The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

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By P. Djèlí Clark

Publisher Description

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.

Nor do they have tails.

But they are most assuredly dead.

Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.

An Indie Next Pick, LibraryReads Top Ten Selection, Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Selection, and Best-Of Book according to BookRiot

Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins—resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories—have only three unbreakable vows.

First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.

Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.

The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A ﬁnal death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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24 Reviews

4.0

Iffer

Created 5 days ago

“I loved the lush world-building, snark, and action in this book. The author has a gift for including snippets of detailed description that really makes their stories feel like one being retold from the history of a real place. As an evocative world-building novella, this is fantastic, though the story could a little bit more...something, and it ends somewhat abruptly. I would love to see this adapted into a TV show.”

Letif B

Created 7 days ago

Likable charactersBeautifully writtenEasy to readDark settingMagical settingDarkViolence

Ina

Created 10 days ago

“at this point don’t even check what rating i’m giving any of P. Djèlí Clark’s books because it will always be a 5⭐️ i don’t know how he does it, it’s not only that his writing is fantastic but his stories are so fresh. what even is a dead cat tail assassin you ask? who knows! all you need to know is that you will love every character you meet in this novella (well no, not all, but most) fun, short and sweet. however i do hope we can maybe see more of this new world he’s created because i loved it.”

Likable charactersMulti-layered charactersEasy to readFunny writingOriginal writingAddictiveFast-pacedMagical settingDarkViolence

Stephanie | eu.steph

Created 11 days ago

“Watch my short & sweet review of this book on tiktok @comadresconlibros Is anyone surprised by the fact that he wrote yet another 6 star book? I pre-ordered a signed copy of this book, thinking that I would receive it on the release date 😭 It's not here yet, so I just went ahead and listened to the audiobook on libby. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook even if you do decide to purchase the physical book because there is quite a good amount of patwa in the story and I personally think that if I had not listened to the audiobook I wouldn't have understood that section of the story very well. I don't know how this man comes up with so many unique worlds that are also very intricate. Sometimes I feel like I get a book within a book reading his books, if that makes sense I think the only "complaint" I have about this book is that is extremely short? I need P. Djeli Clark to make it super big so that we can get longer novels from him.”

Believable charactersCharacters change and growDiverse charactersLikable charactersMulti-layered charactersBeautifully writtenOriginal writing

Sarah - SarahEvermotionsBooks

Created 11 days ago

“TL;DR: As always Mr. Clark manages to create a unique and fun story. This time the humor was just on point. Source: Thank you to the publisher for my copy via Netgalley! Plot: Eveen is a contract assassin who finds herself in a sticky situation when her newest target is not someone she wants to kill unless she wants to possibly disappear herself. Characters: I enjoyed the variety of characters we got here. I liked Eveen but in this case I think I enjoyed the surrounding cast more. Setting: The setting here was very rich and fun. The city is in the midst of a festival and the colors and events really feel tangible in the text and interact with the characters. Magic: Honestly, this was minor till the end and then some things popped off and I loved it. Thoughts: The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is one of those books I feel like I can’t explain too much or it will steal the magic of it. Eveen is a infamous contract assassin who finds herself contracted to kill someone… let’s say it’s best she doesn’t. Unfortunately her contracts are magically binding, going all the way up to the goddess who controls Eveen’s (un)life. So she decides that for the night she has to ‘complete’ the job she’s going to find a way to fix it. She ends up dodging fellow assassins, hunting down Edgelords (I’m serious on that name), and others. Mr. Clark’s humor really shines here. It feels a bit like he let go and just threw things into this pot to see if they stick and they do. My favorite being the Edgelords, which while a pop culture word actually have a legit reason for the name in this world. Eveen has a sharp sense of humor as well and her quips and retorts had me chuckling. There is a note of sweet revenge in this by the end I just found the whole thing a delight. My favorite part was the last quarter. I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll say the new character(s) that appear there were a joy. It seems everything I read from P. Djèlí Clark is a winner, this is no exception. I loved this, and if you enjoy fantastical assassins in a fun and rich setting give it a shot. 5 out of 5 Terribles (I’d read them)”

About P. Djèlí Clark

Born in New York and raised mostly in Houston, P. Djèlí Clark spent part of his childhood in Trinidad and Tobago, the homeland of his parents. He is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn and the novellas The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, Ring Shout, The Black God’s Drums, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. He has won the Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards and been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Sturgeon Awards. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies, including Griots, Hidden Youth, and Clockwork Cairo. He is also a founding member of FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons.