Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh

29 reviews

nadiamasood's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If fast-paced, dark, twisty, and completely unhinged psychological thrillers are your thing, pick this book up STAT.

“Amanda White lifted the lid from the electric baby-bottle steriliser and stared inside at the .22 caliber revolver.”

Yep, that's the opening line, and I knew that I was going to love this book!

Persevere. The story takes off at an incredible speed after the first quarter, taking you on a wild, twisty ride. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, brace yourself because you don't. The twists are twisting!

I lost track of the "NO WAY!" moments while reading this book, and it kept me up way past my bedtime because I couldn't put the book down!

Do NOT give in to the temptation to read the spoilers unless you want to ruin your reading experience. I just wanted to share my thoughts on certain scenes and characters.

The opening scene at the subway. So Amanda's plan to shoot and murder Wallace Crone is thwarted, and she "dropped the gun, unnoticed, into the half-open golf umbrella of the businessman beside her." The police intervene and issue her a restraining order. But I kept wondering why the businessman didn’t report the gun when he found it in his umbrella. If the police had known about the gun and her intent to kill, they might have charged her with more than just assault.

Amanda trying to murder Quinn. I was surprised by how incredibly intense and graphic this particular scene was! “She felt like her eyeballs were going to pop right out of her skull. Even the skin on her cheeks burned – as if the tiny blood vessels in her face were rupturing under the strain. Her sight darkened.” And yet she had the strength to stick a screwdriver into Quinn's (a much bigger and stronger man) bicep and BURIED AN AXE IN QUINN'S CHEST!

Billy turned out to be the biggest surprise twist for me! I never expected him to be Mr. Blue Eyes, the man who attacked Ruth! Even though his character was introduced later in the book, his cover was so convincing and his story so believable that I never suspected him as a killer. Plus, he seemed genuinely kind to Amanda! But why did he attack Ruth in the first place?

Billy's letter to Amanda. In the letter, he hints at killing Wallace Crone as a return favor for her help in finding Ruth. His tone is polite and grateful, almost portraying him as a good guy! It's confusing—is he a serial killer with a kind heart? And he never gets caught, so he's still out there, possibly targeting the next unsuspecting woman to kill?


Overall, I had a blast with this book and would totally recommend it to anyone in the mood for a crazy, page-turning thriller with writing that hits all the right notes!
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zetiacg's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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showingshelflove's review against another edition

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

5.0

wow!! this book was the best thriller i’ve read thus far in 2024. there were so many twists, but the kind that were revealed and i was like “oh my god that makes sense” rather than “the author just pulled this out of their ass”. so hats off to steve cavanagh in that regard! i especially loved the explanations on all plot points and that it ended in a neat little bow. 

read this book if you like twisty thrillers, the silent patient by alex michaelides, unreliable narrators, multi pov, and a bingeable story.
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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I love Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series, at first, I thought this was another edition of that series and then realized it was a standalone. However, I fully enjoyed this book. 

This book has several points of view. In one dark evening in New York City, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realise they have so much in common. They both feel alone. They both drink alone. And they both desperately want revenge against the two men who destroyed their families. Together, they have the perfect plan. If you kill for me, I'll kill for you.  

I feel like I could ruin this book just by trying to describe it and that annoys me, but I also love it. I feel like this review is going to be vague due to the fact that I don’t want to spoil anything about this novel. All I would say is if you judge it quickly, you will be shocked. The twists and turns in this book just completely shock you. Steve Cavanagh knows how to hook you in from the first sentence and just from the first chapter. There is multiple POVs from the main three characters and the law enforcement officer which keeps it every interesting. I didn’t trust anyone during this book at all, even when it got to the end, I still don’t trust the main characters. Steve Cavanagh always does short chapters which I don’t usually love, however in this book it worked and if it had longer chapters I think I would have struggled with it. 

The one thing I missed from this book that are in the Eddie Flynn books is the courtroom tension and the drama that comes with the lawyers. Overall, this book is action-packed and thrilling. Just a warning it talks a lot about murders and death and is quite graphic. 
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novellearts's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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strawhat_kd's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was a great read. Two women with tragic pasts meet and eventually agree to kill the men responsible for tragic events in their lives in a little qui pro quo. Things take a turn and when it does this already tense book ramps up.
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becca1997's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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theinstabookworm's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love me a good serial killer thriller! This was unique and twisty. There were a lot of characters and I didn't want to put the book down until I figured out how they were all connected. I did figure out one of the twists, but that didn't take away from my reading experience at all. There were a few pulse-pounding chapters that had me on the edge of my seat, but I also felt for the MC and her grief. So glad I picked this as one of my BOTM picks this month! Do be mindful of trigger warnings though.
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hey_abijo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Women reeling from severe loss and trauma take us along for the ride on their hunt for vengeance. The story is based on this premise: two women, connected only by their shared suffering and constant grief, agree to swap murders— but their plans go haywire. Multiple engaging POVs, some clichès and predictability, moderate suspense, and many plot twists. Author Steve Cavanagh knows how to write suspense and mystery, but his skills are less aptly applied in matters of artful detail, emotion, sensitivity, and tact.
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honey_coated_chapters's review against another edition

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5.0

°:. *₊ ° . ° .•
𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4/5
𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔: 352
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: mystery/crime 
𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆: revenge plots served extra hot and loose ends. 
———————————————————————
This hooked me in from the first chapter. There’s alternating POVs per chapter (3-4 POVs in total) and each one ended on a cliffhanger that just had me at the edge of my seat. The twists and connections are honestly riveting, this author may be up there with Alice Feeney for best twists. But, I also didn’t totally mind it because the story was still put together neatly. The “swapping murders” premise was such a thrilling concept, I know it’s not entirely original but the execution was near perfect. The way our characters describe their thought process along with their motives, it honestly hard to put down. I liked the detail that went in to each of their chapters, it’s not totally gory but there is descriptions of crime scenes that provide just enough information to give you some chills but not too much to where you’re turned off entirely. There’s a crime aspect that I appreciated while we were able to see how another character (detective) makes his connections. I will say that I had to suspend my belief just a little bit — some parts are over the top, I didn’t mind but it’s worth mentioning if you like your thrillers true to life. Aside from that, 4 stars is just for my own selfishness because we don’t get answers! We don’t know why certain ~things~ happened. 
🧸
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