This was a very good enjoyable read, with plenty of twists and turns and a great ending. The characters were interesting, the story itself was excellent and the style of writing was perfect. This is the first book I have read by this author, I’ve already just bought “the trial” (the next book) and I’ll be keeping my eye out for more in the future.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading psychological thrillers.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

Another one I can't find on my kindle or my account when I type in both the name or the author. And I've looked more then one . So something went wrong and it just never showed up on my kindle .

I really liked this author and this book did not disappoint, it was an appropriately paced, page-turner that will have me hooked throughout the story.

This was an enjoyable and highly suspenseful novel.

I was definitely invested in the story!

I'll admit that I did figure out pretty early the *who* of things - just not the why. And I was pleased with how the reveal was handled.

Definitely a satisfying read!

I was a bit disapointed in this one, I felt no connection between this group of friends, I tought this whole story was a little bit Strange and I could not get into the whole mystery of it all.

Will says that he will be a Serial Killer when he grows up. His buddies think he is just being factitious but was he? When they decide to meet after 15 years suddenly things are pointing that way.
The book has lots of twists and turns. That is the key to a thriller! I love SR Masters books and look forward to reading more. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys thrillers. Very well developed characters also.

Many thanks to Redhook Books, Netgalley, and S. R. Masters for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate it!

Overall, The Killer You Know is a strong book, but there was a big distracting issue:

The dual timeline isn’t consistent.

Adeline narrates the present story line in 1st person point of view and in past tense. The past story line is narrated by all five in turn, in 3rd person point of view and in present tense. It was jarring to me to skip from Adeline’s narrative to another narrator (who may or may not be Adeline again), from 1st person POV to 3rd and back, and from past tense to present tense. It was also strange to read Adeline’s point of view from both 1st and 3rd person.

I know these must have been deliberate choices that Masters made. I can possibly guess why on the verb tense changes. Here’s the guess: using present tense verbs for the past story line emphasizes the extent that the past is always present for us. It shapes who we are. It definitely shapes who these characters have become and fits with the nostalgia theme.

I can also guess on the shifting POVs: this gives us insight into how all the characters think, which is a good thing. But some of the characters, such as Rupesh and Jen, received only two sections, so I never got to know them quite as well as Adeline, Steve, and Will.

The inconsistency is distracting to me. I don’t know if other readers agree or notice this. I think the story could’ve been best served by being consistent with the verb tense and giving each character equal playing time. Or, perhaps, giving all the present sections to Adeline, and dividing the past sections between the other four.

I noticed that several reviewers mentioned the book being slow. I wonder if part of the slowness was the jumping from head to head and back and forth in time. With each shift, we have to re-acclimate our minds to the new environment. Just a thought.

Now for the strong points of The Killer You Know.

1. The premise is intriguing.
I’ve read other books with groups of old friends reuniting and reigniting old tensions, revealing horrible secrets, and resulting in a present-day catastrophe. Standard in this genre. But Masters gives it a nice twist with Will’s declared career of serial killer. The others wonder if he was serious, if these seemingly random suicides are connected to him, and grapple with their responsibility. But with evidence this vague, how can the police help them?

2. Getting to see everyone’s POV reveals the dynamics of the group.
While there were aspects I didn’t like (see above), the change of points of view is an effective way of revealing the group dynamics. Jealousy. Tension. Misunderstandings. Coupling off. Again, nothing unusual in these dynamics, as any teenager could tell you. But Masters puts a fresh spin on them. Rupesh and Jen couple off, but must contend with her parents’ bigotry. Will is strange, as is his friendship with the older male neighbor, but are the others misinterpreting his actions? Steve is the alpha male (I wanted to say “queen bee”!) who plays architect of their summer, creating an unusual–and vicious–scavenger hunt, resulting in an increasing tension that threatens to break apart the group.

3. The recurring theme of the problems with nostalgia.
Adeline’s podcast is called Nostalgia Crush. She and her co-host rip apart classic films, while another co-host argues against them, and they decide whether to consign the movie to the “crusher.” It’s an apt metaphor for the story. Each character must decide whether to give in to the temptations of nostalgia, that desire for the “good old days,” or whether to move forward.

Should they try to reignite their old friendship? Were the good old days really that good? Do they have a responsibility to correct the wrongs of the past? Or should they forget it?

Early in the book, Rupesh–the most level-headed, if drunkest, of the bunch–notes, "You know the truly sad thing about nostalgia,” he said, “is that by indulging in it we’re openly admitting to dissatisfaction with the present” (The Killer You Know, part 1).

To an extent, all the characters are dissatisfied with the present.

4. Adeline.
I liked the present-day Adeline. As a narrator, she doesn’t know how much she knows. The past Adeline could be a bit bratty, but weren’t we all at that age?

In the present-day sections, she’s struggling with her relationship with her aging parents, something I think many of the “sandwich generation” can identify with, and each encounter with her mother reignites their old conflict.

She’s in conflict with her co-hosts over the direction of their podcast: should they take the BBC’s offer of job stability at the expense of their independence or to embrace art for art’s sake and not have enough to live on?

She’s conflicted over her reunification with Steve, her first real boyfriend.

These are all things that I could identify with, even though I’m quite different from her, and this made her an enjoyable character to read.

Overall, The Killer You Know is a strong book.
The distractions in the dual timeline (and verb tense, etc.) knocks it down to 4 stars for me. But there’s enough here that’s enjoyable and deep that it’s worth reading.

(Review will be added on my blog closer to the release date.)

The Killer You Know was a book I really, really wanted to love. It sounded like such a different and compelling thriller. Will says he wants to be a serial killer in high school. His classmates think it's a joke, but also, whoa dude. Fifteen years later, the gang makes it back home. Will isn't there, and they start to wonder if he pursue this path. Clues start to indicate that might have been the case. Going back and forth between the present and a dangerous game they played as kids, secrets are unveiled, as they all wonder what really happened with Will. Part of my error in reading this one was I spread it out too much. Given all the past and present, I should have read it in a tighter timeline, especially with the various timelines in the book. That said, I also found I just didn't connect with the characters. The plot moved along okay, but I just didn't feel many feels for the people that were involved. That might not have been the intent, but that connection also mean the thrills weren't so deep for me. If you are into thriller as a process though, this could be for you.

The synopsis of this book sounded pretty interesting but oh wow was it boring. I was way longer than it needed to be and it just dragged. None of the characters were that interesting or likeable which made caring about their story impossible.

I guessed how it was all going to end because it was so obvious. The author basically had a big arrow saying this is the bad guy. I was hoping that because it was made so obvious there would be an added dramatic twist but unfortunately, there wasn’t.

Not one I would recommend. There are much better thrillers out there.

I received a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review

The synopsis of the book sounded refreshing and new, but sadly I didn't care for any of the characters and the entire story felt like it was missing some grit. Or maybe it was just so far fetched that I lost any sense of plausibility and therefore, interest.

Which was a shame because I still think this premise was fantastic and could've been the next big hit.

Thank you Redhook Books for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.

This was so good! Can you imagine being friends with someone and then come to find out that they were a murderer? This book had me hooked and questioning so many things and who you are around and the suspense of this have you up all night long. Ya'll need to read this ASAP.

I love all things by this author. I have always bee pleases with the plot and the thrill of the next page. Thank you for approving this title for me. Keep them coming

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

The Killer You Know was my second Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of the year; thanks to Redhook Books and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review! I received my copy just a few days before the book’s publication date of May 14, so while I missed posting this review before the book published, the good news is you can go snag a copy of it right now if you want!

The synopsis of this book intrigued me right from the start: four friends – Will, Adeline, Jen, and Rupesh – who spend every moment of each summer together are talking about their future plans one night. This is likely one of their last times hanging out as they’re all heading off to new schools and cities, but what starts as a conversation about careers turns awkward when Will says he plans to become a serial killer some day. He maps out his whole plan, and as weird as it is, the rest of the group laughs it off as Will being Will.

But fifteen years later, at what should be a reunion for the group over the winter holiday, only three of the group shows up: Will is missing. Adeline brings up Will’s comment about becoming a serial killer as a bit of a laugh, but then they start doing some looking into the news of the past few years and find suspicious deaths of two women…deaths that sound exactly like what Will said he planned to do. This sets the group off on a mission to figure out if Will really is killing women like he said he would…because this could mean one of them will be his third and final victim.

The Killer You Know is told in alternating timelines: present day and when the group were teenagers, spending summers together. Each character is unique, with his or her own set of personal and family issues, which play a role in the dynamic of the group both as youngsters and adults. When I first started, I honestly just wanted to stay with the present day timeline and figure out what was going on with Will, but as I read more and got into the story, I came to really enjoy how the past timeline gave so much context for how each person turned out as adults.

I had some idea where the book was heading just based on the character development, but I had no clue how we were actually going to arrive at the ending, so the journey itself was full of questions. Because the majority of the characters were pretty flawed, I kept second-guessing myself, which is what I love about good thrillers. However, I will also say I felt like the book was probably 50-100 pages too long (it was much longer than I realized it would be!); there were moments in the middle that I kept thinking, “right, I get it – let’s move on a bit, please.” This is why it’s a 3.5 star read for me: it dragged a bit in the middle and I had a decent idea of how it was going to end.

Overall, I enjoyed this read. I wanted to keep reading, and I was actually quite attached to each character – well, okay maybe three of the four (but I won’t say which was my least favorite! 😉). It seemed like a pretty unique storyline; I can’t think of any other recent thriller that had a similar plot. The fun thing is, one of my good bookstagram friends also read this book a couple months ago and HATED it. I think she gave it one star! We’ve chatted a bunch about the book and our own different opinions on it – we share a lot of similar thoughts, but obviously felt very differently about the book overall. This is what I love about books: they are magic. A quote I recently saw sums it up perfectly: “No two persons ever read the same book.” – Edmund Wilson.

My friend and I are both very well read. We both are especially well read when it comes to thrillers. I would say she has great tastes in books, and I’d like to think she generally thinks the same about my own tastes. But all that doesn’t mean we will always have the same experience reading the same book. I also know of at least one other book that she LOVES and I wish I hadn’t wasted my time reading. This is the unique magic of books.

So, I’m glad I took the time to read The Killer You Know. It wasn’t the greatest thriller I’ve ever read, but it was unique and entertaining. The author kept me guessing, while also developing the characters enough that I could make educated guesses about the decisions they would make, which allowed me to hypothesize about the ending fairly accurately. If you’re looking for a different thriller story and enjoy a longer read, this one is for you!

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Five friends living in a small town, with nothing to do for the Summer. They are bored, they have hung out together every summer. One Summer night one of the friends admits that he wans to be a serial killer. Laughing it off as him just being bored. Until he goes into details about what he would want to do, it then makes you realize that maybe he is serious and not joking at all.
As the years go by, and you all drift apart, you try not to think about that night of a drunken and drug fueled confession of a friend. After 16 years the gang wants to get back together. Everyone shows up for the reunion, but that one person. Your mind goes back to that night. The night he told all of you what he wanted to be, so you google him and are terrified by what you find...

I was sucked in right from the start, I kept reading and searching for clues of the killer. Thank you for keeping me guessing until the very end...

I can't believe that this is S.R. Masters first novel, it was amazing... I can't wait to read more from him..

This book was pretty good. Im giving it 4 stars after a debate between 3 or 4 and here is why. The story was unique and very well thought out. The characters were well developed and the detail was given great attention. I found it slightly dragged on and could have been a little more fast paced but over all it was worth the read. There was not a lot of action but it was a thinking book with dark undercurrents and that worked for this story. I didnt love the ending,it was anticlimactic and i feel alot of the explanation and information was left out. This was a let down after a more drawn out storyline. I would give it a recommendation though just because it was obviously well thought out and the story itself was really good.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. When I read the synopsis of this book I knew instantly I would love it! One of my favorite tropes is when people leave town and then come back together again to either discover the truth or each other. I was hooked and glad I was able to read this!

Five friends, then and now. Then it was like a nostalgic buddy movie, including a dog and a scary mean neighbor. Now it is people dying and the possibility that it is one of them. Then it was dealing with friendship and loyalty. Now it is dealing with loyalty and deceit. Mr. Masters mixed a nostalgic look back at youth and the modern thriller to create a wonderful story that keeps the reader off kilter. The only drawback was that perhaps it was a bit drawn out. The finished product could have been a bit tighter, maybe especially when dealing with the current timeline, to keep the suspense level up. But ultimately it was all needed to bring the reader to the somewhat surprising end. I look forward to seeing what Mr. Masters comes up with next!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

Will used to joke about being a serial killer when they were younger, but everyone laughed it off.. how were they to know?! Fast forward, they plan a reunion, only Will doesn't show up. They start to piece things together and track down Will whent hey realize that the last two murders in a spree are similar to the game they used to play when they were younger.

this is a fantastic debut by this author.

A very interesting read . Twists and turns to keep you engrossed. Wondering which way the author is going to take it. Nice and easy to read. Flows well. Enjoyable to read