Boardroom Assassin

Boardroom Assassin by R. L. Hare is a psychological thriller that follows Rick Frown, a successful corporate executive, as he leads a double life. He thrives on power at any cost and becomes obsessed with pulling off a perfectly planned murder. The only thing is, he has to make sure every step in the plan leaves not one stitch of evidence leading back to him.

From the very first page, readers get to see what type of person Rick Frown is. He’s a fit 46-year-old CEO of a Fortune 1000 company. He lives a life of excess and detachment, yet he’s disciplined. How does that happen? Oh, but it does. He gets to travel all over the world and sleep with beautiful escorts. This is a sharp contrast to his quiet life back at home with his beautiful wife Jennifer, who has no clue what type of person he is or is on the brink of becoming. Rick is definitely the character that I tried so hard to hate, but I was just so fascinated with him and how in the world he was going to pull off this murder.

Let’s really break down Rick’s character some more, because I just couldn’t believe what I was reading. But I didn’t want to close the book. Hare has created an incredible piece of work in Rick’s character. Rick has a chillingly logical mind that makes him the scariest character in the story. He becomes so obsessed with what he treated like a project, until it metastasizes into something much darker. It was even given a name: Project Clean Slate. Readers get to go inside the mind of a man evolving into a boardroom assassin; weighing variables, calculating evidence transfers, considering the psychological aftermath, and even rehearsing the cover story. He really thought this thing through, and that’s what made this not your typical murder plot storyline. This was murder on steroids.

In comes Elena Kolonik. She’s not your typical tough detective, and she’s more of a walking imperfection in terms of how she dresses and carries herself. She reminds me of the rough days of Perry Mason prior to him becoming a groomed lawyer; wrinkled clothes and uneven hair. Or dare I even say, Columbo. But she knows her job, and she comes in and stirs things up to try to find the cracks.

She is haunted by an unsolved case, but she’s still meticulous about her work and notices what other investigators may miss. This makes her quietly persistent, and it also makes her a threat because she’s the type that doesn’t reveal all the cards in her deck. Meticulous recognizes meticulous; Elena realizes that this perpetrator they’re after is trying to misdirect their investigation by planting fake fingerprints and synthetic hair. It comes off as too perfect. While Rick seems to hold onto this false sense of control, Detective Elena pursues the case, relentlessly trying to find the truth. I am a sucker for a really good, twisted game of cat and mouse. Hare gave me just that in Boardroom Assassin.

The other characters cannot go unnoticed. They are just as much a part of this narrative, and readers will come to love them. I love the fact that Hare did not make them the stereotypical Hollywood characters. They show their flaws and frustrations, and they are very relatable human beings. Reggie Voss, who is street savvy and a seasoned vet, doesn’t want to work under Detective Elena at first, but her sharp instincts make him change his mind. Carlos Vega is a rookie who is eager, but sometimes he jumps the gun. On the other hand, he proves himself to be useful because he’s tech-savvy. There’s also Doug and Monica, the forensic experts who work like quiet scientists piecing together the evidence. But the entire team seems to feed off each other like a real investigative team.

I enjoyed reading Boardroom Assassin, part of The Elena Kolonik Files series by R.L. Hare, because it felt like I was reading the unsealed files of a real murderer. I loved the added touch of the newspaper headlines and the live CNN footage. It really brought out how life continues to move about while one person is getting good at hiding the truth, and another is working hard to uncover the truth.  This reminded me of The Killing Lessons by Saul Black because of how sadistic and methodical Rick Frown is. Blend that with The Bone Collector: Lincoln Rhyme Series by Jeffrey Deaver because of the in-depth forensics. I think readers will definitely enjoy Boardroom Assassin as much as I did.