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Hollywood’s favourite revenge franchise, John Wick, continues with John Wick: Chapter 4 this month. Full of over-the-top violence, large combat choreography, and he’s-so-wholesome-we-don’t-deserve-him Keanu Reaves, this franchise is huge. But erstwhile the credits roll, what if you privation much vengeful tales? Why, determination are books similar John Wick, of course.
Spoilers for the archetypal John Wick movie ahead. John is simply a retired assassin, surviving peacefully arsenic a widower with his cute small dog, the last acquisition from his woman earlier she died. Then 1 fateful day, a radical of thieves decides that John’s fancy location indispensable beryllium afloat of fancy things to steal. John astir apt would person fto them disconnected the hook, chalked it up to naïveté, and billed their brag for the losses.
But they killed his dog. Thus begins a monolithic revenge communicative afloat of martial arts, car chases, concealed societies, and gun-fu. Maybe car chases and gun-fu don’t enactment arsenic good successful books, but they tin surely propulsion disconnected the revenge tale. Granted, determination are mode excessively galore women successful refrigerators successful the genre, but alas.
Grab your popcorn and get acceptable to basal for the heroic psychopaths. Without further preamble, present are 10 violent, vengeful books similar John Wick.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Gun-fu? How astir mech-fu? Zetian is simply a aviator for a elephantine robot, built to conflict the tremendous aliens that endanger the world. Girls don’t often past piloting the mechs, but Zetian is different. She didn’t instrumentality the occupation to termination aliens, but to avenge her sister, who was killed by a antheral pilot. When she gets her revenge successful an antithetic way, Zetian is labeled the Iron Widow, and present each eyes are connected her.
Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
This caller begins a bid that gets precise vengeful, adjacent if the archetypal publication isn’t rather so. Miriam has a peculiar power. When she makes skin-to-skin interaction with someone, she tin spot however and erstwhile they volition die. Even erstwhile she tries to prevention them, the effect is the same. When she touches a antheral named Louis, she sees him murdered portion calling her name. And Miriam is next. To prevention herself, she has to prevention Louis.
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Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
Chloe Sevre seems similar a mean assemblage freshman. She’s smart, does yogalates, and goes to parties. She’s besides readying to termination Will Bachman. Oh, and Chloe is portion of a tiny survey of psychopaths, due to the fact that she is one. When 1 of the different students successful that survey turns up dead, Chloe feels the request to accelerate her plans against Will, and prevention herself successful the process.
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Revenge is successful Alex Craft’s blood. Three years ago, her sister was murdered. The slayer went unpunished by the law, but not by Alex. She got her revenge and walked escaped herself. But now, she doesn’t spot herself astir different people. As her elder twelvemonth begins, she has to clasp the unit wrong of her, and not adjacent her friends are safe.
Three Assassins by Kōtarō Isaka
Isaka is the writer of Bullet Train, which was precocious adapted into a chaotic enactment movie. He really wrote this caller first, though it’s lone precocious been translated to English. Suzuki is simply a schoolteacher starring a mean beingness until his woman is murdered. Now he’s retired for revenge against a trio of over-the-top assassins: The Whale, The Cicada, and The Pusher.
Fun & Games by Duane Swierczynski
Charlie utilized to beryllium a cop. When his partner’s full household was killed successful revenge, Charlie fled that life, fearing the aforesaid fate. Now he’s a bodyguard for a B-list movie histrion who fears assassins who specialize successful making their hits look similar accidents. Except her paranoia is justified. Now Charlie is squaring disconnected against The Accident People, and he’s not consenting to fto them instrumentality adjacent 1 much guiltless life.
Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa
It’s close determination successful the title, right? This is simply a postulation of 11 abbreviated stories, translated into English by Stephen Snyder, that each travel backmost to revenge. A surgeon’s jealous person decides helium needs to die. A young pistillate who moves into an flat soon has to woody with a landlady who murdered her husband. This postulation is packed with acheronian characters and adjacent darker motives.
The Killer by Tom Wood
Books similar John Wick? This decidedly has those vibes. Victor is simply a nonrecreational killer. He’s acold and efficient. On a regular occupation successful Paris, helium finishes the termination but is past ambushed. Victor’s enemies are almighty and multinational. The web is bigger and much ruthless than Victor tin imagine, and whitethorn adjacent beryllium excessively overmuch for his sizeable skills.
When the Reckoning Comes by Latanya McQueen
This revenge communicative is besides a supernatural fearfulness tale. Mira near the small, antebellum municipality she grew up successful to flight racism and backward culture. Now she’s backmost a decennary aboriginal for her aged friend’s wedding. The wedding is connected the aged Woodsman plantation, and the plantation-turned-resort is leaning hard into its racist roots. But determination are spirits there, spirits of the tortured enslaved people, and they privation revenge.
Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
Evan Smoak was raised similar Marvel’s Black Widow, trained arsenic an orphan assassin practically from birth. One day, though, helium utilized his skills to vanish and go the Nowhere Man. He lone uses his skills for those who genuinely request help. But present idiosyncratic is aft him. They cognize who helium is. And they mightiness beryllium adjacent to the task of sidesplitting Evan.
Need much vengeful tales? Book Riot has you covered with much revenge novels and manga, too. What are your favourite revenge stories?
English (US) ·