“Killing Me” was such an interesting novel.

Michelle Gagnon has a smooth writing style of combining serial killers with comedy, femme fatales, and noir fiction. Grady Hendrix’s writing is similar, but Michelle’s writing felt totally new and different for me to read.

If you’re looking for a murder mystery that is sex positive, pro-sex work, and LGBTQ here it is!!

Amber is on the run. She narrowly escaped a serial killer when a mysterious woman who *hunts serial killers* saved her. Now the cops are coming around with questions for Amber. She just wanted to lay low and to live her “new” life but now she has to live on the run again and is headed toward Las Vegas. Murders keep following Amber, is she next?

THIS. 👏 BOOK. 👏 It was so completely original and funny. I was not expecting this at all.

"She escaped a serial killer. Then things got weird."

It was funny, charming, suspenseful. I don't think I've ever laughed during a serial killer related book? The pure dry and sarcastic humor was 🤌🤌🤌.

This was a really interesting read! "Killing Me" is a serial killer book, but funny? It was a little gruesome, but also lighthearted? It was grittily atmospheric and queer and had a fun story to follow.

The first like 40% I couldn't figure out how I felt. Definitely not DNF level -- I was just struggling to understand where it was going and how I should feel about the characters. But once it hit the 50% point, I couldn't put it down and I ended up staying up until midnight to finish it. It was strange, wild, and asks you to suspend some belief, but the end didn't drag out and we love an author who knows when to wrap things up!

3.75 stars!

I'm really curious about this author's other works and may need to check them out!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced read!

I LOVED THIS BOOK OK. Honestly more than I expected to. I enjoy a good serial killer thriller, and I love anything that makes me laugh; never thought those two could go together so nicely, but Michelle pulled it off flawlessly.

I was immediately drawn in because of the cockiness of the main character Amber and that weird feeling of ‘you kind of asked for that’ when she assumes she would never be abducted…and then does while she is actively thinking about how easy it is to not be abducted. WILD.

There were a lot of twists and turns throughout. I was on the edge of my seat a lot of the time, and sometimes didn’t know who to trust. The writing kept me wanting to read more, and I’m sad it’s over to be honest. I weirdly feel a connection to the female characters in this book who really looked out for one another. Overall, there’s nothing better than going into a book blindly and coming out thoroughly impressed.

Michelle Gagnon - call me a fan!

Amber Jamison is scared -and a little more than pissed off - that she's about to be the latest victim of a serial killer. She's on the table, head shaved, paint smeared on her body ... when a woman miraculously appears and saves her!
Unfortunately, Amber has a past of her own that she would rather not draw attention to, so instead of being a media darling who survived a serial killer, she flees across the country and ends up in Vegas at a seedy Vegas hotel ...and right in the middle of a game with a prolific serial killer!
Smart, witty, and sassy, Killing Me is a sort-of cozy mystery with a clever and captivating plot entertaining enough to allow me to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride!
Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Killing Me is scheduled for release on May 16, 2023.

This is a fun serial killer thriller!? Gagnon mixes humor, suspense, and thrills in this perfectly paced thriller.

Amber Jamison, former con-artist, is abducted by the Pikachu Killer. She is laid out on a table, painted blue and awaiting her fate when a mysterious woman in a ski mask rescues her. The FBI is looking to question her about her experience. She has a dark past of her own, so she skips town to avoid talking to law enforcement. She ends up in Vegas where she falls in with a group of vigilantes investigating ANOTHER serial killer. This one has hundreds of victims under their belt and has it out for Amber.

What I liked:
My favorite part: Amber’s internal monologue in the beginning. She is so funny, there were a few moments that made me laugh out loud.
The pace: This was super-fast paced and bingeable.
The characters: There were a lot of fun characters and I enjoyed the banter between them.

What I struggled with:
The internal monologue didn’t continue through the whole book. I found myself wanting more of Amber’s humor. A lot of the story is far-fetched, I think that lends to the overall quirkiness. You have to suspend a lot of disbelief with this one.

I think if you like Finlay Donovan is Killing It you would enjoy this book. If quirky humor and outlandish plots grate on your nerves, this one may not be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Entertaining & hilarious, this thriller involving a serial killer, a college student & a mysterious vigilante will have you equal parts terrified & laughing out loud. Quite a unique plot & character creation from Michelle Gagnon. Quick read, but don’t expect too many twists & turns. The journey in this book is the best part.

BOOK: Killing Me
AUTHOR: Michelle Gagnon
PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
PUB DATE: 5/16/23
RATING: 5 stars
GENRE: Fiction/Funny Thriller

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Sons for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review! I also want to thank @heather.book.shelf for recommending that I request this ARC. Best recommendation!

SYNOPSIS: Amber’s our MC, and her life is a total mess. Somehow, she manages to be kidnapped by her town’s serial killer, but also manages to escape (these are NOT spoilers as they are indicated in the book’s description). As many more events unfold, Amber meets some truly delightful people that make life even more interesting for her. Lots of twists and turns!

REVIEW: CAOTIC, FUNNY, and BRILLIANT! This was my first book to read by Michelle Gagnon, and I found it to be extremely wild fun, and entertaining! If you want a good thriller, but a story that will have you laughing out loud at times, this is it! It sometimes reminded me of Janet Evanovich’s “Stephanie Plum” series at times (which is a big compliment at the uniqueness of being able to read a thriller/suspense with some humor thrown in), but it also had a KILLER plot and ending! You will be entranced to keep reading. And what an ending!! And I'm excited at there being a sequel, perhaps!!

This book was out of my norm, but I’m glad I branched out because I enjoy it. There were many parts when I smiled or laughed out loud. It was nice to have the humor to offset the suspense of the book. Thanks for the ARC NetGalley!

🎰🎰🎰🎰 / 5

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This one had me hooked from the beginning. I truly had no idea where it was going, and even when I thought I did, I was way off. Though it was wild at times, I was thoroughly entertained the whole time. I enjoyed the dry humor as well as the randomness of some of the characters, settings, and details. I also always appreciate when I recognize certain places or settings. For instance, Fort Worth (where I live) was brought up—maybe not for the next reason… but still cool 😂 Anyway, this was such a unique story and plot, and I’d definitely recommend it.

The book summary is pretty vague and basically just describes the opening scene and first few chapters. What the book summary doesn’t reveal is that after Amber (not her real name) is rescued from the killing table of a deranged, serial killer by a strange, female, vigilante named Grace, who ends up accidentally killing the killer with a faulty cattle prod, Amber then becomes a person of interest in the serial killer’s death. So, she bolts from Tennessee and lands in Vegas a few days later where she starts grifting in order to support herself.

Having been raised by grifter parents, Amber discovered she was pretty good at the craft after her parents abandoned her when she was 15. However, she retired a few years ago (she’s 24) and went straight (except for the fake ID alias) in order to go to college. She was two months away from graduating when she was abducted.

In Vegas, she partners up with a street smart, prostitute, Marcella, and the owner, Dot, of the motel where she is staying. Dot, who also deals in fake ID’s, is part of a citizen’s group named Fatale Femmes, who are investigating some local murders. Seems Vegas has their own serial killer. Eventually, the Vegas serial killer, Gunnar (who is a homicidal psychopath), targets Amber in an effort to get to Grace, who is his twin sister. All this in just the first half of the story. Suffice it to say that there’s a lot going on.

In the second half of the story, Amber and Grace develop a plan to catch Gunnar and it’s going to take the help of Dot and Marcella as well as the Fatale Femmes and their boatload of contacts all over Vegas to execute the plan. The end comes pretty fast after that in a scary and intense scene for the women, including the Fatale Femmes.

This was another one of those books that I devoured in a few sittings and kept me up late the last two nights because I had a hard time putting it down. I also liked most of the characters too. The interactions and dialogue between the women were often amusing and entertaining. Who says crime and murder can’t be funny?😊 I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

@NetGalley @ PenguinGroupPutnam @ G.P.Putnam'sSons @KillingMe

Thank you for the free advance copy!

I loved this book. It was recommended to me by netgalley based on other books I'd liked. I chose not to know anything about it before reading, which was a great decision. The author plants you right in the middle of a situation already in progress via an unreliable narrator who also doesn't have any idea what's going on. Bits of information are revealed to the author and narrator as we go along, and the confusion and mystery are absolutely part of the thrill. The action scenes are also excellent. I like that all the main characters are women and would love to see this adapted into a film.

DNF, it started on a very off the walls point but became much less unique & interesting surprisingly quickly after that. Read very much like fanfic. Had zero interest in reading beyond the first 1/3, especially when I saw how much was left.

I hope and assume this will become a series. Reminded me of Stephanie Plum or Finely Donovan. Funy, engaging read and I'll be recommending to many patrons at my library for sure. I also listened to the audio and the narrator is phenomenal.

Amber feels ridiculous when she is abducted by a serial killer. How did she not know what was happening?!? But after she is rescued, the danger really begins! This was a thrilling ride with a great ending!

This was such a fun read! The very beginning of this book lures you in and you’ll want to follow everything that happens to Amber.
But Amber isn’t who she says she is. And when a woman in a ski mask comes to her rescue, everything changes.
Winding up in Las Vegas, Amber meets a Femme group who are on the hunt for a serial killer. Little do they know, it’s someone very close.
I had so much fun reading this book. There is a twist in here which really makes you think “could it be possible?” I loved our protagonist Amber. She was so quirky and fun, but also a badass b!tch!
Definitely read this one!!

While well written by Gagnon, I didn’t find this all that humorous and the plot became a bit too unbelievable for me. If you’re going to give this a read, be sure to check the CW’s first. I DNF'd at about 53%.


I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons in exchange for an honest review.

This book was great. I loved the story and meeting Amber and Grace and Dot and everyone's story. Hoping to hear more from these characters in the future!

Killing Me
Michelle Gagnon
Pub Date: May 16, 2023
G.P. Putnam
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book surprised me with how good it was. Original, wildly entertaining with a protagonist whose life is a total mess. This is a laugh out loud thriller that I really needed to read. Great job Gagnon!
I’m looking forward to reading more books by this author,
5 stars

Who knew a thriller could be so dang funny! I loved the setting of the plot, not knowing which character to trust or not. I couldn't put this down and finished in one sitting. I loved the dark, mystery, funny and fabulous writing. I don't want to spoil it for anyone else just go read it NOW!!

Thank you netgalley and publishers for an e-arc of this in return for my honest review.