What do you think?
Rate this book
Hired To Kill
A mysterious woman with no past mistakes Colin O'Brien for a famous assassin. That Saturday morning at a coffee shop in Southern California was the wrong place and wrong time for him to look like such a man, as she approaches and offers him a million dollar contract.
Colin's only mistake was going along with it. In his mind, this was the type of thing he saw every week on his favorite television shows, only this lady was real and whoever she thought he looked like could be somewhere close. Surrounded by federal agents, foreign spies, gangsters, and thugs, Colin must figure out who he needs and who he can trust.
Colin's only mistake was going along with it. In his mind, this was the type of thing he saw every week on his favorite television shows, only this lady was real and whoever she thought he looked like could be somewhere close. Surrounded by federal agents, foreign spies, gangsters, and thugs, Colin must figure out who he needs and who he can trust.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 23, 2012
3 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
Brian K. Carr
3 books4 followersBrian K. Carr is an author born and raised in Southern California whose professional life has allowed him to travel extensively and filled his mind with amazing stories. His first effort into publishing is the novel Hired To Kill, the first in the Colin O'Brien character series. Two follow-up books to the series are currently in production.
When not writing or reading, Brian hosts a show called Asylum TV for the off-road community website Jeep Asylum. He enjoys helping people build their Jeeps, taking them off-road, and camping with his wife and dog.
Brian is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, having trained with greats like the Machado Brothers, original BJJ Dirty Dozen member Bob Bass, and his current coach Eddie Martinez.
You can find more about the book Hired To Kill and its author at https://www.facebook.com/HiredToKilln... or follow him on Twitter at @BrianKCarr.
When not writing or reading, Brian hosts a show called Asylum TV for the off-road community website Jeep Asylum. He enjoys helping people build their Jeeps, taking them off-road, and camping with his wife and dog.
Brian is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, having trained with greats like the Machado Brothers, original BJJ Dirty Dozen member Bob Bass, and his current coach Eddie Martinez.
You can find more about the book Hired To Kill and its author at https://www.facebook.com/HiredToKilln... or follow him on Twitter at @BrianKCarr.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 13, 2020
Breezy fun read. Great spy, crime thriller.
April 18, 2013
This week I decided to break away from the genres I usually read and took a look at Hired to Kill by Brian K Carr. As you can probably guess by the title, the story is a crime thriller.
Hired to Kill centres around Colin O'Brien, a normal guy living in southern California. Unfortunately for Colin, but somewhat darkly funny for the reader, he gets mistaken as a famous assassin and is asked to carry out a hit. Common sense would usually dictate to most people to just walk away, but when you are offered $1,000,000, as Colin puts it, it "can really skew your prerogatives in life".
Colin falls into the deep end of the criminal underworld, being chased by feds, grumpy Russians and seemingly the angriest mall staff in the western hemisphere. It quickly transpires though that there is much more behind the hit that the mysterious Monica Stafford wants Colin to carry out than she is letting on.
Colin is a very likeable character and often left stumbling and staggering his way through each deadly situation as best he can; but considering his knowledge of crime lords and weapons is only limited to what he has seen on CSI and in the movies, he tries his best. Let's be honest, most people, me included, would likely be the exact same - that's assuming that you had not already been shot.
Author Brian K Carr also impresses with his knowledge of weaponry. I do not know a lot about guns and I hate when books just drop in the name of a weapon and then assumes the reader knows what it looks like and what it does. The author doesn't do that here, which is nice. The descriptions of the weapons are highly detailed and it helps you to really appreciate why Colin and the other characters are using different weapons in different situations.
Colin can also be quite funny too, usually dropping in comments about crime movies he has watched just after someone has tried to kill him. You quickly learn that it's his way of dealing with a nerve-wracking situation.
However, I do feel Colin is the only real interesting character in the book. I found some of the others quite bland, especially his friends Freddie and Ray. I don't feel there was enough personality behind them.
Something else that sticks in my mind is why Colin always seems to go for a three course meal just after someone has tried to kill him. One of my favourite scenes is when there is a shootout in the mall, which then spills out into the car park. You genuinely fear for Colin's safety and he only just makes it out alive...and the first thing he does afterwards is go and have something to eat. Would anyone really do that?
If someone had just tried to kill me, the last thing I would want to be doing is eating food. I would probably he curled up in a ball somewhere, rocking myself back and forth.
But besides Colin's insatiable appetite and a lack of depth to some of the characters, Hired to Kill is a solid read with a lot of good humour, fast pace and stunning action scenes.
Hired to Kill centres around Colin O'Brien, a normal guy living in southern California. Unfortunately for Colin, but somewhat darkly funny for the reader, he gets mistaken as a famous assassin and is asked to carry out a hit. Common sense would usually dictate to most people to just walk away, but when you are offered $1,000,000, as Colin puts it, it "can really skew your prerogatives in life".
Colin falls into the deep end of the criminal underworld, being chased by feds, grumpy Russians and seemingly the angriest mall staff in the western hemisphere. It quickly transpires though that there is much more behind the hit that the mysterious Monica Stafford wants Colin to carry out than she is letting on.
Colin is a very likeable character and often left stumbling and staggering his way through each deadly situation as best he can; but considering his knowledge of crime lords and weapons is only limited to what he has seen on CSI and in the movies, he tries his best. Let's be honest, most people, me included, would likely be the exact same - that's assuming that you had not already been shot.
Author Brian K Carr also impresses with his knowledge of weaponry. I do not know a lot about guns and I hate when books just drop in the name of a weapon and then assumes the reader knows what it looks like and what it does. The author doesn't do that here, which is nice. The descriptions of the weapons are highly detailed and it helps you to really appreciate why Colin and the other characters are using different weapons in different situations.
Colin can also be quite funny too, usually dropping in comments about crime movies he has watched just after someone has tried to kill him. You quickly learn that it's his way of dealing with a nerve-wracking situation.
However, I do feel Colin is the only real interesting character in the book. I found some of the others quite bland, especially his friends Freddie and Ray. I don't feel there was enough personality behind them.
Something else that sticks in my mind is why Colin always seems to go for a three course meal just after someone has tried to kill him. One of my favourite scenes is when there is a shootout in the mall, which then spills out into the car park. You genuinely fear for Colin's safety and he only just makes it out alive...and the first thing he does afterwards is go and have something to eat. Would anyone really do that?
If someone had just tried to kill me, the last thing I would want to be doing is eating food. I would probably he curled up in a ball somewhere, rocking myself back and forth.
But besides Colin's insatiable appetite and a lack of depth to some of the characters, Hired to Kill is a solid read with a lot of good humour, fast pace and stunning action scenes.
December 11, 2012
If you enjoy crime thrillers, you will love this story. Colin O'Brien finds himself entangled in international crime, assassinations, governments agencies - not unlike the crime drama he always watches on TV - only this time it is happening in real life. At first he enjoys playing a spy but he soon finds out that he has landed in some serious stuff. He seeks the help of his cop friends, but even they do not understand how far reaching this is. The story keeps the reader engaged and the author does a good job of explaining the inner workings of the different agencies. There is a lot of planning so the element of surprise is limited, but that does not take away from the storyline. The characters are likeable and real. This story would make a good film. Enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews