I have just finished Kill Your Boss by John Niven and found it a good read. Gripping and pithy, his writing is strong and economical without sacrificing any of the qualities I look for in an enjoyable read.

The main character although a criminal of the worst kind, still engenders feelings of sympathy and the hope that all turns out well for him, in me at least. That to me is clever writing.

Initially I picked up Kill Your Boss just so I could enjoy reading it while walking past my boss a few times with the cover visible, which, while fun in itself, turned out to be not nearly as fun as reading the book itself, which pretty much didnt leave my hands from start to finish.

Human Resources, Inc. is supposedly a work placement company, but in actuality is an assassins-for-hire operation specialising in taking out high level (and high security) executives. Their method is to insert assassins masquerading as interns into a business, as what better way to get into any area? If found somewhere they shouldnt be, then they can feign ignorance, no one expects them to have much initiative so if theyre doing something someone else must have told them to do it, plus no one ever remembers them.

John Lago is our main man; hes the longest lasting employee of Human Resources, Inc. At almost 25 he is nearing his retirement age (who would believe an intern older than 25?) and has decided to write The Interns Handbook to help future recruits in the assassination game. Putting into practice his advice should help them last as long as he has, including tips such as learning to make a killer coffee, so that the boss will only want you to make it, enabling you to then make an actual killer coffee. To help illustrate his points, he takes the interns through his final case which is unfolding as he writes, and this forms the storyline for us.

This is screenwriter, director and producer Shane Kuhns debut novel, and as may be expected has all the pace of a high speed movie thriller. Kill Your Boss has plenty of action, twists, and fun, along with enough quirks, grit, gruesomeness and offbeat humour to keep any Quentin Tarantino fan happy. Kuhn even manages to work in a decent romance, but certainly not your normal one. If youre looking for a book to spark the interest of that action movie lover in your life, this is a great place to start!