Member Reviews

I could not get past the first few pages of this book. The grammatical errors were absolutely atrocious & the writing style made it nearly impossible to follow.

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Name of Book: Killer Story
Author: Matt Witten
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Pub Date: January 17, 2023
My Rating: 3 Stars!

I have read only one other Matt Witten story "The necklace' and was awarded an Orange pencil by Oceanview Publishers for my review.
In this story, protagonist Petra Kovach, is a struggling young journalist who comes up with the idea to create a podcast investigating the unsolved murder of college student Olivia Anderson.

Petra actually met Olivia when she was a teenager. Petra was her mentor when they met on a student journalism boot camp.
Now Petra pursues leads as well as editorial challenges as she attempts to uncover the truth and find who murdered Olivia.

I've read a few stories involving podcasts. This had me curious but right at the start when Olivia was at Harvard, I didn’t like her nasty language and certainly wasn’t a fan of how she felt about immigrant families, I wasn’t so sure about this story.
I hung in there as I like Matt Witten


Although I didn’t love this story, I did like that the acknowledgements and note from the publisher was at the beginning of the story.
I always enjoy reading the author’s notes and acknowledgements. In this case in Matt Witten's
‘Author’s Notes ‘ are at the end of the book which is typical. He tells us the basis for his inspiration:
 ~He loves crime podcasts and names the ones he likes an interesting.
 ~He has praise for those dedicated to going into journalism as there are many obstacles.
 ~Olivia was inspired by Tomi Lahren
 ~Petra was based partly on himself.

Book Club members will also like the ‘Book Club Discussion Questions’.
Actually even if you are in a book club the questions will make you think!

Want to thank NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for this early eGalley
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 17, 2023

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Petra, a journalist on the verge of being laid off once again due to downsizing, starts a podcast investigating the unsolved murder of her onetime friend. In doing so, she breaks every ethical rule in the book to keep the podcast afloat. Killer Story has a great premise, but ultimately suffers from one too many implausible scenes, stilted dialogue, and a host of highly unlikeable characters, especially Petra, who’ll stop at nothing to save her career, regardless of the consequences. It was a slog to get through this one, highly disappointing. I received an arc of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Petra Kovach, a talented and idealistic young reporter, is on the brink of being laid off from her third failing newspaper in a row. To save her job, she pitches the launch of a true crime podcast about a sensational, unsolved murder.

Years earlier, an alt-right YouTuber was killed in her Harvard dorm room, and the case went cold. Petra knew the victim—she was once her camp counselor and loved her like a little sister, despite their political differences.

Petra’s investigation gets off to a rocky start, as her promising leads quickly shrivel up. In her passionate quest for justice—and clicks—Petra burns sources and breaks laws, ultimately putting her own life on the line. Even as her star rises, she worries it could all come crashing down at any moment if her actions are exposed.

When her machinations start to backfire, there’s only one way to fix everything and solve the murder—even though it may cost her everything she loves.
A gripping thriller that starts on simmer and builds to a boil. Dazzlingly clever, twisting and constantly surprising. An unputdownable rollercoaster of a read.

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I am giving this novel 3 stars.

Matt Witten’s writing is fast-paced and I hung on his every word. I loved the idea behind trying to uncover a killer through a true crime podcast. I have read one other book with that idea as the premise and that novel fell very flat for me so I was very excited to receive a digital copy of Killer Story in hopes that this one would be a better reading experience. So why only 3 stars?

For starters, I felt that there wasn’t much in the actual novel that wasn’t in the description of the book. So for me, it felt like a lot of pages I didn’t necessarily need to read. I also was a little bummed that there wasn’t that much “podcasting” throughout the novel, it was more drama regarding Petra keeping her job and personal life in check and a few fun plot twists. And those characters!! I’m sorry… I don’t care that your job is on the line, Petra, so many unethical things were done, I could not cheer for her, which was morally unsettling for me, considering she was supposed to be the heroine working on gaining justice for an old friend. The supporting characters - Natalie and Dave - made me cringe. Their values were crap and again, to keep your jobs and gain fame should not be more important than being decent human beings. And quite frankly, the final pages with the big “twist” fell extremely flat for me and just sort of came out of left field.

So why not LESS than 3 stars? Because Witten has a way of keeping you gripping his novel, needing an answer to, “What’s going to happen next?” And “Ok, so who really did it?” There are also certain political aspects and violent scenarios that I believe only Witten could have described so thoroughly and precisely that I physically cringed. And back to the plot twist at the end - I may not have thoroughly enjoyed it, but I didn’t see it coming, which is what an avid thriller reader is looking for!

Trigger warning: for anyone looking into checking this novel out, beware of multiple triggers, including talk of sexual assault and suicide.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Killer Story!

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Killer Story
Matt Witten
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Trying to find your best friends killer, and you don’t give a care about who you hurt along the way? Another girl trying to still your thunder…. This book definitely kept me invested!!! I wanted to know the true killer probably more than what the author did! Matt Witten, you have an evil mind that makes you write the most amazing books!!! Just like the necklace this one was hard to put done, and that ending!!!

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I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for a honest review via NetGalley and the publishers.

This story is of a journalist (Petra) who has been fired one too many times and in a desperate attempt to keep her job goes to unethical lengths to solve a murder, podcast & write news pieces on her findings.

This book was easy to read and hard to put down, each time I thought ‘this is the last chapter’ the last sentence sucked me in to another!!

Although disturbing to read how far Petra takes her findings, leaving many innocent people publicly slandered, I think all can appreciate the ending!

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Thank you Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for the copy of Killer Story. I liked the writing. Even though Petra was an annoying character, the writing made me want to keep reading. I admit I couldn't relate to Petra because she kept whining about being fired so often but never tried to figure out why or what she could be doing better. Then as time went on she kept worrying about being ‘canceled’ instead of being ready to accept consequences for her lack of ethics. I’m sorry Petra wasn’t a more compelling character, because the story was really good and it was ruined for me by Petra. Then what she does near the end is ridiculous and makes no sense. Maybe this book was trying to point out how the competition drives people to extreme measures but it was really over the top. I think people who don't need to like the MC will enjoy this. For me, the ethical concerns were too much. I look forward to reading more from this author because the story and writing were so good. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

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This book was a page turner from beginning to end. This book is insane. Petra a reporter on the verge of being fired knows a you tube star who is murdered in her dorm. She pitches a podcast as a way to get to the bottom of the truth. The problem is not everyone wants the truth to come out. I can totally see this as a movie or tv series. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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I liked the storyline of this book, however, I couldn't get behind Petra, whose POV you are reading. I wanted to know more and uncover the mystery, but it was so hard to want to continue with Petra. If it weren't for Petra, I think the story would be at least 3 stars, maybe 4. However, it is hard telling without reading it through another prespective. I wish I could like this book more. I might give it a try when it releases on January 17th, but until then, I'd have to give it 2/5 stars.

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This was a great book, lots of twists and turns, so many suspects, i was shocked to see who the killer was. This would make a great movie

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Good characters and lots of suspense. Engrossing plot makes it hard to put down making it a relatively quick read. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

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Killer Story by Matt Witten is a story about struggling journalist, Petra Kovach, who launches a podcast about the unsolved murder of her once friend and controversial YouTube star, Olivia to bring her justice and also in order to save her job. The story is told in first person by Petra. Matt Witten's writing style was concise and precise. The words pull you in into this fast paced, super conflicting murder mystery.

Even though I couldn't stop reading this masterpiece, I didn't completely like the story. Petra was extremely difficult to like as a main character because of how little respect she had for her own moral values or someone else's privacy. Maybe it comes with the territory of being a journalist.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but it was only because of Matt Witten's excellent writing. His words drag you in and keep you locked into the story. The plot twists and thrill were engaging and entertaining. So really, I just didn't like the characters or the ending.

I would still recommend this to murder mystery fans because as much as the conflict annoyed me, the dialogues and story plot made up for it. This was my first book by Matt Witten and I'm sure I would be happy to read more.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy of Killer Story in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

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I really love the way Matt Witten tells a story... It seems I start every review I write about one of his books that way, but you'll have to pardon my lack of originality because it's a true statement every time. This latest is a prime example. I could not stand the protagonist. Seriously. She irritated me from start to finish. I found her foolish and unsympathetic and emblematic of what I see as a fundamentally irritating element of current youth culture with its righteous indignation and blind willingness to seek fame and publicity at all costs. I didn't like her choices, her personality, or her rationalizations. Yet I could not put her book down and would not stop reading her story for anything.... That is absolutely a credit to a talented storyteller. 99% of the time, if I can't connect with the main character I can't connect with the story. Beyond that, I can't force myself to continue reading the story. Without some connection - be it empathy, sympathy, adesire for understanding or agreement with the choices the character takes - I find it very difficult to fully immerse myself in the story. Yet despite a marked lack of those elements here, I found myself furiously turning pages to see what would happen next and where her series of infuriating decisions would take her. It helps that the underlying concept - a quest for justice, however self-serving and misguided in its execution - is a theme I find perennially interesting, of course, but mostly I think it's about the quality of the writing. Witten is a master at pacing and character development. I responded so strongly to Petra as a character because she was so strongly and thoroughly developed that I could not help but respond. It made the writing leap off the page and the story absorb my imagination until I couldn't see anything but the tale as presented. It's a fabulous thing when the writing clicks like that, because it means the reader IS the story, and that resonated so strongly with me because of the nature of the story and its examination of what it means to not only tell but live the story you find yourself in... At this point you can sign me up for Witten's grocery lists. If he writes it, I'll read it.

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In this novel, our protagonist is Petra — a forever “aspiring” print journalist, frequently laid off by cross-country newspapers (mostly budgetary reasons), but who has an incredibly loyal boyfriend who has a job that makes it fairly easy to pull up roots and follow her from state to state. Petra just might be at her last chance place of journalistic employment in Boston. In order to avoid another layoff, she pitches a local story about a friend who was murdered 4 years ago. Her boss wants her to turn it into a podcast. Her friend was Livvy — who was a talented 14 year old when they met while Petra was mentoring at a teen writers’s camp at UCLA. And Livvy was extraordinarily talented — she was admitted to Harvard and became, to Petra’s dismay, a right wing firebrand (think Tomi Lauren) and influencer with millions of followers, who was murdered just off-screen after her last live broadcast. Someone was arrested and surprisingly acquitted, but Petra increasingly isn’t so sure that the presumed killer got away. Faced with various personal crises, she decides to write about Livvy’s end days, her “killer story.”

Matt Witten’s characters (as in “The Necklace”) aren’t totally drawn in black and white. Petra finds herself crossing ethical lines to get others to reveal secrets (like considering burning a confidential source). She puts herself in questionable situations to “get the story” and she’s not totally forthcoming with a fiancé who deserves her full honesty. There are times when Petra is more concerned with her quippy exit lines instead of realizing she just received another version of “no comment.” This podcast will revive her career and possibly make her famous. How far is she willing to go? Will justice actually be served? Or will the episodes be tailored for drama instead of truth?

I was caught up in the grayish aspects of the story — like real life, solving mysteries is messy and so are the challenges of 21st century journalism. How much is about the truth and how much is about the potential number of clicks? Rather than dwelling on the real murderer, I found myself thinking a lot about Petra’s methods. She was definitely a flawed heroine. 4 stars for a multi-layered thriller!

Thank you to Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Natalie, the rival, has greenish eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO The Boston home of Petra and Jonah has roses and sunflowers out front, but it wasn’t specifically said they co-existed at the *same* time (fairly impossible since roses are June blooms and sunflowers are August flowers).

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I would like to thank Net Galley for this ARC. I was initially interested in this book because the premise seemed relevant to today's current events. It was also something I had not read yet, the murder of a popular you tuber. However, I felt like something was missing in the book. Some of the details didn't seem to go together. For example, Petra felt close enough to Olivia that she wanted to find her killer, but had no idea what her posts were about or her political beliefs. I felt that the evidence that Petra uncovered was too convenient especially when the police could not find the same evidence. It was a fast paced novel, which i enjoyed.

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Received an ARC from NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing

in exchange for an honest review

Trigger warnings: talk of sexual assault, acts of physical assault, gun use, suicide, hate speech.

Petra is the main view the story follows. She is a journalist who is going to be laid off so she presents a new take on an old story. Two years prior Livvy was murdered, and the killer was never found. Petra was a camp counsellor in college and one of the campers she came to know well was 14 year old Livvy. Years later Livvy was in college and became a person with alt-right political opinions and used her social media platforms to spread hate, Petra having immigrated herself found it hard to believe this was the same girl she knew and at the time her and Livvy drifted apart. Now two years later she had the perfect opportunity to try and catch the killer and hopefully keep her job. With just two weeks to solve this case, Petra does things she's never done in her career before.

I understand what this story was about and what the aim was, however Petra was just an awful person. I know a lot of journalists do some awful things, but I felt

some of the things Petra did was a little extreme. She was constantly trying to play the victim card while she was hurting others and she'd turn the bad things into good to advance her career- as well as justifying it as good for the podcast and helping to catch the killer. Petra would do anything for the story from wrongfully convicting someone of it, ruining her personal relationships, committing crimes, and spreading false information even at the expense of

those people. She came off as a very whiny person- when she would have to share her story she was very jealous of the other person and wanted it all for herself, she had no problem being selfish thinking everything would work out for her.
I'm giving this a solid 3. The story was great and the way it played out, but Petra was a very dislikable person and it was sometimes hard to get past that for the story when she's the POV you read.

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Wow! Another great read by Matt Witten! Loved this storyline and the different POVs. So many great surprises. Characters here are amazing and kept me totally invested. Complex story told with precision and care.
Highly recommend!
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

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This is a really fast paced and exciting crime thriller!
It’s so well written that I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t based on a true crime.
The topic of podcasts is so current it makes it very relatable, and I found myself not wanting to put it down.
An easy 4 star rating 💫

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There were many aspects of this book that I enjoyed a lot, most of these prompted me to keep reading. I will list these in an orderly fashion, and then continue with the things I found difficult about this book.

01: I thoroughly enjoyed the reporter aspect of this, it was very refreshing to see a realistic approach to how cruel journalism is in our current time! It was lovely to see Petra’s undeterred passion throughout this book, and to see what truly goes on behind newspaper publishing companies. This was definitely one of the things that kept me going!

02: The mystery was very complexly built, right when I thought I knew who killed Livvy, Petra would discover new information that blew my theories to bits. It was super exciting following the story with her, learning about all these other issues such as Sarah’s rape and Brandon’s sexuality along with her. The suspense kept building up, and by the end I was dying to know who had killed her.

03: It also raised awareness about very sensitive and important topics as I’ve aforementioned, and I think those play a key role in making this book relatable and realistic.

However, there were also certain things I would like to bring attention to that ruined the thrilling flow of this story.

01: The dialogue. At times, the way the characters spoke were very informal and they used a lot of our newer society’s slang. I found it very often placed among normal speech to appeal to younger readers, but I think it really was a bad attempt at connecting with “Gen Z Readers”. Sorry!

02: At the beginning of the book, Petra told a disturbing amount of lies. In my opinion, it was quite alarming how casually she could make up things to manipulate other people. As I’ve finished this book, I now see how it relates to the ending (a very perfect ending, I must mention). However, I think at the beginning of the book there are a few unnecessary lies that she tells that could’ve been cut out to avoid making her seem like a bad person.

In conclusion, I think there are a few things I would change about this book, mostly the occasional informal tone, but the mystery and the main ideas of this story were original and exciting. The pros, for me, outweigh the cons, but I would recommend reviewing certain parts to secure larger satisfied audience rates! A very good read!

melisteee reviews <3

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