Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh - Book Review

Publication Date: 19 March 2024 (first published 20th July 2023)

Genre: Thriller, Suspense 

3 Stars 

One Liner: Okay… not impressed (kinda outliner) 

New York City

When two strangers, Amanda and Wendy, meet by chance, they discover they have a lot in common. Their lives have been ruined by men who escaped justice in the hands of law. Soon, they make a pact – one kills for the other, and neither gets caught. 

In another part of the city, Ruth and her husband Scott have a routine life until that night when an intruder with startling blue eyes changes it forever. Can Ruth ever feel safe and get back to her life with the intruder still running free? 

The story comes in the third-person POV of Amanda and Ruth, with a couple of chapters from Scott and Farrow. 

My Thoughts: 

It’s been a while since I read a thriller, and this book has great reviews. Seemed like a good idea to read it. Well, the results are mixed. 

Using a popular premise requires additional twists and shocks to keep the readers hooked. While some of it works here, the rest feels a bit too unbelievable. Yeah this is fiction, but you can’t leave those gaps open. 

There’s no timeline for both tracks, which is a way to retain suspense. Of course, readers can still figure it out. But there’s a ‘reveal’ that negates the theory, which makes readers wonder what’s going on. I was fooled for a minute but decided to stick to my original theory. 

Things start to come together after 70%, followed by some action and more reveals and twists. Again, some of it worked, but the rest didn’t make me go wow! I was still hopeful, only to realize that some questions would not be answered. I should accept what’s being told and move on. Not done! 

The pacing is uneven due to the filler content. It gets better in the last quarter, where things need to happen fast. The filler should have helped in relating to the main characters. Yet, that doesn’t happen. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t connect with any of them. I did feel sad for Amanda and Ruth, but I wasn’t able to empathize with their situation (I blame it on the writing). 

The detective pair has some character development, which is surprising in a standalone. Maybe this will become a series (what’s the point in all that back pain if it goes nowhere). 

Still, the book highlights important themes like injustice, moral dilemmas, victim trauma, etc. It would offer quite a bit for book club discussions. 

To summarize, Kill for Me, Kill for You is an average thriller with some moments. How you like it will depend on what kind of thrillers you prefer. This will work great for some readers, so check out other reviews before you decide. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #KillForMeKillForYou 

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TW: Mention of pedophilia, suicide, depression, trauma, assault, bullying (mentioned)