Reviews with content warning for Murder - Bad Men

Finlay Donovan meets Stone Cold Fox!! This is a funny thriller (yes it’s a thing)! Saffy is a mastermind and I would read a whole series about her and her serial killer ways!

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swalk's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The story begins in Newport, Rhode Island, where we are thrown into the traumatic upbringing of Saffy, who was abused by her stepfather, until she took matters into her own hands after he tried to move on to her sister Susie. Present day, an older Saffy Huntley-Oliver now uses those skills to target men she deems as "bad” and has been doing this for some time, that is until she moves to London and thinks she has found “one of the good ones’ in author and true crime podcaster John.

I found the plot line from the start VERY similar to the film Promising Young Woman. The premise is intriguing, but I found Saffy, unlikable, her abuse of animals, manipulation and holier than thou attitude is just grating and to be honest if I was John, I would have been pissed off that she wouldn’t leave me alone from the start when I repeatedly asked her to; she comes across as pushy and irritating. The flaws do add depth to her character and I suppose if you are as attractive as Saffy is portrayed to be, you can get away with most things.

I very much appreciated the side story involving the politician, I think we can all guess where the inspiration for that came from! I also enjoyed the antihero elements to this, overall a solid dark thriller but I just couldn't get behind Saffy.

I know the protagonist is supposed to have a transatlantic accent and overall the narrator did a good job, but I found it flip flopping at times to English and back again to American, which was distracting for me.

Content Warnings

lauren_reads_outside's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook

Book 2 in my roadtrip and I really enjoyed this one!! It was a touch slow in the middle and I honestly expected more of Saffy's POV and previous crimes but the latter half and ending absolutely paid off. I would love to read more of Saffy in the future and more about her previous murders (I don't really care for John tbh, but it does play into my love of books of psychopath women protecting bumbling detectives ala The Kind Worth Killing). The combination of Saffy righting wrongs via murder while also being wildly rich and uptight was very entertaining and the narrator played her voice to perfection. Definitely keeping my eye out for Eat Slay Love!

Content Warnings