A secret guild. A fake game of assassin. A real killer. Cate is eager to be a part of the Guild of Assassins. After passing a gruelling initiation ceremony, she becomes a participant in Killer, a game in which players are ‘killed off’ in a series of creative pranks. But when the pranks become genuinely deadly, Cate realises she’s in danger of a lot more than being splashed with fake blood. It’s up to her to find the real killer before they find her and the game is finished for good.

From page one I was hooked. Filled with red herrings and suspicious characters, The Assassin Game is anything but predictable; I had my suspects but I was completely wrong. My inability to predict the killer, however, could be attributed to the book’s surplus of characters.
With 13 players in the game, there was no room for character development. Every character seems suspicious, but that’s only because they are superficially drawn, with one defining feature to make them appear guilty.

But the suspense still had me turning pages late into the night, desperate to discover the identity of the killer. When I finally turned out the light, I was jumping at every shadow. The Assassin Game is aimed at a teen audience, but its horror doesn’t feel at all childish.

There are, admittedly, a few gimmicky thrills; hooded figures and isolated boarding schools are a bit trite. But for all the gore, there is a disturbing underlying note. Threats of stalking and sexual harassment bring realism to what could otherwise be dismissed as B-grade horror.

I consequently had knots in my stomach every time Cate walked into a room. Every page is filled with the unknown. Truly terrifying.

Reviewed by Emma Stubley

Age Guide 15+