So, You Want to be a Hitman?: 8 Assassin Stories to Read Right Now

Feared and revered, this hitman has legendary kills under his belt, but now he’s determined to call it quits. After joining a 12-step program designed for those in his particular profession, Mark is reformed — but just because you decide to leave the job doesn’t mean it lets you go easily… 

A single mother grappling with getting her kids to school in one piece and finishing her novel stumbles into a sticky situation — the killer-for-hire kind. Once you meet Finlay Donovan, you can’t help but root for this sharp, smart and hilarious antiheroine. 

Anyone familiar with Jason Bourne knows that you should never make a dangerous man feel trapped. The Terminal List gives us a similar action thriller of epic proportions as a Navy SEAL becomes the only law he needs in search of answers. You may want to wear a seatbelt, because you’ll be falling out of your chair at every turn. Catch up on the latest in the Terminal List series with Red Sky Mourning.

A classic race against time with a chilling protagonist that haunts our nightmares, The Day of the Jackal is a propulsive tale of espionage, suspense, and world-ending secrets. The Jackal is the kind of killer other assassins would look up to.  

Like the box office hit of the same name with the type of star-studded cast we usually only see in our dreams (Brad Pitt, Bryan Tyree Henry, Sandra Bullock, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and so many more), Bullet Train is a twist on the classic locked room story. Professional assassins fighting on a train — how much better can it get? 

The source material for the hit film starring Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans and more, The Gray Man follows a skilled CIA-operative-turned-hitman. Even with the world’s most unforgiving powers working against him, the Gray Man will stop at nothing to survive.  

Another gripping read from the author of Bullet Train, this former Monthly Pick is an electrifying cat-and-mouse chase — with one man caught up in a network of three deadly assassins with highly specialized (and terrifying) skills for taking their targets out. 

When a man’s wife is kidnapped, he embarks on a mission to rescue her — even if it means dipping into his past as a trained killer. With the tropes of a classic Western and the thrills of our favorite kinds of hitman stories, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is an epic journey of revenge and redemption.