I really enjoyed this story! Very reminiscent of the movie Memento as the characters in the story are trying to retrace their steps to figure out what happened the night before. I don’t really want to go into any details because I feel like this was so much better having gone into it blind and figuring things out at the same time the characters did. I also thoroughly enjoyed the ending. Highly recommend for those that enjoy dark, disturbing thriller-suspense with a dash of horror.

Received via Netgalley

To be completely honest, I hoped to like this book, but I couldn't get into it. I ended up DNF'ing it after 5 or so chapters. I won't review on GR and amazon so I don't bring down the authors ratings. That's the reason why it's taken me a while to review this book. I personally don't feel comfortable reviewing books I DNF. It doesn't seem fair to the author.

But I was told that this was why my reviewing rating on Netgalley is so low, because I don't review the ones I DNF so I'm going through my list and giving this message to all the books I DNF'd in the hopes to bring up my score. I do feel bad about having to say I DNF'd the book. I guess it just wasn't for me after all.

The story focuses on four characters that have woken up in the woods with no memory as to how they got there.

It's a strange one this as in some ways I quite enjoyed this book but unfortunately I think overall it just wasn't for me. I found the writing style a bit chaotic and confusing and I really didn't connect to the characters at all.

I would say this book isn't awful but average which is a shame because I thought I would love it as it is a genre I usually enjoy.

I love the way Odentz writes! This book was intelligent and oozed realism, to the point where I was oblivious to outside distractions and read late into the evening. I read all his novels, and would highly recommend that you do the same! You won't be disappointed.

As weird as this book was I really enjoyed it! It kept me entertained throughout & the style of writing I could easily follow. The story was definitely unique with quite a few shocks. I highly recommend this book!

Wow. This story is amazing, fascinating and a little horrifying. Maybe more than a little horrifying. Not because of anything that goes bump in the night, but because of the dark things than can hide in plain sight.

Meadowfield, Massachusetts is a perfect town, full of perfect people. A town where kids graduate from high school, go on to college and make perfect lives for themselves. It’s a wealthy town. Like most places, there is a side of town that isn’t quite as elite, but this story takes place in the better part of town.

Weston, known as West to his friends, is the narrator of the story. When he and his friends, Marcy, Anders and Myers wake up in a remote, wooded part of town, they are disoriented, fuzzy-headed and sick. They have no idea why they’re there, where they’ve been or what is happening. They spend some time there, partly trying to get over their nausea the rest trying to remember. Trying to remember anything at all. They’re blank. But they know, with sirens going off in town and their own strange and disturbing circumstance, they will have to figure out what happened.

As West and his friends start remembering a few things, Discover a couple of clues, he brings the reader along on the journey. Not only about what happened that horrible night, but the many things hidden and lurking in their families, the school and the town. About two-thirds of the way through the story, the clues began to come together. The last twenty or thirty pages, my chin was dropped firmly on my chest as one twist and turn after another started tying all the ends together…with an ending that had me muttering, Oh, my God!”, over and over again. It’s stunning and surprising…and not surprising at all. It had to end that way.

If you’re ready for a surprising and wonderfully written book about seventeen year old kids in a situation no one of any age should have to deal with, pick up a copy and…

Enjoy!

2shay

This book was dubbed as a psychological thriller which just fail to thrill me. This book is barely a 3 for me.

The premise of this book sounded good: four friends wake up in the woods and have no memory of how they got there. To make things worse - one is covered in blood, one is missing his glass eye, one can't find her pants, and one has a triangle burned into his arm. They are confused and can hear police sirens in the distance. Have they done something? Was something done to them? What happened the night before?

I am most likely in the minority with this one, but I had a really hard time getting into this book. Was it the writing style? The pacing? The middle which felt like it needed some editing? Yes, Yes, and Yes. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it were a short story. There just seemed to be a lag with this book. Usually, I can't wait to find out what really happened. I love to put on my super sleuth hat and try and figure it out for myself and then see if I was right or at least on the right track. For most of the book, I just wanted it to be over. Then the book came to the ending and it redeemed itself for me to get a 3-star rating. Therefore, I think I would have enjoyed the book more had it been a short story. Keep the beginning, keep the ending, get rid of the middle.

I received a copy of this book from BelleBooks - Bell Bridge Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book has too much detail and is repetitive. Can't say that I enjoyed this one.

I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down, it was a neat psychological thriller that kept me guessing and guessing until about two thirds of the way through when the plot explained itself to tie up all loose ends.
Weston Kahn, the main storyteller was a likeable character and the others were a mishmash of personality that grew on me.
I found nothing confusing here, just a well written, suspenseful novel that would make a good movie.
I will look out for other books from this Author!

"You can't fix broken."

This was quite an unusual story - for a lot of different reasons.

Four upper-class high school seniors and best friends living in Meadowfield, Massachusetts wake up out in the woods one morning - disoriented, sick, and not remembering the last few hours.

There's a lot of different things going on in town and in the story, which is told from the viewpoint of Weston "West" Kahn, a trust fund baby, and one of the four friends.

I like how the author parceled out little pieces of their lost night, as each of the friends remember fragments. I thought the whole story was written well and delivered well. I wouldn't call it horror even though some horrific events happen. I would say this is more psychological suspense.

Unusual, enjoyable and recommended.

I received this book from Belle Bridge Books through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

I first discovered this author last year when I read a copy of Little Killers A-Z , the instant appeal for me was that the author wasn't afraid to be weird. He makes his characters do all manner of terrible things, which is very interesting to read!

This book was also unusual, but that didn't stop me devouring it in a single sitting. The main characters are a group of four 17 year olds who have woken up with no memories of the night before, over the course of the book they start to figure out what terrible things they were involved in.

The style of writing was quite unusual in this book, the narrative bounced around a lot so I was feeling a bit confused as to what the hell was going on but it still managed to hold my attention until the end.

My only issue about this book is the revelation about one of the characters near the end of the book (no spoilers here), I could see what the author was trying to do but it was a bit too divisive for my tastes. If you want to guess what the issue was, read my review of Bubblegum by Sari Taurez!

This author has a real knack for the weird and the wonderful, I'll be back for more as he writes.

This thriller would make a fantastic movie! The story plays out like an episode of 24. We follow four teens from the moment they wake up in a maze - without a single recollection of what happened the night before - until the time 24 hours later when they piece together the events that have changed their lives irrevocably. Wow! What an ending. I stayed up way too late reading the last 20% of the book.

What We Kill is told in first person, present tense from the perspective of Weston Kahn - the fat boy turned thin. I enjoyed the author's voice and loved these misfit characters who seemed to fit perfectly with each other, if not with the cool crowd. We're taken on an interesting and twisty journey that delivers more than one shocking surprise. I think I actually said, "Oh snap, that just happened." at one point. Jaw-dropping good stuff.

So why not five stars? Part of the book felt stilted. Weston would go off on these tangents ... which always got us back on point ... but they were oddly placed and ruined the pacing of the story for me. There was some repetitiveness which could've been culled out as well. But seriously - this is a great story that is well worth reading.

3.5 stars but rounded up.
Well, this was jogging along quite nicely until a certain point that I really can't get into here. Threw me quite a curve ball I can tell you! But then, having thought about it there were hints along the way that something was a little... shall we say unusual... and as they say, hindsight is a wonderful thing; this being the first book I have read by the author, I am not sure if this is a feature in his work.
So, we have four friends that have grown up together. They wake in the woods near their town. All four have something not quite right but they all share one thing. They have absolutely no idea how they got into whatever they appear to have got into!
Returning to town to try and regroup and piece together what happened, they find that things are kicking off there too with the police very active at a particular house. Is this related to their current state, and if so how and, more importantly, what did they get up to the night before?
Pacing for this one was a little strange. It started off with a bang, slowed right down in the middle where it was a tad repetitive, and then the end was so blooming hectic that I had to go back and re read some bits just to keep up! That said, even considering the slow bit, it did most hold my attention, mainly cos I, like the characters, was so confused as to what was happening that I plodded on, eager to get to the bottom of things.
As with most books of this genre and target audience, it does read a bit like a coming of age as there is a lot of stuff dealt with by our foursome throughout the book. Especially after what is revealed about one of them. The characters themselves were excellently portrayed and came across as quite real. I managed quite early on to connect with all four and followed avidly as they went through a whole host of emotions as they battled the confusion of the situation.
The ending, albeit a bit on the frenetic/busy side, did leave me satisfied. Yes, I had a few unanswered questions re logistics and a few other things but, on the whole, I thought the author did a good job wrapping it all up.
As already mentioned, this is my first book by the author but, as I really did get on with his writing style and characters, coupled with the fact that the story was intriguing, I am definitely going to check out his other works.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This was definitely a game of two halves for me, I loved the first half, I thought the scene was nicely set and the characters were pretty interesting and the circumstances they found themselves in was intriguing.Then for me it all took a bit of a turn for the worse and started to ramble a bit, and I lost interest.I think there was unnecessary padding to the story and it was repetitive at times, I thought it was a real shame , its lost its bite for me.It did pick up towards the end so is worth reading but could have been outstanding I would give it 3.5 stars if I could but will only be giving it 3 stars as I can't.I think the book has lots of promise and I hope others like it.Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I loved this book ! It had so many twist and turns I never expected Marcy to be what she turned out to be and WOW the twist with her brother was just crazy ! Wish this book never had to end since I couldn’t put it down!

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Howard Odentz, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

WHAT WE KILL is a horror thriller shrouded in mystery elements by Howard Odentz. Without memory of how they get there, Robbie Myers, Anders Stephenson, Marcy Cole, and Weston Khan, four life-long friends, wake in the woods. One has a triangle burned into his forearm. One has lost her pants. One is missing his glass eye. The last is covered in blood. Soon, they begin have flashbacks, and the town fire alarm and police department sirens ring. Time is running out: they must unveil the mystery surrounding their memory loss to figure out what they've done and how it's affecting their town.

This was my first Howard Odentz novel, and I enjoyed it. It was a fast-paced read with great character dynamic. Odentz did a great job weaving the mystery plot throughout this horror thriller, leaving the reader guessing everyone's true intentions until the very end. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good horror suspense mystery.