Die for Me (Killing Eve #3)

This is the 3rd volume in the Villanelle series of books by Luke Jennings. The first work was a collection of stories that formed a novella about a Russian woman assassin operating in Europe. Her work led her to be tracked by a British MI6 agent named Eve Polastri and the story starts with Eve tracing and tracking Villanelle.
Along the way in real time the work came to the attention of producers who thought it might make an interesting TV series and approached Phoebe Waller-Bridge to run the first season. And as most readers are probably aware that show, entitled Killing Eve, became a smash hit and critical and fan sensation.

This work seems to be partly affected by the success of the TV show and is a passable story. For a more grounded realistic spy work, one has John LeCarre. For more fanciful stuff you have scores of super agents (usually male but not always) who are indestructible and unflappable. One can’t help but compare the work with what we’ve seen in the two seasons of the TV series (Season 3 is about to start this week). The style, wit and satirical moments are not there. If you have the other two novellas – I suppose you’ll want this one to keep your set complete, but if you are not obsessed with having a complete set then I’m not sure I’d recommend it – please do watch the show however – because that has a life of its own.

I loved the first two books of the series and waited with baited breath for this one to come out. I wanted to love it too, but I just couldn’t. I rate it as a solid “like”. The plot was good but I found Eve’s character to be annoying pretty regularly and was extremely disappointed that there were no chapters from Villanelle/Oxana’s point of view. To let us see the story from her head in the first two books but not in the third just doesn’t make any sense.
I’d still recommend it to know how the story wraps up and to get to spend a little more time with these characters.

I’ve enjoyed watching “Killing Eve” on BBC and thought I’d read the books while waiting for the next season to start. The first two books of the trilogy were fun, interesting reads. Luke Jennings’s characters, Eve Polastri and Villanelle, are fascinating and sympathetic, despite their obvious flaws. Many action scenes in the first two books were well-paced and tension-filled. So I was deeply disappointed reading the third book. Unlike the first two books which are told in the third person, the third is written from Eve’s point of view and it doesn’t seem to be the same Eve Polastri portrayed in the first two. Eve comes across as petulant and needy, instead of the tough woman who can make the hard decision. Considering there is a price on Eve’s head at the beginning of the book, she seems oddly unconcerned. This is only one of numerous parts of the book which did not ring true and which were not written in a convincing way. Another disappointment was a love triangle that took up far too much space and plot. Not all women are obsessed with romance and relationships, especially not someone as driven as Eve Polastri. I was highly anticipating this third book and I actually wish I hadn’t purchased it. There is no comparison to the first two.

Having read the first two entries to this series I have become strongly attached to Eve and Villanelle. This entry was something I was much looking forward to. I had high expectations for how chaotic the partnership of Eve and Villanelle could become, but I couldn’t have imagined the events that unfolded. These characters gravitate towards each other in a compelling, at times repulsive, relationship, which makes it all the more thrilling. I loved this story. Highly recommended.

This third book in the series was a page turner. If you are looking for a clue for the BBCAmerica series, this is not it. The characters are the same but the plot line is quite different. No spoilers hnere.

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