Publication Date: June 16, 2026
Meet Nadia Davis, a doting mom and loving wife who has a big secret: she’s actually an assassin. And she really needs a babysitter who shows up on time.
Nadia Davis is living the dream as a successful working mom with a career she loves, two adorable little girls, and a devoted husband who has no idea that she’s secretly a hired assassin and psychopath who kills certified bad guys. So when Nadia finds out she’s been “mommy tracked” by her assassin’s agency and is no longer getting the bigger, more exciting jobs, she demands an important mark…somebody worth killing.
But it turns out that big kill is the last person she expects—her husband. How is the sweet, kind, teller-of-dad jokes she’s promised her life to an evil villain who needs exterminating? Has their whole life together been a lie? Now Nadia must choose between the two things she loves most in life, the career that keeps her sane or the family she thought she knew.
Nadia Davis knows how to multitask by keeping her personal and professional lives separate. However, her most recent work assignment creates a significant conflict.
Author Jessica Payne serves up a thriller full of twists in Somebody Worth Killing. Nadia’s character falls in a gray moral area thanks to her career as an assassin.
In response to concerns that her role as a mom has led to lighter cases, she receives an assignment that makes her question everything. Suddenly, the hunter finds herself in an unfamiliar spot.
With her husband in jeopardy, Nadia must determine whether her entire life is built on lies or if something sinister is happening. Full of dark humor and fun quips, Nadia’s inner dialogue gets high marks.
Somebody Worth Killing delivers a cat-and-mouse thriller featuring a mom on a mission.
Jessica Payne is a psychological thriller author who has probably spent a little too much time studying the dark intricacies of the human mind. An expert coffee drinker, she loves to go on long runs to manage the resulting caffeine jolt. Jessica lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, daughter, and their many (many!) cats and dogs. Her forthcoming novel, Somebody Worth Killing, is coming from Berkley/PRH in 2026. Her other novels include Make Me Disappear, The Lucky One, The Good Doctor, and Never Trust the Husband.
