What did I just read?!
This book is completely bonkers but you'll enjoy being along for the ride.
I loved that Beth, the narrator of the story knows she's an unreliable narrator, right from the get-go, but there's not only her secrets and lies to contend with as we join the Morgan family on their trip across the country, but her sibling's secrets as well.

As I read on I definitely wondered if there can be poison in a family, if it's in the blood or in the spaces we grow up in. Bit by bit you learn that everyone in Beth's family has the capacity for violence, to a degree that it feels normalized enough for Beth to find certain situations almost mundane and necessary.

And then the ending. It left me so much to sit with and puzzle over- I don't want to ruin anything, but I'm looking forward to when I can discuss it with other people.

A really fun book of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the shocking ending. Great for those readers who want something that will keep them up all night reading.

I’ll begin by saying I was - still am - a big fan of “My Lovely Wife”.
Samantha Downing raised the bar with psychological thrillers with her outstanding debut.

I’m still enthralled with Samantha’s talents, in “He Started It”.... and plan to keep reading her books as long as she keeps writing them.
However....where “My Lovely Wife” rocked my page-turning world ....from its fabulous beginning and fabulous ending....
“He Started It”....( started out exciting), eventually wore me down. I felt the book lost its edge for the entire last thirty percent, becoming first tedious, then boring, then finally ridiculously silly.

I felt much like one of the characters in the book when Eddie said....
“Nothing is here—no marching band, no welcome banner, nothing to mark our arrival”.

You’ll meet the Morgan Siblings > Beth, Eddie, and Portia. While on a car trip together. Beth brings her husband, Felix. Eddie brings his wife, Krista. Portia is not married.
These adult siblings ( and the two spouses), don’t want to be together.
They have no interest in spending hours upon hours together for fourteen days sleeping in crappy motels and eating crappy foods in dinners or from gas station food stores...visiting museums and attractions they don’t want to visit (again), but in order to collect a beefy inheritance from their deceased Grandpa.....that’s the deal.
Grandpa took the siblings on this same car trip when they were kids.

The premises had great potential- but it couldn’t sustain the magic. There was too much dangly pendulous suspicion—vacillating a little too much between visiting museums & attractions in different states, the mystery of Grandpa’s conditions to receive their money bundle, the cars that followed, ( both trips), the mystery of a forth sibling, ‘Nikki’, and a travelogue journey.

Character development, ( rather the lack of mature adult development), and interactive-dialogue between the characters was fun, fresh, and sassy. It was always easy to dislike at least one of the characters at any given moment.
There were enough lies, secrets, jealousy, selfishness, manipulation, patronizing, opposition, abuse, sick games, betrayals, and violence, to create a bomb explosion.

Beth... middle sibling, was a great narrator telling this story. Her devious inner thoughts and scheme plotting was a kick.
Her voice and inner voice was one of the books strength.

I enjoyed visiting some of the tour-attractions—but not all. That part was just personal taste - I had no interest in the UFO’s....but I did have interest in The Helen Keller House, The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush, The Henry Humphrey memorial, and The Codger Pole ( cedar logs with the head of the Golden players carved into them)....

But the plot and subplots - storytelling itself - began to have a monotone feeling ( around 70%), rather than an elevated momentum of exciting

Lots of sibling bickering, between the strategizing-RISK- ( yep, board game), playing family.....antibacterial wipes for those motel room, unreliable memories, a night of camping in the woods, Fried bologna sandwiches, booze, cigarettes, candy stealing and other thievery, (yep, it’s great to have a kleptomaniac for one of the characters), even an Etch-a-Sketch made its way into this story.

So....yes..this book was mostly fun...glad I read it ....enjoyed more than 50% very much....
I would have loved to have been able to view other ending possibilities....
However... I still like Samantha Downing’s creative thought process.....and spunky writing.....
I admit being glad when that last section of this book was over - more than ending with a ‘wow’ feeling....
I still believe Samantha raises the bar on the psychological thriller genres.

3.7ish ....rating up to 4 stars.

He Started It was one of my most anticipated reads of the year after binging My Lovely Wife and recommending it to everyone I know! This is a much different read than Samantha Downing's first, it's a family drama where everyone has secrets. Beth is on a road trip with her brother Eddie, his wife Krista, her sister Portia, and her husband Felix. The group is on the specific road trip because their grandfather died and part of the rules to inheriting the money is to follow this same road trip that the family took decades earlier.

This is a slower paced novel that blows up by the end. I had a lot of questions and was intrigued to figure out just how crazy each person really was and what they were hiding. I did think there were a few loose ends that would have liked to see wrapped up. And in case you were wondering - no mayo 😝

WOW WOW WOW is all I can say! This was SUCH a great book. It's about three siblings who are on a road trip that mirrors one they took with their grandfather years ago, prior to his death. They now have to go on the same road trip and dispose of his ashes at the end, otherwise they won't get their inheritances from him. There are SO many shocking twists in this book. It is also thoroughly creepy at times and I was constantly looking over my shoulder while reading at night! This will literally shock you and blow your mind until the very last sentence. Samantha Downing is brilliant - she has become an auto-buy author for me after this book, I can't wait for her to write more!!

I had no idea what was going to happen within the pages of He Started It. It was tense, atmospheric, and suspenseful alternating between past and present. He Started It was a portrait of family dynamics and dark secrets that live within all families culminating in an end that shocks.

I loved the continuous build up and suspense as the pages went from a lower to higher number. I could not put this book down !

This was a wild ride right from the beginning. When siblings are forced onto a road trip that they first went on as kids, things start going wrong almost immediately. Are they being followed? Is someone messing with them? They each have brought their own secrets with them on the trip but who will reveal theirs first?

I’m still gathering my thoughts but I can safely say this is a much different thriller than I’ve ever read. You’re constantly wondering what’s going on and who you can trust in the story. It was definitely a quick read and I flew through it. If you’re looking for a completely different take on a twisty thriller, this is the book for you.

As a big fan of My Lovely Wife, I couldn't wait to read Samantha Downing's latest book, He Started It. While I didn't love it as much as My Lovely Wife, I found it thoroughly engaging. With alternating time frames, well developed characters and suspenseful twists and turns, I couldn't put it down. Nothing is as it seems, no one is really who they seem, and the plot doesn't fully resolve itself at the end. An enjoyable character driven thriller. Strongly recommended

He Started It involves siblings about to inherit millions of dollars, with a catch; they have to reenact a childhood road trip they took with their late Grandpa in order to be given the money. Weird stipulations, am I right? Well, it just gets stranger from there.

The true motives of the characters are not made clear right away, but the main character repeatedly teases the reader with little words here and there to create a foreboding quality to the narrative. Mystery drips like honey from the pages, and not too far into the story, things start to take a sinister turn, and the thrills begin.

This is one of those books that I wanted to finish in one sitting. Any time I had to stop reading, I was thinking about the plot and what was going on and couldn’t wait to resume.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This novel centers around a dysfunctional family and a reenactment of a disastrous road trip taken in order to earn an inheritance. The characters are initially loveable, but their true characters emerge shockingly throughout the story.

I love this novel. It is a fun read

Twists and turns and unreliable characters are everywhere in this book about siblings retracing a road trip from 20 years before to lay their grandfather's ashes to rest. Beth is the narrator and the middle child. She and her siblings (and two spouses) are on a cross-country road trip - the same journey they took as children with their Grandpa. If they can get his ashes to their final resting place, they stand to inherit millions of dollars.

Money isn't the only thing fueling this trip. Their eldest sister, Nikki, went missing at the end of their childhood trip. Beth has never stopped looking for her. Between the stresses of the road, the desire for money, and the loss they still feel for their sister, you know it can't end well.

This was a page-turner, to be sure. It ends ambiguously, so if that isn't your idea of good ending, be prepared.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

He Started It is a fast-paced family road trip that you will not see coming! Fans of Netflix's hit show Bloodline will want to check this one out. Three siblings that haven't seen each other in years are brought back together when their very wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a mysterious message in his will that forces the siblings to go on a cross-country road trip in order to secure their inheritance. The trip is a repeat of a trip they took with their grandfather many years ago as children. Each of the siblings has secrets they are keeping from each other. Plus, is that black truck following them? Plenty of obstacles ensue and what results is an engaging thriller that will keep readers guessing. There is even a nice layer of humor throughout the dark story. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy a family drama mixed with a fast-paced thriller.

This is a twisted family road trip to claim an inheritance. Full of secrets, lies and clues to a previous road trip that changed the family forever. It keeps you reading and wondering who is telling the truth and who is lying?

A definite page turner that had me on the edge of my seat. The ending was a big surprise although I was really hoping for a different outcome. You will never look at family stories the same way after reading this!

I did not like this!!!!!! I loved The Lovely Wife. It was one of my favorite thrillers of last year. And this was so lackluster compared to that one. It was an interesting premise and the plot had promise. But this fell so flat - the writing felt different, the ending felt off. Overall I’d recommend people stick with The Lovely Wife and skip this.

Wow, and you thought your family was dysfunctional? I didn't know who to believe or who to root for, and actually by the end of it I kind of just wanted them all to lose.

Samantha Downing is an excellent writer. She keeps you guessing and hooks the reader from the first page. I loved ‘My Lovely Wife’, so when this book was announced, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. I did not love this one as much but it was still a great read. Beth’s inner monologue is hilarious, sarcastic, and engaging. Would recommend! I look forward to Downing’s next book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thriller readers are going to FREAK out over this book. It will be in everyone's beach bag this summer. The ending is so polarizing; people are going to love it or hate it, and I kind of loved it. Now I need to go back and read Downing's first thriller!

Four siblings and their grandpa take a cross country road trip that gets out of control. Were they kidnapped? Why does Grandpa have a gun and who is really in control? Fast forward to the same siblings now grown on a repeat road trip with two extras, minus the oldest sibling and Grandpa in a box. They are following the first trip to the letter in order to collect millions from Grandpa's estate. As you read about the first road trip and how badly it went off the rails, you think it can't get worse but "surprise", it does. This is the most corrupt, vicious family ever. They make the family in SUCCESSION or THE GODFATHER look tame. The book moves at breakneck speed and you are never sure of who the bad guys are or what will happen next. A one sitting session with paper cuts from turning the pages quickly. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.