Exit Strategy

At the start of Richards’s intriguing sequel to 2021’s Endings, the nameless narrator, a professional hit woman, fatally poisons a man in a restaurant who considers this their first date, but she’s not happy about it. With her own past a blur and her only close friend a dog, she morosely drifts along through assignments from her mysterious employers. When she’s told to prevent the murder of Virginia Martin, a brilliant scientist who’s heading a new corporation that promises to save human civilization by converting trash into energy, she welcomes the chance to protect someone. After disposing of one would-be killer, the narrator begins working backward to discover who would want Virginia dead. Possible suspects include a slick financial promoter and the new company’s anxious CEO. As she coolly dissects the motives of the glitzy crowd circling Virginia, she painfully reassesses why she leads the life she does. Of even more interest than the mystery the protagonist must solve is the mystery of who she herself is. Readers will look forward to seeing what’s next in store for her. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc. (May)