Hey Loves!
I hope January has been treating you well. It seems like only yesterday that it was New Years and I was sat making some plans for reading etc. Where does the time go? Anyway, I’m here this evening to share my first book choice for my Book Bingo Reading Challenge 2022 with you! I said in a previous post that I wanted a bit more flexibility with my reading and this challenge certainly has given me that. For January, I chose: Read a tale of a villain. Now, this did take a bit of thought but then I remembered all the hype around the popular show Killing Eve. I’ve only ever seen snippets of it because I do always prefer to read the book before I see it, so I decided to start with the first book: Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting really but I know I hoped for an exciting story where I found a truly great villain.
What’s it all about?
In just over 200 pages, we have the introduction, history and foreshadowed future of Villanelle. Opening in Italy, the novella begins with the focus on Salvatore Greco. Linked to a number of murders – two judges, four senior magistrates, and a pregnant investigative journalist – Greco is naturally someone that the world needs to be rid of. Konstantin and his group need to remove Greco, to take him out of the game… In order to make that happen, the best villain needs to be involved. Cue Villanelle.
Known three years prior as Oxana Vorontsova, a registered student of French and Linguistics, she found herself in a spot of bother. In Dobryanka women’s remand centre accused of murder. The centre was truly horrendous: barely edible food, no sanitary conditions, freezing cold to live in and solitary confinement for any breaking of the rules. Life before this was also tough. A dead mother and a questionable father meant that the only option was to grow up in an orphanage, where utterly frustrated, she set fire to the block. As a result, Oxana then was transferred to a psychiatric unit where she was observed as having incredible intelligence but absolutely no time for making any friends. In fact, once returned to another school, intelligence was rewarded but concern was raised at the lack of communication with others. Also, Oxana was linked to a number of violent incidents too. It is for all these reasons that Konstantin recruits her.
‘Konstantin told her, sparing no detail, of what was to come. And listening to him, it was as if everything in her life had led to that moment. Her expression never flickered, but the thrill that ripped through her was as avid as hunger.’
Oxana trained for a year in order to become a villain. There were six weeks of fitness training and unarmed combat. She was broken down to be built back up again but her mind was resilient. She was trained in interrogation and weapon handling. One of the attributes that makes her the perfect assassin: no emotions. The time had come to dump Oxana and become someone new. Oxana was dead and buried. Villanelle was born.
‘Oxana sensed herself changing, and the results pleased her. Her observation ability, sensory skills and reactive speeds had all been extraordinarily enhanced. Psychologically, she felt invulnerable, but then she had always known that she was different from those around her.’
Now transformed, Villanelle’s job was to get rid of Greco. The Organisation knows Greco’s movements and patterns. Therefore, making it incredibly easy to get rid of him. They know that he has his own private box at the Teatro Massimo theatre and he nearly always attends opening nights. This was an opportunity they couldn’t miss to get rid of him, for once and for all. During Puccini’s Tosca, she notices he is there. She develops a cover of a socialite, dressed beautifully, comfortable with higher class citizens within the theatre and manages to inveigle her way into his private box. She flirts and charms and waits for the moment she has picked for the assassination. Job done.
Not one part of Villanelle’s life is real. Friends don’t know the real her despite socialising together. Her story is that she is a day trader but nothing could be further from the truth. Her inability to feel anything robs her life of flavour. The only time she feels alive is when her life is at risk.
‘Fine-living and designer clothes are all very well, but it’s months now since the Palermo operation, and she badly needs to feel her heart race with the prospect of action.’
Her next job brings her to Britain and her target is Viktor Kedrin. Kedrin is a right-wing ideologist looking to create a fascist super state in Europe and Russia. The Organisation decides that he too is bad for business so Villanelle gets the job of assassinating him whilst he is addressing a conference. This opens the door for Eve to become part of the narrative. Eve is a MI5 operative who is trying to decide whether Kedrin deserves close protection or not. Despite her recommendations, Kedrin goes unprotected meaning that he is an open target. His death is easy but it does leave Eve with more questions than answers. It also means that Villanelle is now on the radar of MI5. There are rumours and suggestions of a professional female assassin at large. But who is she? And how is she this good?
Kedrin’s death means that Eve is therefore suspended. However, she does become recruited by MI6 who are creating a black team, top secret, to hunt Villanelle despite not knowing her name. Meanwhile, Villanelle is busy with her next job: removing FatPanda, otherwise known as Lieutenant Colonel Zhang Lei. Head of a cyber-warfare unit of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, known as White Dragon, is costing the Organisation money and so has to be removed.
‘The predations of White Dragon have cost their victims billions of dollars over the years, and a group of individuals, collectively more powerful than any government, has decided that it is time to act.’
The assassination of FatPanda swiftly comes to Eve’s attention as she is scouring news bulletins, CCTV and the internet for any sign of Villanelle. The MI6 Black unit that she runs immediately travel to China and make contact with an operative who works at the Chinese Ministry of State Security. Whilst it is difficult for them to trust each other, the need to track down their common enemy means they share information that gets them one step closer to Villanelle. Inevitably, this does not end well with further bloodshed and a cold trail.
Meanwhile trouble is brewing within the Organisation. Konstantin has vanished and Villanelle along with other operatives are given the task of getting him back. Alongside this, Eve is following her own trail looking at the financial transactions that shadow the assassinations. These lead her to a problem much closer to home… For both Villanelle and Eve, it has become clear that their employers are fallible and that their world is getting more and more dangerous.
‘Konstantin always have her to believe that in working for the Twelve, he and she were part of something which was both invisible and invulnerable. This episode showed that for all its reach and power, the organisation could be hurt. Despite the warmth of the salon, Villanelle shivers.’
Final Thoughts
I found this book to be a complicated thing to review really. The hype around the TV series probably didn’t help but I expected more than I got. Whilst researching, I read somewhere that someone felt like it was a first draft, and I can totally see why it felt like that. I wanted it to be brilliant and I wanted to be hooked. Nevertheless, I do think that Villanelle is a brilliant villain. She is gritty and hard but I do wish her character was developed more really. Maybe I’m just a bit greedy! All in all, not a bad book by any means but I haven’t rushed out to buy the next book in the series. I doubt it’s one I’ll read again.
Regardless, I am really pleased with the start of my Book Bingo! I can’t wait to see where I go next! I would love it if you took part in this too so please do let me know what you’re reading.
Big love all xxx
booksandbakes1 