Hostile Takeover

In the sequel to Shane Kuhn’s bestselling The Intern’s Handbook, professional assassin John Lago faces off against his deadliest adversary yet—his wife—in a thriller that has “all of the testosterone-bloated wisdom of Tucker Max mixed with the satire of American Psycho” (Entertainment Weekly).

At the end of The Intern’s Handbook, John tracks down his nemesis Alice but instead of putting a bullet in her head, he puts a ring on her finger and marries her. Together, they execute a hostile takeover of Human Resources, Inc., the “placement agency” that trains young assassins to infiltrate corporations disguised as interns and knock off high profile targets. As HR’s former top operatives, they are successful until conflicting management styles cause an ugly breakup that locks John out of the bedroom and the boardroom.

Then Alice takes on a new HR target, and John is forced to return to the office battlefield in a role he swore he would never play again: the intern. What starts out as a deadly showdown turns into the two of them fighting side by side to save HR, Inc.—and their marriage.

“Those who like Dexter will love John Lago” (Booklist), and this in this suspenseful sequel to The Intern’s Handbook, author Shane Kuhn’s wildly clever antihero needs to use all his wits to land on top. “Far grittier than a Bond film and infused with the mind-bending, identity-shifting elements of, say, Mission: Impossible, Hostile Takeover is fun, smart, and jam-packed with serious splatter and gore. Lago’s canny shenanigans will keep you riveted, from its taut opening pages to its explosive, cinematic ending” (The Boston Globe).