Never Saw Me Coming is a book about a group of seven psychopaths being enrolled in a research study together at John Adams University, but they don't know who the other participants are. Chloe Sevre is one of those psychopaths and alongside upholding her 4.0 grade average she is on a mission to kill the person who raped her. But when two students (assumed to also be in the study) are murdered on campus her own murderous plans become complicated as she begins to wonder if one of the other psychopaths' is truly off the rails and if she just might be the being hunted! Along the way Chloe discovers who a few of the other psychopaths are and teams up them to determine the killer's identity....but can you really trust another psychopath?

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I liked the premise and it had me guessing who the murderous culprit was until the reveal. Writing about psychopathy opens up so many lanes to really twist a story. The chapters are either narrated by Chloe or by a third person focused on a few of the other characters, which works well when you aren't sure who to trust as everyone is manipulative or lying in some way. This is an easy one to recommend for fans that enjoy mystery/thrillers books. It's Vera Kurian's first book and I will definitely check out what she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin/Park Row for the copy of this one to read. Scheduled to release 9.7.2021

A very interesting book that examines the many facets of a psychopath and what it means to be one. I enjoyed this mysterious thriller with its cast of psychopaths, a fake psychopath, and the supposed normal people. The themes explored were really well done. I loved how the author twisted the normal narrative; our protagonists were all psychopaths. It spun all the readers preconceived notions on their head.

This was a really interesting read! I love the multi perspective narrative, especially in a book that centers around a mystery or crime. But this one was fascinating because most of the main characters were diagnosed psychopaths, so it lent an entirely different twist to the story, as you were sometimes left guessing who was telling the truth, who was lying, and who was straight up manipulating the others.

A great read for my fellow thriller lovers out there!

I love a good psychopath. And I love glancing inside their heads. So this book sounded right like my cup of tea. Chloe is a freshman student and she got into a university with an unusual and secret program for psychopaths. They should learn how to behave like normal people and so be able to live a normal life. But Chloe has another reason for being at that particular University: she is seeking revenge for something a boy did to her some years ago. And this boy happens to be at there as well. But soon a student is found dead and Chloe gets involved with her fellow psychopaths and they start looking for the killer.

At first I was engrossed into the story. But I could not connect to the characters and Chloe is not one of those characters you love to hate. I just did not like her. She is the most uninteresting character in the story although she is the main focus. The story itself drags a bit in the middle. There is not much happening. There are also so many characters I sometimes lost track who was who. For me the story was a bit all over the place and sometimes I just missed how it got from one point to the next. It was a bit confusing. And to be honest, sometimes it just did not make sense. I also was a bit annoyed about that unnecessary love story between Chloe and Charles. It gave me some unwanted YA vibes. Both are of course handsome and charming. There are obvious only two kinds of psychopaths: the beautiful and manipulative ones and the weird awkward ones. Very stereotype. While the story was never really boring it also failed to deliver. I was always waiting for more.

This is not a bad book but it is also not a great one. It kept me reading but after finishing it left me unsatisfied. There are much better books out there who gave me a better understanding of how a psychopath mind works.

Ok, so here’s the thing…
Was this book life altering? No
Did it make me a better person? No
Did it expand my mind? ...No

BUT it was ENTERTAINING!

Books have a lot of great qualities, and sometimes if just sheer entertainment is all it offers, that’s enough.

So, the storyline: Chloe is practically a genius and due to her intellect and recent diagnosis as a Psychopath, she is granted a full scholarship to her top college choice if she agrees to be part of a Psychopathy Panel Study on campus.

Of course she agrees, after all, she needs to attend the University, because she is hunting her prey. 💀

But what happens when there’s more than one diagnosed psychopath on campus?The reader of this is in for quite the revenge story ride. I loved how current the writing was, and I enjoyed all the twists and turns as bit by bit of the story is exposed.

I actually learned a lot about what traits make up a psychopath from this story. If you enjoy fresh takes on murder mystery novels, and have ever wondered if you would recognize a real psycho if you crossed paths, then this is the book for you.

I definitely want to read more of this author’s work! I loved this debut novel of hers.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this book. I think it might be a bit mature for my middle school students. I enjoyed the elements of psychology added to the murder mystery part of it.

Thoughts

What happens when you put seven psychopaths in the same study on the same college campus?  In this case one of them is going to eliminate the others.  Well Chloe Sevre is not going to be a victim again.  A traumatic event that happened when she was only 12 years old was out of her hands, but that was the past and this is now.  

So how does a psychopath hunt another psychopath without knowing who else is in the study?  The identities of the students in the study are unknown, so when Chloe figures out who one of the students is they team up to figure out who and why someone wants them gone. 

I feel like a lot of books that have a psychopath as a main character are all the same, and usually female.  Thanks to the brilliant mind of Vera Kurian for taking it one step further.  This story was unique and refreshing.  I was happy to read that the seven students chosen were not all white and female, but both male and female and different races.  

I highly recommend this one, and I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next.  Maybe a sequel?!

Thank you Park Row Books, Vera Kurian and NetGalley for my #cop

Pub Date:  September 7, 2021!  

Book Rating: 4.5/5

Wine Pairing: Meiomi Cabernet Sauvignon 
Book Rating: 4.5/5

Wine Pairing: Meiomi Cabernet Sauvignon

Psychopaths and academia. Mayhem abounds on a College Campus. A group of psychopaths are given full scholarships to the same University so they can be studied. They don't know who the other participants are...then the bodies begin to turn up. "Never Saw Me Coming" is twisty, dark, interesting, and definitely different.

**I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

3.5 Stars. Chloe Sevre is your average freshman at her DC-based college, except for the small detail that she is a psychopath. Chloe is one of several students receiving a full ride to college in exchange for her participation in a study led by the psychology department. Chloe also has an axe to grind with someone from her past, but with a killer loose on campus, she’s stuck trying to decide who she can and cannot trust.

Given the incredibly unique premise, I was immediately sucked into the story. Chloe is the primary narrator, but several other characters also voice their points of view. I discovered that the author has PhD in Social Psychology, and her expertise in this area definitely creates such an authentic and informative story. While the novel started off strong, I do feel like the middle of the book began to drag a bit, and seemed jumbled and lacked cohesiveness. However, the characters were interesting and well-developed, and overall this was a solid debut novel with a creative premise!

Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row Books for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Oh wow! Just, wow. Compelling and I could not put this down! Meet Chloe. She's a freshman at her DC based college and a psychopath. She is one of 7 students at her new school who are part of a clinical study for people like her - people who lack empathy and and can't under stand emotions fear. When one of the students in the study is found murdered, Chloe has to figure out who she can trust and who is the killer. And everyone knows you should never trust a psycho.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc.*

I've been craving a new psychological thriller, so I decided to pick up Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian.

Chloe Sevre is a psychopath. Not figuratively, but literally. Her favorite hobby is planning to kill Will Bachman, a friend who made the dire mistake of wronging her. However, when Chloe isn't in class or plotting to destroy Will, she's spending time with six other psychopaths as part of a clinical study.

You can already see how this would be a recipe for disaster. When one of the students is found dead, suddenly their world is turned upside down, and the surviving six must discover who did it. More importantly, they must find the liar in the group.

I picked up Never Saw Me Coming because it had an interesting premise, and overall I was hoping for a unique read. While I certainly got the latter, I feel like I was somewhat let down by it. I guess I just wasn't as blown away as I had hoped.

That being said, I didn't dislike this book either. I'd say that Never Saw Me Coming is a perfectly fine thriller – with a solid and intriguing premise. I love the idea of seven students all trying to figure out who the liar is.

Only, in this instance, everything is flipped upside down. They're not trying to find the psychopath in the room – but the person pretending to be one. It's dark and twisted, and I absolutely adore it.

Darkly funny, twisty, and consistently entertaining. I don't think I've ever read such a sympathetic portrayal of psychopaths - it was especially interesting to see one in a ....*sorta* healthy relationship with a neurotypical person who is aware of their diagnosis. I felt like each of the multiple POVs offered a needed piece of the story. A great debut!

TW: Rape

At first glance, Chloe Sevre looks like a normal college freshman, what you don’t know is that she is a diagnosed psychopath. Chloe if one of several students attending her university in DC that was granted a full ride banking on their participation in a clinical study by a well known psychologist to analyze their behavior and to discover what makes them the way they are. When one student involved in the study is murdered follow by another, Chloe realizes there is a murderer on the loose specifically targeted those who are like herself. What follows is a game of cat and mouse where the once hunter is now the hunted. With questionable people to trust, Chloe races against time to discover who the real killer is before it is too late.

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This was a fast paced dark academia thriller! I blew through it as I had to know who the killer was and definitely was surprised, I had all my money on a specific character was not even close. The author does a good job of getting you to suspect just about everyone. This was a very interesting premise for a novel and I enjoyed reading the interactions between Chloe and her fellow Psychopaths. The story mainly alternates between the POV’s of Chloe, Charles and Andre all students involved in the clinical study. I do think this should be advertised as YA thriller, that is how it read to me. I also LOVED that the story took place in DC, the author is from here and she mentions places like clubs/restaurants that actually exist that I have been to which was fun to read. This was a unique page-turning addictive story that was a wild ride to read.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this eARC. This book will be released on September 7th!

Seven psychopaths in a study at a college in DC - what could possibly happen?

Not exactly what I expected - but it drew me in and kept me turning the pages. Very good thriller with an ending that you don't see coming.

Chloe Sevre is 18 years old and just started college. She’s checking out her dorm, meeting new people, flirting with the guys. And she is on the lookout for Will. Will is from her hometown in New Jersey. And he's the person she is planning to kill in sixty days. Will did a very bad thing years ago and it’s time for him to pay, with his life. We learn that Chloe is one of seven students who are part of an experimental, clinical program at John Adams University in DC studying psychopaths. Tuition is paid for and the students, whose identities are protected due to their diagnosis, need to partake in exercises and are monitored with a smartwatch. The goal is to see if their lack of empathy can be changed through behavioral modification. As Chloe focuses on her plan for revenge, she infiltrates Will’s fraternity and gets to know Charles who is attractive, charactismatic and wealthy. She soon figures out that he too is one of the unnamed students in the study.

When a student in their study is murdered, soon followed by a second death, Chloe, Charles and Andre, another student in the group, band together to figure out who is targeting them. But Chloe also needs to focus on her plan to kill Will.

Never Saw Me Coming started strong and had me hooked. Once the students seek the killer, possibly another fellow student in the study including one of them, the cat and mouse game slows things down a bit although the pace picks at the end. It was an entertaining ride and I was satisfied with how it all came together. It's an impressive debut by author Vera Kurian.

Seven psychopaths are brought together for a study at a university- what could possibly go wrong? A whole lot! And it makes for a really enjoyable read full of serial killers, psychopaths seeking revenge and dark humour.



Chloe, Charles and Andre are at the heart of this story. And I thought they were all really well-developed characters. I especially loved Charles and Chloe’s banter.

Even at their worst, I enjoyed reading about them which is just want I want in an antihero. Kurian doesn’t try to hide their true natures . We know they can’t be trusted and are unreliable narrators and this just adds to the fun and twists. And let’s be honest I was totally rooting for Chloe the entire time!


This book is a total win for me. It’s a fun take on the thriller genre and has mass appeal. Vera Kurian is a great new voice and can’t wait to see what she does next! I’m hoping it involves a sequel :)

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC to read and review.

Chloe is a psychopath, and her mission is to kill Will, a childhood friend who did her wrong. She is accepted in to a clinical study college program for students like her that are diagnosed psychopaths, those who do not experience fear or empathy. And it’s the same college Will attends. However, when Will recognizes Chloe, the game is on, but he has no idea how long she has waited to seek her revenge. Oh, but before Chloe can kill Will, others in the program end up dead. Who is targeting the pshycos? Is it
one of their own? No one can be believed because they are such skilled liars and manipulators!!

My Thoughts:
A twisty academic thriller told in multiple POVs leading to a well-developed story all the way to the end. What is there to concern yourself with when there are a group of psychopaths running around college, plotting revenge and murder in between classes? I really enjoyed this book!!

Rated 4.5 stars. For any reader that enjoys suspense and mystery, this is the book for you. I am only rating it below 5 star because there were a couple of plot lines that were left unfinished. This is the story of seven students who are invited to attend a Washington based college, tuition free, in exchange for participating in a clinical study. Each of these students has been diagnosed as a psychopath. The leader of this study is a well-respected psychologist who believes that even psychopaths who feel neither emotion nor empathy can be taught to function in every day society. Chloe is the main protagonist and most of the story is from her viewpoint. She befriends two other students in this study, Charles and Andre. When two of the other study participants are murdered, these three are sure that they are all being targeted and are determined to find out who the murderer is. The book is so well written that I felt that I got to know the personalities of each of these three. The description of some of the scenes had me holding my breath. There is in particular one scene where Andre walks across the college campus at night. I was rooting for him to get to his dorm safely. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book prior to publication in exchange for this honest review.

There are seven psychopaths attending a university in DC and only the professors studying them know who all of them are. Chloe is happy (well, to the extent that she can be) to have gotten a full scholarship to college AND the opportunity to kill Will for......Unfortunately, someone starts to kills students on campus, diverting her from her goal as she tries to identify the villain. She's, oddly, a sympathetic if often annoying character. This has lots of twists, making it hard to review without spoilers. It also points a sharp eye on academia. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. An entertaining read.

What an intriguing premise! This story is one of those grab hold, holy moly, gotta read just one more chapter kind of books. There are some side stories, but the main idea comes down to a psychologist brings seven diagnosed psychopaths together on a college campus to study them. Seven psychopaths brought together for a study - what could possibly go wrong? The answer to that is a lot. And that's all the details I'm giving up. This is one you'll want to read without spoilers. Vera Kurian has penned a compelling thriller here. It's one that kept me guessing about the characters. I mean, think about it; there are at least seven people to suspect from the beginning. Really, there are that many to suspect from the time you read the blurb. I spent a good deal of time just bouncing from one character to another for which ones I liked or didn't like, which one I suspected the most, which one is the villain. Finally, I gave up on guessing and just sat back and enjoyed the read. Oh, I still had my guesses, but I didn't obsess over the solution like I tend to do. To sum it up, I'll just say if you're looking for a thriller with an intriguing and original idea (I don't remember ever seeing it), then you really need to check this one out. It's wildly entertaining, and love them or hate them, the characters are interesting. Vera Kurian is definitely an author to watch.