What do you think?
Rate this book
Contract Killer Kina
Above the dark, criminal underworld of Manila is a world of innocence and mundanity, a world that contract killer Kina Sanchez wants to be a part of. But when her past starts creeping into her new life as a college student, Kina has to make a choice between what she is and who she wants to be to protect the ones she loves. Ysa, an incessantly friendly classmate, further complicates things when she starts piecing things together about Kina.
242 pages, Unknown Binding
First published November 1, 2025
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 3, 2026
I received a complimentary ebook from the author as part of a book tour by Book Chickas PH in exchange for a promotional post and honest review.
Talk about an action-packed thrill ride of a read! The book features two main characters:
🥷 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗮, journalism student by day and vigilante-type contract killer by night
👩🎓 𝗬𝘀𝗮, fellow journalism student with a mission to befriend Kina or die trying
Together, you get a textbook grumpy-sunshine combo (think of the friendships or something-more-ships of Batman and Clark Kent, or the Punisher and Deadpool, or Daredevil's Matt and Foggy).
They take the streets of Manila by storm and gunfire in a bloodsoaked mission to end corruption in the only way they can, given a world where law and the government has failed its people long before they can even begin to think of finding justice.
𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙖's play-by-play had the kind of guns-and-garrotes spectacle you'd expect from movies like The Man from Nowhere or the John Wick series. But the reality of the systemic corruption, desperation, and moral degradation the girls uncover while doing a meant-to-be-harmless assignment for their journalism class is all too real, as every Filipino with open eyes and ears could tell you.
This is a novel you'll want to read at least twice: first, to let yourself take that action-packed roller coaster ride of a story; and then, to appreciate the way the author has painted a chiaroscuro of darkness and light in the characters and situations, mixing heavy political commentary and cold-blooded murder sprees with moments of humor and care between characters who show that hope, love, care, and genuine friendship can exist even in the shadows.
Additional notes:
👩🔬 The murder geek (and Forensic Files addict) in me had some moments questioning the characters' proficiency at crime scene coverups, but having personal experience with less-than-stellar forensic practices for murders and suspicious deaths in the Philippines, I decided to forgive these as, while these would've been glaring mistakes elsewhere, they probably would've gotten away with things over here.
🥣 Like Orphan Oliver, I wanted to go up to the author with my imaginary reader-bowl empty and be all, "Please, sir, I want some more." As I felt like I would have appreciated more character development to bolster the escalation into the absolute Hollywood-level killfest (in the middle of a typhoon, at that). But what I did get, I really did enjoy!
Talk about an action-packed thrill ride of a read! The book features two main characters:
🥷 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗮, journalism student by day and vigilante-type contract killer by night
👩🎓 𝗬𝘀𝗮, fellow journalism student with a mission to befriend Kina or die trying
Together, you get a textbook grumpy-sunshine combo (think of the friendships or something-more-ships of Batman and Clark Kent, or the Punisher and Deadpool, or Daredevil's Matt and Foggy).
They take the streets of Manila by storm and gunfire in a bloodsoaked mission to end corruption in the only way they can, given a world where law and the government has failed its people long before they can even begin to think of finding justice.
𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙖's play-by-play had the kind of guns-and-garrotes spectacle you'd expect from movies like The Man from Nowhere or the John Wick series. But the reality of the systemic corruption, desperation, and moral degradation the girls uncover while doing a meant-to-be-harmless assignment for their journalism class is all too real, as every Filipino with open eyes and ears could tell you.
This is a novel you'll want to read at least twice: first, to let yourself take that action-packed roller coaster ride of a story; and then, to appreciate the way the author has painted a chiaroscuro of darkness and light in the characters and situations, mixing heavy political commentary and cold-blooded murder sprees with moments of humor and care between characters who show that hope, love, care, and genuine friendship can exist even in the shadows.
Additional notes:
👩🔬 The murder geek (and Forensic Files addict) in me had some moments questioning the characters' proficiency at crime scene coverups, but having personal experience with less-than-stellar forensic practices for murders and suspicious deaths in the Philippines, I decided to forgive these as, while these would've been glaring mistakes elsewhere, they probably would've gotten away with things over here.
🥣 Like Orphan Oliver, I wanted to go up to the author with my imaginary reader-bowl empty and be all, "Please, sir, I want some more." As I felt like I would have appreciated more character development to bolster the escalation into the absolute Hollywood-level killfest (in the middle of a typhoon, at that). But what I did get, I really did enjoy!
Displaying 1 of 1 review