Kill for Me, Kill for You

A Novel

De: Steve Cavanagh

Narrado por: Stephanie Cannon

Two ordinary women make a deadly pact to take revenge for each other after being pushed to the brink in this “unguessable and unputdownable” (Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author) psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Alfred Hitchcock.

One dark evening on New York City’s Upper West Side, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realize they have much in common, including an intense desire for revenge against the men who destroyed their families. As they talk into the night, they come up with the perfect plan: if you kill for me, I’ll kill for you.

In another part of the city, Ruth is home alone when the beautiful brownstone she shares with her husband, Scott, is invaded. She’s attacked by a man with piercing blue eyes, who disappears into the night. Will she ever be able to feel safe again while the blue-eyed stranger is out there?

“Explosive, game-changing” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), and unpredictable, Kill for Me, Kill for You will keep you guessing until the very end.

©2024 Steve Cavanagh (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

DREADFUL NARRATOR

I could not finish listening to this audiobook because of the high-pitched, nasally sound of the narrator.

Terrible narrator, read the book instead

Good story with twists but the narrator was so horrible that I found myself tuning her out and missing what was happening in the book. Every male voice sounds as if they are drunk and slurring their words.

Captivating story

This is my first book from Steven Kavanaugh, and I have to say will not be my last. This book kept me on edge the entire ride, and really enjoyed from beginning to end.

Decent, but not Amazing

It held my interest, but also had some eye roll moments, some poor character decisions, some done-to-death tropes and plot devices, and some of the twists seemed extremely contrived, as if parts of the plot was written around the twists rather than the twists seamlessly being woven into the plot. The timelines, while not confusing to me, did seem disjointed when they merged, and there was no "wow" moment. The author didn't really provide the reader with any indication of the correlation, and therefore the reveal was lackluster. There were no breadcrumbs to trace back and say, "oh, wow, x y z makes sense now! How did I not see that coming?" For me, a good and successful twist isn't, "let's make the most impossible scenario fit into this plot so they'll never see it coming."

Unfortunately, so many authors now are going for the "heartpounding twist you'll never see coming" that they forsake reason and forget to provide the reader with a trail that would make it possible for them to see the twist, but carefully obfuscate that trail just well enough that the reader won't see it. The most successful plot twists: Gone Girl, Fight Club, The Sixth Sense, Shutter Island, The Usual Suspects...those were so memorable and GOOD because they were expertly set up. The twist is crafted carefully and methodically, the trail right there in plain sight, and yet hidden at the same time so that when it hits, the reader has flashbacks to all the things along that trail that they saw but that just didn't click in place until that very moment. What makes a twist great isn't, "oh, wow, I didn't see that coming," (and you didn't see it coming because it would have been impossible with the information given/omitted). It's, "oh wow, HOW did I NOT see that coming?? (and you didn't see it coming even though it was right there in front of you the whole time, but the information was so expertly presented that you just didn't put it together in that context).

For a twist to be good, it should be like a puzzle that the author drops piece by piece, out of order, sometimes covertly so that you don't even realize it is a puzzle piece, sometimes in your face so that you know it has to fit somewhere, but you just can't figure where...and by the time the twist is revealed, it should look like all the pieces you already have, falling into place to make a whole, surprising picture that goes against what you thought it would be even though you recognize every single piece.

A cheap twist is like a puzzle that's missing most of the pieces, and they're either all thrown at you in one eye-rolling, cringe inducing villainous diatribe scene or they're just suddenly all there, and arranged in front of you, but they're pieces you've never seen before, therefore could have never made the connection. It's just not as thrilling as it is when you realize it was right under your nose the whole time. That's how the twists in this story felt: a bunch of missing pieces thrown at me at once with every twist reveal.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story overall. I sympathized with the characters. I enjoyed the writing style. The pacing felt good. There were never parts that I just wanted to skip or skim over. In that way, it was an enjoyable read. It was the twists that just really didn't work for me as twists, and the last one actually, I felt, was unnecessary. I may have felt differently about it if I had been given some indication that this person wasn't who they made themselves out to be, but that just wasn't the case. It had never been a puzzle. It just was presented one way, then it was something else with no lead-up, no way to have put it together.

I know I'm beating the twist horse after I've already killed it, but it's fast becoming a story killer for me. It's becoming as common and annoying as the trope of the villain of the story giving a smug, self satisfied 10 minute long diatribe to explain what they did, and why and how, all while having the protagonist in their clutches, giving the protagonist a window to escape. I've gotten to the point where I don't care how much I've enjoyed a story, if that scene comes in, I'll DNF right then and there. I'm not quite there yet with the cheap twist, but getting there fast.

Overall, though, an enjoyable story. 3.5

So unlikely

Started off good but takes an odd turn. I think mysteries are better when they are plausible. This was not within the realm of possibility.

Interesting premise

It’s wasn’t predictable which I liked, but some of the male voices were grating. Also there were parts that were a little hallmark-y but kudos to h the author for originality.

Lots of twists

This was my first book from this author. I was pleasantly surprised. The book was really interesting and had lots of twists. I look forward to checking out others by the author. Also, did not care for the reader.

Wow wow wow!

This was a book was fantastic. When I finished, I immediately wished I could zap my memory and read it again.

Pretty Darn Good, Except....

I did like this book very much except that I figured out the details about a third of the way through. It was still a really well written story, and the narrator was excellent! The ending did have a twist that I should have seen coming but didn't. Well done! It just means that the story and narration were so good, I didn't think too deeply while listening, as I did in the first third. Well worth the listen.

Unexpected and surprising!

Great book, well-written and hard to put down. This story made me question our justice system and the power of money. The end was a surprise!