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The Hitmans Guide To Housekeeping (2000)

by Hallgrímur Helgason(Favorite Author)

3.2 of 5 Votes: 1

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English

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review 1: This was a great first read by this Icelandic author. I wanted to read 101 Reykjavik (and am still determined!) but couldn't get a hold of it before my trip to Iceland. I have a tradition before traveling to a new country of reading a book by an author of that country.Helgason's writing style is in the vein of Chuck Palahniuk. It is crass, surprising and sometimes just crazy. This story is essentially about a hitman that tries to find his way back to a normal life under abnormal circumstances in a foreign place. Very funny and easy to read!
review 2: This book was a very pleasant surprise as I had never heard of the author before (it's his first book in English), and it was another of those 99-cent add-on's to an e-book order I paid full price for on Amazo... moren.com. In fact, I nearly gave it 5 stars, because my barometer for 5 stars is a book that takes me away and scores high for originality. The Hitman's Guide to Housekeeping is that and more.Thom (or Tod, or Tommy, or Tomachik) is a Croatian hit man who lived (and worked) in New York City until his bosses got bad information and ordered a hit on an FBI agent - which he carried out successfully. While at the airport waiting to flee the country, he kills and then assumes the identify of a man he runs into in the men's room. The man's ticket is for a flight to Iceland, so that is where he ends up.I won't say more about the plot so as not to give away anything, but this was a very amusing book. The way Tommy interprets the names of Icelandic people and places is hysterical (Gunnhildur becomes Gun Holder, for example). I was laughing out loud in places.It is also a glimpse into the soul of a man who did some terrible things, and the remorse he gradually feels for his past actions - which comes to a "head" (you'll understand the quotes/pun if you read the book) when he learns that his girlfriend in New York has been killed; presumably by a rival organization. Hearing of her death unlocks something inside of him that he had successfully suppressed through 67 hits. Most definitely worth the read. If I could read Icelandic or German, I'd check out his other books as well! less

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