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TL;DR – Fast, funny, and action packed. A one-time read that is quite entertaining.

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Another from my ever-growing list of books picked up because a movie trailer brought it to my attention, Bullet Train has been languishing on my shelf for quite a while. In fact I had only recently just started Kōtarō Isaka’s 3 Assassins which is the first book in his Assassins Trilogy, with Bullet Train being the second. Unfortunately, the combination of having people over, and them deciding on the Bullet Train movie for the evening’s choice of entertainment basically meant one thing.

I needed to read the book immediately.

The movie draws all the main story points from the book but thankfully strays away enough from the source material that I could enjoy the book on its own. For people who aren’t aware, Bullet Train is a story of revenge, love, and the absolute mayhem that can take place when a lot of assassins happen to find themselves on the same train. It is as chaotic as it sounds, but also very entertaining. I actually preferred the pacing of the book a lot better than the over-the-top and bombastic interpretation that the movie brought to us. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was fun but I just felt the book added a slightly more serious undercurrent that made me enjoy it more.

It was nice to see that some of the characters from the little I had read of 3 Assassins were mentioned but thankfully not to an extent where I feel the first book may have been spoiled, or so I hope anyway. I know I haven’t given much away but that’s because it would mostly fall into spoiler territory. Although, there are themes that are talked about which may be triggering to some so if dark comedy isn’t your cup of tea, I’d maybe give this a pass. That being said, the book is pretty fast-paced with a fairly engaging plot and a main character who’s lucky nature had me smiling quite a bit. Give it a read. It’s perfect for travelling on a train.

Rating: 4/5

P.S. I have no idea why someone decided Brad Pitt would be the perfect casting for the movie.

Links:

• Goodreads: Assassins Series
• Goodreads: Bullet Train