Waking with Enemies (Gideon Series #2)

Essence

A fast-paced cliff-hanger.

Booklist

it's also sure to create new fans.

Ebony

Riveting...an action-packed classic noir thriller.

Publishers Weekly

Picking up where Sleeping with Strangersleft off, Dickey's latest novel finds hit man Gideon in London, where another assassin, a mysterious man with a broken nose, is hot on his trail. Gideon's most recent target was a rapper, Big Bad Wolf. The rival rapper who hired Gideon for the hit, Sledge, was recently assassinated, and Gideon assumes he is the latest target. The nonstop narrative follows Gideon as he evades the assassin, searches for the truth about his hooker mother, continues his involvement with tough girl Arizona (who wants Gideon to kill her older sister), tries to figure out who ordered the hit on him and finds time for some explicitly chronicled fantasy sex. Though the revelations about who's behind what are a stretch and the ending is a little too much on the rosy side, there's a lot of fun to be had in watching Gideon work his brutal trade, and the high-octane narrative will have readers burning through page after page. (Aug.)

Library Journal

Waking with Enemiesis called a sequel, but it is more of a smooth, preplanned continuation of the plot and characters in Sleeping with Strangersas hired assassin Gideon wakes to more of the same: hunt and be hunted by rival killers and mysterious women. This new tale is a bit more strategic but is just as raunchy and violent, featuring classic Dickey scenes of sex and mayhem. A necessary follow-up for those who were enthralled by Gideon and crew in Sleeping.Reader Dion Graham again captures the gritty tone of the novel. For adult audiences only.
—Joyce Kessel

Kirkus Reviews

Multifaceted assassin Gideon returns to tangle with his enemies and lovers in Dickey's highly sexed latest (Sleeping with Strangers, 2007, etc.). There are worse things for a guy than being stuck in a fancy London hotel room with two beautiful women he hardly knows, but in spite of his Bond-like way with the ladies, contract killer Gideon has much on his mind. Everyone, it seems, wants to bed him or kill him. Sometimes both. Pursued by a broken-nosed rival hitman (Bruno) who followed him from America, he is also preoccupied with Arizona, the gorgeous con artist who broke his heart and might now be after his neck. She offers her help, but can he trust her? And then there is unfinished business with his mother Thelma, the prostitute living in England whose questionable parenting techniques he blames for turning him into the man he is today. Far friendlier is Lola Mack, the curvy wannabe actress he meets on his flight over, who turns to Gideon after her London-dwelling boyfriend spurns her, and the elegant Mrs. Jones, a mystery woman on the run from a bad marriage and family tragedy. Those two join him in his room and the trio exhaustively explores erotic possibilities, with Gideon trying to keep his job secret from his new playmates. Needless to say, it gets more complicated and bloodier, with our hero trying to save his skin, honor his obligations and protect those who suddenly seem to matter most to him. He is eventually forced into a showdown with Bruno that puts him on the trail of the party who placed the hit on him. With stops in Amsterdam and Detroit, Dickey's latest meanders a bit in the earlier scenes, but it gains momentum as plot points introduced in the previous book cometogether. Nearly as violent as it is explicit-a pulpy thriller boasting a free-love message.