The Medusa Protocol

If you’re in the mood for something a little different, come to Assassins Anonymous with Mark, Astrid, Booker, Valencia, and Ms. Nguyen. The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart is unique and filled with dark wit, action, and thrills. When Astrid stopped showing up for meetings most of the group in Manhattan thought her past had caught up with her.

Only Mark, her sponsor, hopes that she is somehow alive. During the latest meeting, a special pizza delivery arrives with olives on it. Only Astrid liked olives. Is she trying to send them a message?

Meanwhile, Astrid wakes up in a cell in a black site prison on a remote island. A doctor subjects her to mysterious memory experiments looking for a clue from her past. She’ll do anything except kill anyone to escape. Can it be done?

Astrid tends to only trust herself and is deeply suspect of all men. However, she and Mark have become friends of a sort. She’s also feeling somewhat vulnerable and having a hard time forgiving herself. However, she is committed to giving up killing others. Mark is the leader of the group and was one of the most feared assassins on earth. He is still stuck on step eight, making amends.

This is a high-energy and dynamic story with points of view from both Mark and Astrid. There are also some well-labeled flashback scenes to events in Astrid’s past. Which one of them is related to her capture? The story is full of travel, adventure, poisonous snakes, non-lethal weapons, an evil doctor, a harrowing helicopter ride, and unusual friendships. Rob Hart has the ability to create dialogue that has readers laughing and engaging with the characters as they fly through the pages.

The author does a great job on giving readers a sense of place as well as giving the main characters depth. The plot has plenty of twists and turns with some surprises along the way. There are also some subtle hints that makes this thought provoking as well. The pace is fast and readers are in for a wild ride. Actions have consequences, found family, unlikely friendships, and more themes run through the story.

Overall, this is an intriguing, fun, suspenseful, and action-filled thriller with dark wit, a great sense of place, and a unique premise. I am looking forward to finding out what happens in the next book and which assassin will be the focus of it. This novel works as a standalone novel, but readers will get more background and backstories if they start with book one.

PENGUIN GROUP Putnam – G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Rob Hart provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for June 24, 2025.