WAS AN ASSASSIN’S ROLE AKIN TO A CEO’S ROLE? BOTH NEEDED SOME SUSPENSION OF MORALITY, A WILLINGNESS TO DO THINGS THAT MOST WOULD NOT, OR COULD NOT.

After retiring from active corporate life, sixty-year-old Ishmael Dollah keeps himself busy with regular runs around the city, tennis at the club and his book club meets. Life is good—a bit staid maybe, but good. That is until, one day, he hears of his beloved daughter-in-law’s rumoured affair. Suddenly Ishmael’s perfect world is turned upside down.

Never one to give in, Ishmael decides to take matters into his own hands. He’ll apply his sharp mind and ruthless boardroom tactics to plan not a hostile takeover, but a carefully orchestrated act of vengeance.

As he treads the fine line between right and wrong, blurring it to suit his needs, Ishmael realises he rather enjoys the process. Sixty Is the New Assassin is an intriguing blend of dark humour and suspense that will keep the reader hooked up to the very end.

My Review

This was hilarious! I loved every minute. I did guess a couple of things, but I think I was supposed to.

Sixty-year-old Ishmael Dollah is an asshole. Not my words – he calls himself that all the time. He’s a retired CEO, the ruthless type that takes companies and breaks them apart, leaving people jobless and desperate, but he doesn’t care. His wife Nysa is a kind, creative, beautiful woman. Why they are together is anyone’s guess.

They have one son whose wife is like a daughter to them. Then one day at a company ‘do’, Ishmael hears a rumour that she is having an affair and he decides to interfere. NEVER interfere in your grown-up children’s lives. It can only end in disaster. To make things worse, he doesn’t confide in Nysa, so she even imagines Ishmael is the one having an affair. He’s up to something, she can tell when he’s lying.

Now at this point, most people would talk to their son, or his wife, or suggest marriage guidance, or divorce or whatever. But not Ishmael. When he takes things into his own hands, we know it’s going to be murder. Because the book is called Sixty Is The New Assassin. I just loved it! Ishmael has no boundaries or moral compass, which makes it even funnier. I just may never use chopsticks again.

Many thanks to Hygge Book Tours for inviting me to be part of the #blogtour

About the Author

For many years, Shesh was an author in denial. He wrote stories and articles but shared them only withhis family and close friends, and felt like an imposter doing so.

Two years ago, Radhika, his wife and muse, gave him an ultimatum. Publish or perish, she said. Given that her kitchen was stocked with sharp implements and unlabelled bottles containing suspicious powders, Shesh began writing in earnest. When Earnest objected, Shesh moved to his laptop.

Sixty Is The New Assassin is the first of 12 novels – The CEO Assassin series. Featuring Ishmael Dollah, an unremarkable retired CEO, the series traces the evolution of a corporate honcho into a remorseless assassin. Set in Singapore, the ‘safest country in the world’, Ishmael’s targets find their misplaced complacence fatal. Ishmael Dollah finds that he is well suited to graduate into his new vocation. In his
years as a CEO, he has learnt to be amoral, relentless and goal-focused. The perfect qualities for someone who needs to take a life and then attend a cocktail reception.

Shesh is a voracious reader. He has always been irritated by protagonists ruled by angst or past tragedies. Ishmael has no such qualms. He is a happy, well adjusted assassin with no dark secrets. Ishmael loves his family, his country, and his life. Murder is just icing on the cake.

The second book in the series, Assassins Are Our Greatest Assets came out in January 2026, and the next in the series is slated for September 2026.

Shesh can be reached only if you have an assignment for Ishmael Dollah.

Shesh is married to Singapore’s best home baker, Radhika (www.sinsationsbyradhika.com). They have two children, both of whom are in Singapore building a start-up in the physical fitness space.

Where can you find him?
Social Media Links / Instagram
@shesh_author
@radreads_25

Buy Links:
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Goodreads
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