Dealing in Death
I’ve spent my whole life dealing in death, efficiently eliminating targets while fighting to preserve a sense of self and morality, to avoid becoming as detached and ruthless as my siblings....
- Pages
- 188
- First published
- 2019
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 1 Litcadian
Reviews
Started September 26, 2026 · Finished September 26, 2026
Ok, I know this might sound paradox, since this is basically Ethan's POV of the very same story of book two, but I think Dealing in Death has left me with slightly complicated feelings about the way this series handles POV, because I absolutely loved this novella while simultaneously thinking it exposes something I was missing from Why the Devil Stalks Death. But it's also the reason that I liked this one better, so I'm going full 5⭐️ here. If you're here reading this, I assume you already know what's happening, so this will contain spoilers! You've been warned! Now, book two deliberately keeps us almost entirely on Jack's side of the relationship, and I understood what that was doing while I was reading it. We aren't supposed to know what Ethan is doing. We aren't supposed to know whether he has actually retired, why he's disappearing, what he's hiding, or how much he knows about the Judge. Most importantly, we're supposed to share some of Jack's uncertainty about Ethan. That works incredibly well for the mystery. But then you read the same period from Ethan's perspective and realise just how much was happening inside him that we couldn't see. And I LOVED this. Ethan's POV fundamentally changes the emotional texture of book two for me. So many moments I originally read as Ethan withdrawing, being secretive, behaving irrationally or simply failing to communicate look completely different once you're inside his head. He's trying to build a life with Jack while having absolutely no idea how to build a life with anyone. He's given up the one thing that has structured his identity for most of his existence, and suddenly he has to answer a question that sounds incredibly simple but really isn't: if he isn't Ethan Blade, the assassin, then who is he? I think that's the part I was missing most in book two. Also, I'm very obviously Team Ethan must be protected at all costs, so knowing what he has been through hit differently!