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My Immaculate Assassin
Behind the relatably terrifying veil of a computer screen lies a cold hearted killer, Maura Nelson, whose journey in My Immaculate Assassin questions the extents of love and morality through an “idealistic”, remote murder. Nelson, the protagonist of the story, has found a foolproof method of murdering without consequences.
After a test to guarantee that her method leaves no trace, she ropes Jack Plymouth into being more than just a romantic partner. The two begin to rid the world of those they decide “need to be dead” while developing their steamy romance under the most unexpected circumstances.
Author David Huddle has done it again with this erotic cyber-thriller. His mastery captures even the most skeptical reader within the complex and delightfully moving details of My Immaculate Assassin . Maura Nelson’s character is expertly crafted and as timely as ever, especially in the post-pandemic world. Her small abuse of power careens into destruction and death, all conveniently from the comfort of her home office.
After a test to guarantee that her method leaves no trace, she ropes Jack Plymouth into being more than just a romantic partner. The two begin to rid the world of those they decide “need to be dead” while developing their steamy romance under the most unexpected circumstances.
Author David Huddle has done it again with this erotic cyber-thriller. His mastery captures even the most skeptical reader within the complex and delightfully moving details of My Immaculate Assassin . Maura Nelson’s character is expertly crafted and as timely as ever, especially in the post-pandemic world. Her small abuse of power careens into destruction and death, all conveniently from the comfort of her home office.
- GenresThriller
256 pages, Paperback
Published August 31, 2016
24 people want to read
About the author
David Huddle
40 books12 followersDavid Huddle (Born 11 July 1942) is an American multi-genre writer. His poems, essays, and short stories have appeared in Esquire, Harper's Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Story, The Autumn House Anthology of Poetry, and The Best American Short Stories. His work has also been included in anthologies of writing about the Vietnam War.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 5, 2025
Umm. is it supposed to be Science Fiction, tiny little drones that can be programmed by DNA to assassinate the bad guys?. OK -or was it supposed to be romance- a twisted relationship fueled by the excitement of planning the next assassination. O my bad the genre listed is THRILLER, well nothing in this book thrilled me-it was really far fetched, with a bunch of stuff thrown about to see if anything stuck.
The writing is decent, but the plot is so far fetched, that I couldn't really get into it. The two main characters are not relatable-in fact are quite horrible people. I suppose there is a moral message in here somewhere.
The writing is decent, but the plot is so far fetched, that I couldn't really get into it. The two main characters are not relatable-in fact are quite horrible people. I suppose there is a moral message in here somewhere.
August 25, 2017
*Book source ~ Library
Maura Nelson is a gorgeous genius though she seems completely unaware of the gorgeous part. She discovers a huge secret and soon Jack Plymouth knows it, too. Can their relationship survive murderous intent?
I have no idea why I finished this book. I guess I wanted to see if it actually got exciting. It didn’t. This is THE most boring assassin book I’ve ever had the misfortune of picking up. I hate the writing style. Jack isn’t too bad, but Maura is bleh. And the ending sucked. The End.
Maura Nelson is a gorgeous genius though she seems completely unaware of the gorgeous part. She discovers a huge secret and soon Jack Plymouth knows it, too. Can their relationship survive murderous intent?
I have no idea why I finished this book. I guess I wanted to see if it actually got exciting. It didn’t. This is THE most boring assassin book I’ve ever had the misfortune of picking up. I hate the writing style. Jack isn’t too bad, but Maura is bleh. And the ending sucked. The End.
October 12, 2021
First chapter, I'm thinking the writing style isn't horrible. I let it go a bit then he falls into the very long and awkward section about lovemaking and I was done.
That aside, this book sums up the magical thinking of some politically minded people (on both sides). There's a person I disagree with, boom dead. I mean I just wished it and it happened, my hands are clean. I mean I can feign shock and horror but really isn't it neat that we can mold the world by removing truly evil people from the world?
I remember a discussion I had with my D&D group. The old alignment system used nine different alignments; one of which was lawful good. The discussion came up, what if two nations were fighting one and other and two paladins met each other and began fighting. They're both lawful good, which would win? Which cause was right?
Inevitably, we came down to both of them were acting within the boundaries of their respective ethos and neither side had committed attrocities or "evil" acts based on the common standard of evil in the game. To each, their powers would work because they were both just in their actions, even if they worshiped the same god.
It's interesting to apply this thought process to history and to this book. Winston Churchill was one of the great leaders of the past century. If you had asked the bad guys in europe during that time period, they would probably claim he was evil and standing in the way of their righteous crusade.
During the crusades, we had European armies going into the middle east and pillaging and conquering and then later the armies of the middle east going into Europe to do the same. Which one was correct?
That's part of why moralistic thought has come to the conclusion that live has intrinsic value and that the taking of that life is an evil act. We have levels of evil. Murder, premeditated murder, manslaughter, and then an act which is neutral, I suppose, in self-defense. The taking of a life before they could take someone else's. Which in a way is suicide by proxy. All of these carry with them, intense action, resolve, and are not free from consequences.
In the first act, this book trivializes the whole act. What if I had the power to will someone dead and they died?
Maybe the characters had more remorse and nightmares and trauma and maybe they went about redeeming themselves but it doesn't sound like it and frankly I couldn't finish the book. Maybe that was part of the point of the book in the first place to raise the moral question of murder stripped of all the extenuating circumstances. When does murder become just and when is it an atrocity? Maybe that's part of what the writer was going for but... I imagine it's not given the reports that the targets are mere satirical images of real people that might not be long for this world should someone get their wish of death by remote.
That aside, this book sums up the magical thinking of some politically minded people (on both sides). There's a person I disagree with, boom dead. I mean I just wished it and it happened, my hands are clean. I mean I can feign shock and horror but really isn't it neat that we can mold the world by removing truly evil people from the world?
I remember a discussion I had with my D&D group. The old alignment system used nine different alignments; one of which was lawful good. The discussion came up, what if two nations were fighting one and other and two paladins met each other and began fighting. They're both lawful good, which would win? Which cause was right?
Inevitably, we came down to both of them were acting within the boundaries of their respective ethos and neither side had committed attrocities or "evil" acts based on the common standard of evil in the game. To each, their powers would work because they were both just in their actions, even if they worshiped the same god.
It's interesting to apply this thought process to history and to this book. Winston Churchill was one of the great leaders of the past century. If you had asked the bad guys in europe during that time period, they would probably claim he was evil and standing in the way of their righteous crusade.
During the crusades, we had European armies going into the middle east and pillaging and conquering and then later the armies of the middle east going into Europe to do the same. Which one was correct?
That's part of why moralistic thought has come to the conclusion that live has intrinsic value and that the taking of that life is an evil act. We have levels of evil. Murder, premeditated murder, manslaughter, and then an act which is neutral, I suppose, in self-defense. The taking of a life before they could take someone else's. Which in a way is suicide by proxy. All of these carry with them, intense action, resolve, and are not free from consequences.
In the first act, this book trivializes the whole act. What if I had the power to will someone dead and they died?
Maybe the characters had more remorse and nightmares and trauma and maybe they went about redeeming themselves but it doesn't sound like it and frankly I couldn't finish the book. Maybe that was part of the point of the book in the first place to raise the moral question of murder stripped of all the extenuating circumstances. When does murder become just and when is it an atrocity? Maybe that's part of what the writer was going for but... I imagine it's not given the reports that the targets are mere satirical images of real people that might not be long for this world should someone get their wish of death by remote.
June 21, 2018
So, what if by using microscopic drones, triangulation and a few other clever doodads, you could locate and assassinate anyone from a distance? Untraceable, I'm saying. What would you do with that power? The main characters here start with the wish to make the world a better place. Instead they find themselves in an ethical tangle and at risk of their lives. Huddle doesn't go into the speculative fiction stratosphere, he sticks close to home, imagining what two conscientious and well-meaning people might do with this power and what it might do to them. Huddle could maybe have dug deeper, but I don't think that was his aim, he wanted, I think, to keep it at an 'ordinary' believable "this could be you" level. This is a very good novel that hasn't received the attention it deserves.
March 14, 2024
I do really hope this was commentary on how through extraordinary acts, ‘good’ people can become evil too. though i think commentary, if true, would have been more pertinent back when it was written
i think the writing was okay. there wasnt enough back story, the whole thing felt rushed, timelines were condensed into consecutive paragraphs instead of chapters. please, for the love of god people. let your stories breath a little bit!!
i think the writing was okay. there wasnt enough back story, the whole thing felt rushed, timelines were condensed into consecutive paragraphs instead of chapters. please, for the love of god people. let your stories breath a little bit!!
August 26, 2023
Relatable? Not remotely. Terribly written and unimaginative to the point that I didn’t finish this. Sophomoric focus on sex. Disgustingly politically-left leaning. Not worth the time I wasted getting half through it.
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August 16, 2021Amazing concept. Terribly written. Killed the theme.
September 20, 2016
Last night I just finished devouring "My Immaculate Assassin." What a novel! It certainly is not a simple story nor were, or I should say "are" my reactions because they keep evolving. So many layers and textures keep me rethinking and reinterpreting what did and could happen. It was truly a fascinating read at many levels and its momentum continued to build for me throughout the reading so that I got very annoyed when the rest of my world intruded on my reading--always a powerful sign!
Interestingly, when I went to bed immediately after finishing the book I found myself quite unsettled with the events at its end; then I woke up with a very different take on them and on the options. I'm intrigued to see where I go as I continue to "cogitate" this work. It unleashed a swarm of something I can't quite identify: concerns, reactions, and hypothesizing. Just what a good book should do.
Interestingly, when I went to bed immediately after finishing the book I found myself quite unsettled with the events at its end; then I woke up with a very different take on them and on the options. I'm intrigued to see where I go as I continue to "cogitate" this work. It unleashed a swarm of something I can't quite identify: concerns, reactions, and hypothesizing. Just what a good book should do.
October 28, 2016
Another enchanting novel by David Huddle, and this one really scary. If Ian Fleming and a guy who really likes women, say, Willie Nelson collaborated on a thriller, and Willie got the upper hand, you’d have My Immaculate Assassin. The title doesn’t lie. But instead of characters out of a typical James Bond movie, we have two unglamorous, seemingly ordinary people who fall in love and in lust, and who also have the power to assassinate anyone they deem better dead, using a computer generated laser and a DNA driven digital method of locating their target. The Huddle forms of enchantment are all here: wondrous sexual adventure, emotional intimacy and the back-and-forth of that intimacy for any couple. You’ll find yourself muttering, “true, true!’’. And you’ll be scared out of your wits.
January 16, 2017
I'm not too sure what to think about this one--even though I only gave it two stars the story will stay with me. The 45-year old Jack becomes involved with 39-year old Maura, who does mysterious work for the government. She has developed a way to kill, long-distance, undesirable people, and she lures Jack into her scheme. As their relationship evolves sexually, they identify and "transition" more and more people. Enter a young Russian woman who has been used in the sex trade, and whose protector is transitioned. Jack narrates the story, which is very much in the moment of today's political and media scene, dispassionately and in a detached manner. What troubles me the most is the lack of remorse by both characters, who are very ordinary people in very ordinary lives.
November 19, 2016
Bonnie and Clyde meets cyberspace! This novel couldn't be more apt for Fall 2016. A love story and an exploration of absolute power, My Immaculate Assassin questions what happens to us when we grant ourselves the moral imperative to decide other peoples' lives and destinies. The premise is thrilling, but that its two main characters try to stay in love despite their godlike gifts to kill others gives the story its deep humanity.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews