Water Viper

In a postapocalyptic United States devastated by meteors that have also brought magic to the world, Blain (Playing with Fire) tells the gritty, gripping story of Jesse Alexander, also known as the famed assassin Water Viper. Born without a gender into a warrior clan, Jesse trains to be a male warrior, but something goes awry at her 10th birthday ceremony and she becomes female. She flees the clan in shame. As Water Viper, she assassinates only those she believes deserve to die, humanely killing them in their sleep; her work is recognizable by the tattoo she puts on each victim. As Jesse, she works with friendly shifters in Charlotte, N.C., as a respectable bodyguard. When she meets Nate in a bar in sunken Miami, she finds him so intriguing that she drugs him unconscious and leaves her tattoo on him as a challenge. Shortly after returning to Charlotte, she learns that her impulsive actions with Nate have dire consequences: her assassination work gets tangled up with her bodyguard career, and her secret comes out. She fears that her friendships may have to be left behind forever, but her found family isn’t about to let her go. Readers looking for a captivating story full of shape-shifters, mystics, sword fights, and mysteries will enjoy Jesse’s often brutal journey toward happiness. (BookLife)