Rating: 4.75🌈
The Hitman’s Guide to Stately Fences and Killer Defenses is the eighth book in the suspense filled , violent, and often hilarious series by Alice Winters.
It’s followed the tumultuous path that Leland “The Sandman”, a lonely contract hitman, finds himself on when he meets an equally lonely PI named Jackson who’s caught on a backyard fence while on a job. Book after book, they find themselves together, working through deep issues (and criminal investigations) towards a complex relationship. One that brings them a strange wonderful future of odd mixture of friends, found family, scary happenings and hilariously funny stories. It’s found them engaged then happily married, with dogs and an illegally adopted teenage son.
Book eight brings in all the many characters from their multiple stories when Waylon, 15 yr old illegally adopted son of Jackson and Leland, is threatened along with his new best friend.
Who is behind the newest danger to Leland and Jackson’s family and life is one of the best elements of this story. There’s so much to it. It’s all the various characters, their partners coming to help. And a new police officer who’s highly suspicious of Leland and his past to add additional tension and drama to the already established growing suspense and anxiety about the situation.
Winters has written a fantastic novel. It’s a fast paced, white knuckle roller coaster narrative ride that keeps the reader on the edge of the seat. With her dialogue that has elements of pain, hilarity and life’s deepest realities. Guns, dogs, friends , love and family. Maybe blow up dolls. And a car. And now a cat.
And with those final reminiscences from Jackson as he watches his “boys” walking ahead, if this is where Winters leaves them, I’m happy.
There’s no indication that this is the finale but somehow it feels like it. While there’s a few things where the author could return to this universe to open up a new chapter, that last sentence feels like a closing scene.
I’m good with that. They are in a wonderful place.
A great story in a highly recommended series.
Cover by Natasha Snow Designs
The Hitman’s Guide series:
The Hitman’s Guide to Making Friends and Finding Love
The Hitman’s Guide to Staying Alive Despite Past Mistakes
The Hitman’s Guide to Tying the Knot Without Getting Shot
The Former Assassin’s Guide to Snagging a Reluctant Boyfriend
The Hitman’s Guide to Righting Wrongs While Causing Mayhem
The Hitman’s Guide to Codenames and Ill-Gotten Gains
The Mercenary’s Guide to Mishaps and Romance
The Hitman’s Guide to Stately Fences and Killer Defenses #8
Buy link
Book 8 of 8: The Hitman’s Guide
Blurb
Leland
Life is normal… suspiciously normal.
During my long, lonely years as a hitman, I never realized that one day, I would have a family to call my own.
Now, instead of stalking my targets and taking down people with a flick of my wrist, my specialties lie in things like planning sleepovers (why does Waylon look terrified?), The Fence hour (those are screams of joy), and involving others to help our child succeed (no, of course I didn’t abduct anyone).
But for a guy like me, things can’t stay good for too long. Someone seems to think that I should still be the ruthless hitman I used to be. They want to draw me back into the limelight and prove to me that what I’m living now is a lie.
But they don’t realize how much they’re going to regret meeting the Sandman–especially once they threatened my family.
Jackson
This person seems to be obsessed with an image of Leland from the past, and because of it, we now have a crime boss on our tail and a bounty on Leland’s head. The stalker has no idea that Leland comes with multiple ex-assassins, a sketchy Scotsman, and the chief of police who likes to pretend he doesn’t want to be involved.
I adore my life with Leland just the way it is (someone, please burn down The Fence), and no one is going to ruin that (I will pay well).
They’d better be afraid to sleep because the Sandman is coming (and if they took down The Fence while they were at it, I wouldn’t mind).
January 20, 2026
Language
English
Print length
355 pages
Book 8 of 8
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 