A great debut novel! I hope to read more by Walter. The beginning portion is more memorable than the ending if I am being honest. I found the different points of view to be a bit confusing at times but believe the ending got most of my questions answered.

When Holly loses her husband to a hit and run, she is devastated. Now a single mother, Holly is approached by a "fixer" that will give her all the money she could ever need to take care of her daughter. When Holly and her daughter Savannah move into the swanky neighborhood of Calabasas, they soon find that there are others around them that have a lot to hide.

The book was good. I like when books are told in multiple points of view, but this one was a few people too many. It would have been better with only three or four people instead of six. Six is a lot of characters to keep track of. Overall, it was an enjoyable book.

I'm so excited I got the chance to read and review Good as Dead. The story is fast-paced and really caught my attention. I couldn't imagine getting bribed after my husband was killed. I didn't expect how the story ended either. I won't go into detail about it but I probably should have seen it coming but I really didn't. That's mostly because we were given certain information about who this person was and I took it as that person doing it. Never would have imagined that it was a cover. I can't wait to read more books by Susan!

BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: Good As Dead
AUTHOR: Susan Walter
FORMAT: eBook
GENRE: Thriller
RATING: 7/10
3.5 stars rounded down

Thank you so much NetGalley and Lake Union publishing for my gifted advanced copy of this book! Out now.

MY THOUGHTS

What a great debut novel! Right fro. The start we are hooked into a story of a hit-and-run mystery. The alternating POVs really aided to the story and the short chapters made it difficult to put down! Unfortunately for me, I found the storyline to be semi predictable by the time all is revealed. I had a feeling early on that I had it figured out so the last half was a little difficult to get through. All in all though, I’m glad that I read it and would definitely recommend to readers that are new to reading or new to the thriller genre!

Full review to be posted soonish.
I'll update review with links to socials.
I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Holly Kendrick's husband is killed in a hit and run and Holly is seriously injured. She and her daughter Shannon are offered a beautiful home and all expenses paid for a lifetime. Not to divulge any more, this book has so many factors clearly weaved throughout the pages. We meet neighbors and other non-family members of Holly and Shannon who are all connected in some way to solving who killed Holly's husband. A hard book to put down.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review. It had a great start and a good premise but slowed down midway through. It was a solid read. I rate it a 3.3

Unfortunately disappointed with this one. It fell flat on a number of levels, from the premise to the conclusion. There was an overwhelming number of narrators, which ultimately didn't seem necessary and really gave the game away around any potential twists. With every chapter ending in some form of vague alluding to future events "If only I knew what was coming..." "Little did I know, this would be the least of my worries" type of thing, reading just felt really repetitive.

Given that this is a debut novel though, there is plenty of potential

Holly and her husband were victims of a hit-and-run car accident, leaving Holly injured, and her husband dead. While she is in the hospital, her daughter, Savannah, makes a deal with a lawyer, Evan, that her and her mother would keep quiet about the accident, and they would be compensated for life.

Holly is reluctant and hesitant when her daughter tells her what she did, but the mother/daughter team decides to go through with it. Well, it only takes one nosey neighbor to try to ruin the plan.

I absolutely loved this thriller. I couldn’t put it down, and I was so engrossed with the characters.

Thank you Net Galley, Susan Walter, and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.

Amazing book! Loved this story and highly recommend it! I look forward to more books by this author!

4.5/5

I love reading a good debut novel, and that is exactly what Good as Dead by Susan Walter is, DAMN good! In truth, you do have to suspend disbelief, and part of the end was eventually predictable to me, but I didn't mind either of these things a single bit. Walter's writing was very pacy and engaging, and even though I felt like it was a bit of a slow burn at times, the various viewpoints really help to speed things along. I also enjoyed her decision the mix past with the present as well. You would think these two things together would make it hard to follow along, but it was actually very easy, and I really appreciated the fact that I never got confused. I felt attached to every single one of these characters and found myself wishing the book would never end. I also really liked the premise of a widow and her daughter deciding to "take the money" instead of helping the cops find the person who killed their husband/dad. I haven't read a plot like this before and loved how refreshing it was.

One of the best things about Good as Dead is the audiobook that goes with it which was just fantastic. It has a full cast so there's a narrator for each viewpoint and the narrators Kimberly Woods, Suzanne Elise Freeman, James Anderson Foster, Selah Victor, Jack Turner, & Seth Podowitz were each perfect for their character. I honestly think this is a huge part of the reason why I got so attached to the characters themselves, and obviously highly recommend listening to it if you can. I was hooked from the first moment I started it, and this book gripped me the ENTIRE time. The best part is that for all you Kindle Unlimited subscribers out there, you can get both the audiobook and eBook on it. Clearly, I went the audio route, and I am thrilled I did so. With this just being Walter's debut, I really can't wait to see where she takes her future writing because I am more than here for it.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

As soon as I finished this one, I rated it 3 stars. Two weeks later I've debated 2.5 to 3 stars, because although I enjoyed this book, I didn't love it and am already forgetting what it was even about. I'll keep it at 3 because that was my initial rating.

This was a little confusing at first because there was 6 POV's. I enjoyed the short chapters in the book, and the way each chapter was from a different POV, and each one had a few pages from the page and then a few from present day. I guessed decently early on who was behind everything and what the twist was, so it wasn't a huge thrill to me but I still enjoyed the storyline.

One day when Holly's husband is opening her car door in front of their house, he is struck by another vehicle, leaving her badly injured, and him dead. The driver fled the scene, but sent someone to go back and pick up the pieces to make sure they were never caught. The man offers to buy Holly and her daughter a home, and pay them what the insurance would have and then some, to give them a good life without his being ruined for an accident. Holly meets the neighbors across the street, who are very curious how a woman like Holly is living in this home, and start piecing things together. Holly's daughter, Savannah, has a dash cam of the accident, but kept it from the police. One day, she decides to finally watch the video with her new boyfriend, and she gets the truth of what really happened that day her father was killed, and she knows who the driver was. Everyone is connected somehow, and everyone's lives are about to change yet again.

What a twisted, twisted thriller Susan Walter has woven with Good as Dead. Written like a suburban drama, Good as Dead follows six people in the months following a terrible, fatal accident. There's Holly, the bereft widow, Savannah, her daughter, Evan, the fixer, Andy, Holly's new screenplay writer neighbor, Libby, his nosy wife, and finally Jack, the millionaire producer. Labeled a hit-and-run, Holly's husband passed before her eyes and the solution provided by Evan is more money than she's ever seen before, a beautiful home, and a safe neighborhood for her daughter. The quiet, snooty Calabasas street is meant to be her escape from the trauma, but with Evan lingering, perceptive neighbors, and a new boyfriend in Savannah's life, it's only a matter of time before someone's secrets start spilling.

I absolutely loved Good as Dead; I initially thought the format and multiple narrators would be difficult, but I found myself wading neck deep into this suburban thriller. Walters tells the story by alternating between flashbacks and present day perspectives, with each character taking us to where they were three months ago and the impacts the accident had in their life. It's the kind of story where an invisible thread connects everyone together and that thread is twisted and tangled and raveled up tight. It's an exploration into wealth, privilege, and happiness, or rather, the lack of and the ripple effects of trauma.

Impossible to put down, masterfully constructed, and totally clever, Good as Dead is an absolute hit from Susan Walter. It has all the pieces required to form an addictive thriller, weaving suspense, a crime, and secrets to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Good as Dead by Susan Walter is a psychological thriller with multiple points of view and timelines that will have you hooked in no time! SO GOOD! #GoodasDead #NetGalley

What if a stranger approached you to offer you (almost) everything you've always wanted in exchange for your silence? What if it was for your silence about the death of your husband? This is the situation Holly finds herself in after her world is turned upside down upon witnessing the hit-and-run death of her husband. Holly and her daughter Savannah are now living in a beautiful house in an exclusive, upscale neighborhood they never could have afforded otherwise. But beneath the perfect veneer, something is rotten.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the alternating viewpoints - Holly (the wife), Savannah (the daughter), Evan (the "fixer"), Andy (the neighbor), etc. The pace could get slow at times, constantly jumping back and forth in time, but overall the story was interesting and it was a fun, fast read. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

⭐⭐

What can I say...this one just wasn't great for me. I found it boring, and the twist was obvious. I'll just leave it at that.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

After a hit-and-run, Holly's husband is dead, with Holly witnessing his grisly death. While she's attempting to mourn, someone from the guilty party offers Holly a luxurious life. But, only if she keeps quiet about that fateful night. Of course, this can't go unnoticed by the tight neighbourhood they move into, and Holly and her daughter's life are put in danger - and to the test. Good as Dead is a refreshing thriller from the mind of Susan Walter.

This was a great novel of suspense with short chapters that I flew through.
After a fatal accident leaves Holly widowed, and her daughter Savannah without a father, they make a decision that changes the course of their life: they take money from the hit and run driver in exchange for not pursuing an investigation.
This story was a little confusing in that you got SIX points of views and all of them had past and present chapters. Once you figured out the flow it was much easier to keep track of and understand. The six POV’s are: Holly, Savannah, Evan the lawyer/fixer, Jack the Hollywood star who hired him, Andy a struggling screenwriter, and Libby his wife who both live across the street from Holly and Savannah’s new house.
I liked the unraveling of what happened in the accident and who all was actually involved. I did guess the twist pretty early on but enjoyed the story nevertheless. I also liked that it wasn’t classic husband/wife suspense and seeing how all the characters were woven together.

This book was thrilling and suspenseful. It showed a true ripple effect from a tragic event. This story was great and I did not see that ending coming. Kudos on this being a debut thriller! Wow!

Money is a strange thing. Most of us want more of it. We make plans for how we would spend it – going on holiday, paying off our mortgage, giving our kids a better life. Yet, money doesn’t necessarily make us happy. That is definitely the case for Holly and Savannah, the wife and daughter of a wonderful husband and father killed in a hit and run by someone with enough money to buy them a house and a life they could only dream of.

Holly makes the deal because she thinks it the right thing to do – to give her daughter a life she couldn’t have otherwise. Savannah wants that life, wants more. For both of them though, the grief of losing the man they love means that no amount of money can make them feel better. It doesn’t seem to be helping the person paying them off either – they are wracked with guilt over what they’ve done. It’s all a big old mess, one none of them seem to know how to get out of. And then it takes a deadly turn.

Given the title, this is no surprise. What was was that the book wasn’t as deadly as I thought. In fact, it was more a story on the morals of what the characters had done that it was the fact someone was trying to kill Holly and Savannah. Once I’d gotten my head around that – which took a while I will admit – I have to say I quite liked it.

I liked the characters, I liked the moral dilemmas they faced, and I liked the way they dealt with them in a way that felt human, not forced. I didn’t so much like the ending, which felt a little like an ‘add on’ that I could have done without. Overall, though, this was a jolly good read. One I’d recommend (as long as you don’t want a high body-count!) – 4 Stars!