the book I've been waiting years for Neil Gaiman to write, except Ben Aaronovitch got there first

Heh. It definitely does have that feel; but handled better in many ways (I like Gaiman's work a lot, but keep getting an indefinable could be better I can't put my finger on from his novels).

a paid killer who got his training on twenty-seven Germans at Monte Cassino and liked it

Well that only led to the most unexpected poemlet I've written in a while. (Been to Monte Cassino. Painful.)