This book is a compilation of three different stories under the umbrella of girls with guns: Bow and Arrow by Carsen Taite, Hammersmith by Michelle Grubb and Hell Fire by Ali Vali. Coincidentally, this was the order of my preference.

In ‘Bow and Arrow’, Carsen Taite reintroduces her character from the ‘Luca Bennet bounty hunter’ series. This series has three books that I recommend to read chronologically and maybe even before this story, though this novella stands on its own. Luca Bennet is my favourite character of all Ms Taite’s novels and she manages to keep her as funny, entertaining – and sometimes even deep – as in the previous installments. The chemistry with cop Jessica Chance is great and the secondary characters add to the entertainment of the story.

‘Hammersmith’ by Michelle Grubb describes the issue of suicide bomber, very original to this genre. However, the chemistry between the main characters didn’t work for me and sometimes the story didn’t seem completely believable. I’ve lived and used London’s transport system for seven years and even for me sometimes the description of the lines and stations of the “tube” was a bit tedious. I can only imagine that it’d be at least a bit confusing for a complete outsider. However, I think this story is worth a try and I’ll definitely read something by this author in the future.

‘Hell Fire’ by Ali Vali didn’t work for me at all. At times, the story seems too sketchy for the novella format and the amount of characters and the complexity of the story deserve more development. I got confused with the story line and the chemistry between the main characters didn’t work for me. It was also hard to maintain the suspension of disbelief as much of the plot seemed quite implausible to say the least. Without this last story, I would have rated this book with 4 stars but I feel that a third of this book let me down hence the 3 star rating.

I’ve received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.