Book Review: King Slayer by Layla Reyne

Christopher Perri–a.k.a. Dante Perry–infiltrated the Madigan organization with one goal: vengeance for his murdered partner. Falling for the assassin at the head of the table wasn’t part of the plan, but Hawes Madigan is not the cold, untouchable Prince of Killers Chris expected. Everything about the newly crowned king is hot, and every inch of him eminently touchable… and off-limits once Chris’s cover is blown.
Exposure couldn’t come at a worse time. Hawes’s throne is threatened, and Chris suspects the same person who killed his partner is behind the coup. Working with Hawes benefits them both, but Chris’s employer has other ideas. Dismantling criminal organizations is what Chris does best, and his boss expects the King Slayer to deliver.
But Hawes is taking the Madigans in a new direction, one Chris can get behind, and the two men form a shaky alliance strengthened by the irresistible attraction between them… until Chris learns who killed his partner. Once he knows the truth, the King Slayer is unleashed, and Chris will stop at nothing to destroy those who betrayed him, including the king who stole his heart.

I was obviously eagerly awaiting for this sequel because Price of Killers had a monster cliffhanger and I just had to know what happened next. And it was (and wasn’t) what I was expecting.

It was both exciting and very different to completely shift to Dante’s (Chris’s) POV in this novel and it finally gave me the chance to get to know him better. He has lost a lot in life and is single minded in his dedication to find justice for his partner. I could totally empathize with his struggle to keep his feelings for Hawes in check while also being able to do his job. Hawes on other hand seemed to handle it all reasonably well. The chemistry and angst between them was scorching hot. But the story also quickly moved into a bit of instalove territory – which was a little unrealistic but also kinda understandable because of all the high stakes and adrenaline fueled situations they find themselves in.

The writing is fast paced and full of evolving situations where we can’t guess what’s gonna happen next and that was a lot of fun. There’s not much action this time around though and I really wanted some of that. We also hardly got to know the Madigan siblings more and I thought that was a missed opportunity. The main suspense throughout the two books has been about finding out who is the person ultimately pulling the strings and I think it was pretty easy to guess this time around and I think I’m right, which was actually disappointing because I wanted to be devastated by the revelation. The ending was kinda unexpected but cool and I can’t even guess what’s gonna happen next.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did the first book but it was still fun and interesting and I’m very much looking forward to more explosive shenanigans in the finale.