For mystery readers looking for something fun and different. Fast-paced and funny, it features a very appealing new amateur sleuth who as the child of a couple of grifters, thought she knew every trick in the book. It turns out that she doesn't, which is how she gets herself into trouble in the first place. I truly look forward to recommending this title.

OK.......let me start with WHAT DID I JUST READ?!!!

Killing Me is ABSOLUTELY INSANE. I thought Mona Awad's Bunny was the craziest book I ever read, but Michelle Gagnon has snatched that crown away from Miss Awad. While reading Killing Me I kept thinking: Is this real? Am I going crazy? Did this actually just happen? Where am I?

This story starts off with the main character getting kidnapped, and as disturbing as that is, I was laughing the entire time because of her thought process, it’s EXACTLY what I would be thinking in that same exact scenario. It was surreal.

I honestly don't want to say anything more than this because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone and it's best to go into this one pretty much clueless. I don’t think I have ever laughed so much OUT LOUD while reading a murder-mystery thriller. Please trust me and give this book a chance. I am STILL thinking about it and even want to do a re-read.

Absolutely 5 stars. READ THIS BOOK!!!

The story was about a girl who gets kidnapped, saved at the last minute by another girl and then gets targeted from another serial killer. This all seems farfetched and sometimes, unbelievable but in the end, well I don't want to tell you spoilers. But I did enjoy this book and I wasn't sure "who done it" until the end....maybe. Anyway glad Michelle is writing again, I've enjoyed all her previous books. Look forward to a sequel.

Ooh I absolutely loved this one!! The plot is constantly evolving, making this book such a fun and enjoyable read. I really loved the character development, especially Marcella and a few others that I won't spoil. Michelle Gagnon did such a good job writing these characters, as they were funny, but not to the point where it became cheesey. Perfecting a murder-comedy can be so tough, but Michelle Gagnon is just so good. This novel was very well written and was super funny at times. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

Amber Jamison finds herself kidnapped by a notorious serial killer, yet she is more annoyed at herself rather than scared for her life. That is, until she escapes with the help of an anonymous heroine who keeps her identity locked away. When the FBI is hot on her tail, eager to ask questions about her involvement, Amber takes off for Las Vegas where she meets a motel owner and a hooker. Although the two may seem like unlikely candidates, they befriend Amber as she embarks on a mission to catch yet another serial killer with the heroine that saved her from one.

Too jokey for my taste. Main character a cypher, too many Macguffins, kind of all over the place. Thank you for the ARC.

If you ever think you're having a bad day, it's nothing compared to the day Amber Jamison is having at the start of Killing Me. Just a few months shy of graduating with a degree in psychology, Amber is abducted on her way home from class. When she regains consciousness, she's tied up in an unfamiliar basement. She knows what's happened: she's the latest victim of the serial killer known as the Pikachu Killer, who sends news outlets GPS coordinates to find the bodies. Amber is, of course, terrified, but at the same time has a plucky, almost upbeat attitude when confronted with her upcoming fate of being dismembered by an insane killer. Luckily, before that can happen, a tall blonde woman enters the situation from nowhere. It turns out that her savior, Grace, spends her time tracking down serial killers -- anonymously. This is just fine with Amber, who doesn't want to speak to the police due to some questionable events from her past. When Amber has to quickly leave town, it becomes apparent that her interactions with Grace have caught the eye of the most dangerous serial killer of all.

When the book started out in nearby (for me) Johnson City, TN, I was excited to read a book set in this area. However, soon after escaping the Pikachu Killer, Amber and all the action moves to Las Vegas. Once in Vegas, Amber, Grace, and an assorted group of colorful characters set out to trap a serial killer, without becoming his next victim. I really enjoyed the suspense of the book and the somewhat humorous tone, which lightened up the serious and violent subject matter of the book. There is something of a twist at the end that leaves the reader guessing about all that has happened up to that point. The afterward by the author promises a sequel, so I am looking forward to seeing what Amber gets up to in that one!

This is a story of friendship and “Fatale Femmes.” Okay, and a serial killer 😡

“Killing me” had a killer opening (no pun intended), it immediately sucks you in; I couldn’t put this bad boy down.

A few things I loved:
👉 Amber is a conwoman!!! We love to see it 👏
👉 Lovably flawed characters, you’re really rooting for them all.
👉 Amber made me so mad throughout the entire book, but in the best way. Every bad decision she made, I was STRESSED. And that’s exactly how I want a thriller to make me feel.
👉 Really great pacing, and the fantastic twist in the middle (that I absolutely did not guess) picks it up even more.
👉 There’s a trick of a twist at its climax (and I loved it) with a satisfying ending.

Final score is a 4.5/5. You guys, it’s really *really* good.

This book doesn’t come out until next May and you can bet your last dollar I’m not going to shut up about it from now until then.

This was pure and utter brilliance. Mystery/thriller and comedy is a hard line to walk and Gagnon did it *immaculately*. From the first chapter’s hilarious opening to the concept of a serial killer vigilante, to the seedy Vegas underbelly and it’s beautiful cast of characters - I loved every dang second. Plus don’t get me started on the perfection of the plot climax — I didn’t know who to trust or what to believe, which Gagnon set up perfectly. And then despite all the chaos and brutality amongst these pages, those last couple pages left me with the goofiest grin. No spoilers though because everyone deserves to experience this book in all its glory.

And the acknowledgements saying we’re getting a sequel? Sign me up right this instant. This. Instant.

Recommended if:
- you’re a Murderino, and someone from the publisher better send this book to Karen and Georgia stat
- you like the Finlay Donovan series and the way it genre-bends!
- you loved that Netflix movie “I Care A Lot”, which, by the way, I look forward to Rosamund Pike ultimately playing Grace when “Killing Me” gets picked up for film

I can’t begin to describe how amazing this story was. I was taken on a wild ride, through dark turns, and taken into the killer’s lair, and I loved every minute of it! A must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do want an easy read that’s vaguely like gay Dexter or Killing Eve fanfiction? Do you find bad writing funny or entertaining? Do you like a book that should be satire, but is instead fully serious.

Pre-reading:
Still on my murder book binge.

Thick of it:
Can we have one serial killer book that doesn’t mention Ted Bundy? I hate Bundy. He’s such a bad serial killer in that he’s bad at it, not that he’s scary.

Of course, it was a van.

Funny! Book’s a vibe.

You know I’m reading along, I’m like wow, fun satire thinking it’s still gonna be in the realm of creepy…no, there’s Pokémon.

Campy, huh? You don’t say.

Bad donuts are the worst. Anything high calorie with little to no taste payoff-the devil.

This book is bonkers.

If my summary isn’t would you like gay Dexter fanfiction…

Is this enemies to lovers? (It’s not.) Repeat-this book is bonkers.

The chapter titles are fun. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that bothered to do that.

I hate passive-aggressive people.

Shots fired lol.

They’re gonna track your ATM use. They’ve caught serial killers that way. And like they’ll just put a BOLO on your car?

You don’t fill with $20 haha.

See, BOLO. Ha, and the gas price comment. Okay, book.

You could drink whole if you wanted to.

Detritus. Sin.

Lamm like on the lam. C’mon.

Why would you assume that Pokémon murders are related to strangled sex workers? There’s zero link.

That is not my definition of locals only.

Strawberries and linen would make a great candle.

How does Dot not react to THAT? Also, don’t give or take pills from strangers.

Not a labeled interlude lol.

Oh, not a Gemini lol.

How are conspiracy theorists so painfully dumb?

Not bitcoins just lying around. Oh my god, I hate this book sometimes.

I don’t think it counts as her ghosting if you’re the one who left.

SOTTO VOCE. In this book? Bye.

This author either loves or despises Keats.

That’s not jokingly being a bit of a perv. That’s straight-up assault. Let’s not make it a haha funny.

This book is annoyingly woke. Like there's representation, and then there's tokenism.

It’s just fundamentally untrue that serial killers are always organized.

I literally do not know how to schedule a text to send. Am I stupid for this?

I don’t know, I feel like they could just SWAT this place and be done with it.

They’re so clearly just taping his confessional with a fake death.

That is the most inelegant way I’ve ever had a book try and trigger a slow-mo panicked montage scene in my mind.

Do you know how many serial killers confess to more victims than they did though? I don’t think the FBI is getting wet over a sentence like that in a video that they don’t know the authenticity of lol.

But like she literally would be a gen Z.

Oh good, I’m done.

Post-reading:
This book is bad, but somehow I’ve read so much worse that it didn’t really make me bat an eye. It’s bonkers and semi-entertaining. If you like Wattpad or Fanfiction caliber writing, but not the romance stuff, you’d probably like this or at least not hate it. Plenty of millennial/gen Z references to go around. I wish this book was satire of the genre rather than just trying to be quirky and fully serious. It takes no brain power to read. Has some yucky undertones/bias against sex workers though.

Who should read this:
Campy, easy reader mystery fans

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson-annoyingly quirky mystery
* You Can Run by Rebecca Zanetti-easy read mystery
* The Sun Down Motel-ghosts and murder in hotels
* Deadly Waters by Dot Hutchison-virtue signaling, annoying protagonist, revenge murders
* How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie-campy murder book
* A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon-caricature narrative voice for a protagonist
* Middlegame by Seanan McGuire-sibling vs sibling

The blurb for this book promised shenanigans and hilarity, of which is delivered threefold. What an amazing book. Gagdnon tells a story that is fresh and new in a saturated genre. The Pikachu killer? Come on, how can you not LOVE that? Escaping only to be targeted again, and across the country at that? Hilarious, twisty, and fresh. Two thumbs way way up.

The story begins with a young woman who almost falls victim to a serial killer. The rest of the book is a truly wild ride full of intrigue, thrills, and humor. This was a fairly easy but very intestine read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book’

Killing me is a hilarious thrill ride that starts out with our main character being abducted by a serial killer who shaves his victims and paints them like Pokemon characters, and it just gets wilder and weirder from there. Literally never a dull moment with this story. The characters we spend the most time with are lively and endearing, the setting for most of the book is a neo-noir flavored Las Vegas, and main character Amber is salty and guarded with a gritty, painful past and a vulnerable soft center that will make readers fall in love with her. Already dream-casting the TV series version in my head...

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the opportunity to read this book!

Wacky, irreverent and infinitely entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and comedy are popular.

Utterly original and wildly entertaining, with a protagonist whose life is a total mess, Killing Me is the laugh-out-loud funny thriller that we never knew we needed.

I laughed and could not believe what i was reading. It was a thrilling story with twist and turns I couldn’t put it down.

#KillingMe #NetGalley

This book was amazing, never thought I would be laughing out loud reading a book about serial killers (lol) I read this book in one sitting

Killing Me starts off with a bang and never stops running. Amber Jamison is a former con artist who’s gone straight and is now trying to finish college to become a psychologist. Her life seems settled and normal until she’s abducted by a serial killer. Just when she thinks she’s about to say goodbye to the world, her would-be killer is himself killed by a mysterious woman in a ski mask. Amber is saved, but her encounter with Ski Mask thrusts her into another deadly game with an even more dangerous serial killer. With a fun, jaunty tone and the sparkling setting of Las Vegas, this is not your typical thriller. Michelle Gagnon injects humor right alongside the thrills, plus a hefty dose of powerful, smart women. The writing is relatable and contemporary, the plot is tight and twisty, the characters are undoubtedly flawed but endlessly likable, and the story itself is an original twist on the cat-and-mouse game. This is a don’t-miss book!

This book was such a fun ride!! Thank you NetGalley and Putnam for allowing me to read this early. You'll fall in love with all these strong women characters banding together to catch a serial killer. Set in Las Vegas, it oozes with film noir charm and seedy casino vibes. It starts out with a bang with Amber trapped in the van of a serial killer, Her internal narrative is endearing and funny and you get good insight into her sad childhood and grifter past. However, her grifter skills come quite in handy as the plot moves along quickly and she teams up with the killer's sister to track him down. There are some great scenes where the women wear disguises to get through casinos unrecognized as old women, and funny female camaraderie abounds. There's also a great twist at the end that almost takes the book in an entirely different direction, just to keep you on your toes. All in all a great read and I would love to see this expanded up on the big screen someday.

“She escaped a serial killer. Then things got weird,” is by far the greatest and most accurate description of this book. Amber is walking back to her apartment one night when she is ass bumped into a van & abducted by a serial killer who like to dress up as Pikachu. After she’s rescued her entire world basically falls apart more & more by the minute. Now she’s trying to survive while another serial killer is trying to get rid of her.

I seriously loved this book. I feel confident that if I’m ever abducted by a serial killer, my last moments and thoughts will be similar to all of the things that were going through Amber’s head. One of my favorite lines is when she’s bracing herself for the end and finally opens her eyes and sees someone in a ski mask and says “who the fuck are you?” because clearly that is everyone’s first reaction when they see someone other than their inevitable killer. I also loved how she was quite content referring to Grace as Ski Mask without actually caring what her real name was.

While Amber & Grace were without a doubt the two main protagonists in this story, that didn’t stop Michelle from making sure that everyone else wasn’t just a simple one-dimensional character. Each character had their own arc and developed along with the story. It was also nice to see Amber’s arc and how each relationship she formed started to shape who she was becoming, while also not losing who she was. I definitely hope that Michelle has plans to write more of Amber’s story in the future! #killingme

*Thank you #netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an ARC of this book for my honest review

Amber grew up the child of two grifters, and considers herself pretty street smart. That makes it even more embarrassing that she almost becomes the next victim of a serial killer, and only survives because a mysterious woman saves her.

This book mixes genres seamlessly. It's part thriller, part comedy, part friendship story. After she gets back to her life, a series of events convince Amber to ditch her current living situation and relocate to Vegas. There she meets a cast of interesting characters who end up helping her survive when she' s targeting by yet ANOTHER serial killer.

Really fun read, interesting character, thank you Netgalley and PenguinGroup for the ARC!