MT Review: Play Nice [Hardcover]

I've finished reading "Play Nice the 1st book in her Anna Smith and Nick Dade mystery series by Gemma Halliday.

Play Nice (Anna Smith and Nick Dade Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Product Description

She faked her death to escape life as an assassin. But now her enemies have tracked her down, and this time they want her to stay dead.

Anya Danielovich was an assassin in her former life. But that was a long time ago. Today she’s just Anna Smith — a single, thirtysomething woman living in San Francisco with a simple desire to lead a better life. But she’s still haunted by her past — the people she killed, the mentor she betrayed, the woman she was. She’s taken care to cover her tracks, but she’s beginning to feel like she’s being watched …
Nick Dade is a hired gunman — the best of the best. He’s read Anya’s file and, after weeks of surveillance, he’s ready to pull the trigger … until someone else beats him to the punch. With his agenda shattered, Nick suddenly finds himself thrown together with the woman he’s been sent to eliminate. Who is she really? Who hired the second hit? And who can he trust? Together Nick and Anna find themselves embroiled in a web of deceit and desire as an unknown enemy closes in. To unravel the truth, Anna must face her past even if that means risking both Nick’s life and her own.

Product Details
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (March 13, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312656076
ISBN-13: 978-0312656072

My Review:

Anya Danielovich in her past worked for the KOS a Yugoslavian intelligence agency as one of their best assassins.  In order to escape she killed vile General Federov and flees for her life with his bodyguards in pursuit.  She fakes her death by making her car explode.

Now she is living in a nice quiet neighborhood in San Francisco as Anna Smith a thirty-something woman with her dog Lenny.  Hit man Nick Dade has observed Anna and has read her file which makes him more aware of how deadly she can be.  He is hired to assassinate Anna and before he can pull the trigger someone beats him too it.  Now he is on the run with Anna determined to find out who pulled the trigger and hired him and the other party.

This first Anna and Nick book was fast paced and tension filled action with a hint of romance.  Lenny the dog provides the laughs.  The ending hints we will see Anna and Nick teaming up again very soon and I can't wait!

4/5

Thanks St. Martin's Press for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!