories end up being VERY different. Anyway, Sarai is a survivor, pure and simple. She was given to her mother’s drug dealer (Javier) when she was was 14 years old and spent 9 years as his captive in Mexico. Even though he “protected” her from the treatment all the other girls received – rape, brutal beatings, death – she was still his to do with as he pleased- and he did. An experience like that could have turned Sarai into a victim, but she’s not. The second we meet her, that’s painfully clear. She’s done what she had to survive and now she’s getting out. By hitching a ride with the American assassin that Javier just hired, Victor.

Victor is everything and nothing like what you’d expect in an assassin. He’s cold and unemotional – or so he likes to think. But something changes when Sarai sneaks into his car. It’s infuriating (in the best way) to watch because you know he’s GOT to care for her. He HAS to help her. But then pages and pages go by and, while he hasn’t killed her, he doesn’t seem like he’s going to help her either. He’s going to use her to do his job and that’s it. I kept waiting for his barriers to drop, for him to show that he was more than a hardened murderer. But he’s been trained to be an assassin since he was 9 years old and it’s the only life he’s ever known. He doesn’t have the luxury of a personal life. That uncertainty about what he was going to do, combined with some very provocative situations created some INTENSE, FANTASTIC sexual tension.

The Story…
The title – Killing Sarai – would be absolutely perfect if it had a question mark at the end of it. Because that’s what this book is all about – are we or aren’t we killing Sarai? When she got into Victor’s car she really believed that he would have to help her, perhaps she counted on the fact that he was an American like her. But once that certainty fades, the question keeps coming up of what to do with her. And one option is always to kill her. But I think it’s also a question of what will kill Sarai’s soul. What will push her beyond the brink. Beyond the place where she has any hope of recovery and a normal life. She’s a survivor, but will surviving kill her?

As you can imagine, in a story that centers on an assassin and the pet of a notorious drug lord –Killing Sarai has lots of action and intensity. And that was great. But for me it was the constant uncertainty that made this a fantastic, if you’ll forgive the phrase, mind-fuck. The character development and the ways the story kept turning in on itself pulled me forward and I hated every time I had to put it down.

Concluding Sentiments…
I really enjoyed Killing Sarai and, while it didn’t end on a cliff hanger per-say, it left with enough of a twist that I’m eagerly looking forward to reading the next one.

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.