Have you seen the movie "RED" (Retired, Extremely Dangerous)? Remember the character of Victoria, played by Helen Mirren? She seems such a refined, genteel lady with her B&B, but still takes assassination contracts on the side. Now imagine four of her - each with a different personality and physicality, but each deadly. Put these ladies on a cruise ship to celebrate their retirement, and then send someone to take them out. Women like this do "not go gentle into that good night."
The book is full of the clever ways they use to track down who has put out the hit on them, how they handle the agents who come after them, and what they do about the problems within their own organization. There also flashbacks to their original recruitment and training, and some of their early missions. Those scenes not only introduce some of the other players within the world of secret operatives, but also reveal more about the individual characters and how they respond to situations.
One of the humorous elements in the book is the protocol for naming things within the agency they work for. The organization itself is known as the Museum, so each department within it has a related name. The women were recruited for "Project Sphinx, the first all-female squad." Those with "an aptitude for blowing things up" are assigned to "Temporary Installations." Provenance is staffed with the computer experts who do all the research into a target, etc.
The main action takes place in our current timeline, so the early missions are placed 40 years earlier. As one character thinks back, she remembers the late 1970s as a time of "high-minded principles," but also the lack of Black field agents and the sexist behavior of the male agents. So you might think of this as the revenge of all the "Bond girls" of the past, if they had been given the chance to really do the same job as the double-0s.
Whether you are in it for the intrigue, the action, or the chance to see ladies of a certain age prove they still have the skills to come out on top of a situation - be sure to swing by stores on September 6th and pick up a copy.
I received an advance copy from the publisher for review purposes.
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