The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark is death-defyingly fun. It was thrilling and hilarious and earned more than a few chuckles from me. It’s a standalone fantasy with a deadly mystery that truly makes the most of its short page count. I encourage you to sign here to enter Clark’s enticing world and shadow Eveen the Eviscerator for the night.
Eveen is one of Tal Abisi’s deadliest assassins, and it’s not because she’s dead. Resurrected and sworn to the Matron of Assassins, Eveen carries out her contracts with masterful precision. There are consequences for not killing or “shipping” the target, and Eveen doesn’t want to get on the Matron’s bad side. But when Eveen’s past gets involved with her next ship, her blade falters, and a chaotic adventure ensues.
If the title of this book is throwing you off, don’t worry, it’s supposed to. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins opens with confused banter about the guild’s strange name, and it immediately sets a fun, irreverent tone for the rest of the story. Eveen is the conduit for most of this, approaching work and absurd situations with deadpan (heh) humor and nonchalant honesty. Her line of work is grim, but Eveen doesn’t take it too seriously and easily finds a way to make light of everything. She made me laugh out loud several times and treated everything like it was an inconvenient game, even though the world is actually going to shit around her.
Assassins is a neat and tidy fantasy standalone. I’m in awe of how easily Clark can build a world and establish characters quickly and skillfully. This book has one of the strongest openings I’ve read in a while, simply for how efficiently it sets up the story. Eveen’s story begins alongside her foil and colleague, Fennis, which gives us a satisfying and intriguing download of the assassin. This served the story well because not one second is wasted and the adventure begins with a clear idea of who our protagonist is. Everything flowed so easily from character introductions to worldbuilding to the plot progressing through a fabulous mystery. It was effortless and entertaining from start to finish.
The tone of Assassins is fun and engaging, but it does present more somber ideas if you want to look past Eveen’s lively personality. She is as dazzling as the two blades she carries, but her second chance at life is lackluster. Everything is muted—food, sex, pain—and she has no idea who she was before signing her contract. Can you really know who you are now if you lack context of who you were? There are no memories, relationships, feelings, or experiences from her life before to give any sort of clue as to who she is or was. Eveen was brought back to life as a fully-formed person without knowing any of the things that shaped her. While I felt the weight of that gaping hole in her life, it was also beautiful to see who she became despite not knowing. Eveen is not some undead imitation of life, but a real person with her own desires, and we see this through the will she displays. The emptiness that courts Eveen gives the story weight and makes the moments of levity shine. The plot of Assassins could have easily been all fun and games, but Clark strategically adds a reflective moment or brutally honest dialogue to humanize the situation and give depth to the characters.
I am confident that you will have a great time with The Dead Cat Tail Assassins. It has a little bit of magic, mystery, and science, all swirling in a race against death. Who said a book had to have over 900 pages to be worthwhile? This one will spark enjoyment and make you laugh in no time at all.
Rating: The Dead Cat Tail Assassins – 9.0/10
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
