Good Reads Challenge Book Review: The Kind Worth Killing
What’s up, “fam”..Welcome back to the blog.
QUICK NOTE: My last book review had so many errors that I just corrected. Grief will do that, so here’s a link to the updated post of The McMasters Guide to Homicide.
Hello friends, and how are you? I hope you are well, getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated, eating clean, focusing on your mental health, and giving yourself grace.
Last week was such a hurdle for me as I went into the office for the first time in two weeks. Everything hit me as soon as I reached my office floor, and honestly, I didn’t think I would make it through the day as thoughts of my Dad just flooded my brain. But you know what? I made it through the day, and this week is a new beginning, starting again as I will attempt two days in the office.
Guess what? I’m changing the format of my reviews. I love to ramble when reviewing a book, but I want those rambling thoughts to be more cohesive, so I’m switching to a more concise outline for the next few reviews. I don’t know if I’ll continue this, but hey, “you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs,” …right? So on it goes.
Book Details
Title | The Kind Worth Killing
Author(s) Peter Swanson
Format | Audiobook (Audible)
Pages/Hours | 325 pages or 10 hours
Published | February, 2015
Publisher | Harper Collins
Genre | Mystery, Thriller, Crime
GR Rating | 4.00
Purchase | Amazon
Storyline
On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. Sharing one too many martinis, the strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate details about themselves. Ted talks about his marriage, which is going stale, and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. Ted and his wife were a mismatch from the start—he the rich businessman, she the artistic free spirit—a contrast that once inflamed their passion but has now become a cliché.
FIRST THOUGHTS
I was surprised by this title because the premise is simple. This is a story about killing. Several killings, to be exact, and how the killings were formulated from a simple plan. It’s like ring-around-the-rosy for killing. For example,… I plan to kill you, but you were already probably planning to kill me, but now your friends know, so I have to kill them too, so yes, folks …this story is titled just as it reads. It’s about the kind of person worth killing. A liar, adulterer, a cheating boyfriend … which one is worth killing.
THE CHARACTERS
Lilly (protagonist, antagonist)
Ted (a victim of his circumstances)
Miranda (Ted’s wife with an agenda hidden)
Brad (the contractor and poor bastard caught in the middle)
Chet (deserved exactly what he got)
Eric (who didn’t see it coming)
Detective Kimbell (on the precipice of figuring out everything)
EASTER EGG
A cat named Pyewacket (for my Bell, Book & Candle fans)
FINAL THOUGHTS
How does one get away with murder? Do life’s lessons blind you to reality, turning a naive, trusting person into something dark and self-serving? You can say this reads like an Agatha Christie novel where every character has something to gain, and they are all essential but no less despicable. The story starts with our protagonist, but then we glimpse several others with a part to play.
A twist of events where I was clear on who was doing the killing, but I needed to understand its origins. The “why” is what you discover and how all these people are six degrees of separation (connected) from our main character, Lilly. The pieces reveal themselves and fit together in the end. What bothered me most was the naivety of some of the characters and their slowness in picking up on cues right in front of them. Why didn’t Ted divorce his wife, or why didn’t Miranda leave him and take a settlement if it was all about money? It’s like … each character was a little kid being mean at the playground. Then vengeful, taking out their unhappiness in unimaginable ways.
A good mystery with a writing style that’s easy to follow, that ebbs and flows from past to present, character to character, and wrapped up neatly.
HIGHLIGHTED QUOTES
🔪“Everyone has a full life, even if it ends soon. All lives are complete experiences.”
🔪 “Truthfully, I don’t think murder is necessarily as bad as people make it out to be. Everyone dies. What difference does it make if a few bad apples get pushed along a little sooner than God intended?”
🔪 “I think most people fetishize life to the point of allowing others to take advantage of them.”
🔪 “Why does a stranger agree to help someone murder his wife?”
Good Reads Challenge (Read)
What Moves the Dead (read)
Leslie F*cking Jones (read)
The Cousins (read)
September House (read)
The Echo Wife (read)
Her Lost Soul (ARC: read)
The Black Girl Survives This One (ARC: read)
The Bad Ones (ARC: read)
The Eleven (ARC: read)
The Sundown Motel (read)
We Lie Here (read)
The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar (read)
Kill The Boy Band (read)
I Need You to Read This (read)
The Wishing Game (read)
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide (read)
The Kind Worth Killing (read)
Good Read Challenge (Currently Reading)
My Heart is a Chainsaw, Stephen Graham Jones
Mary: An Awakening of Terror, Nat Cassidy (paused)
Suck-U-Bus (ARC read)
Home Is Where The Bodies Are, Jeneva Rose (ARC-read)
For my full Good Reads Challenge list ..check out this post. For all the other posted reviews, check my page. For the review podcast, check out my Spotify.
Thanks so much for visiting the blog today. Don’t forget to follow and subscribe, as I appreciate the support. — Peace
