Who doesn’t like some humor to go along with the thrills?! This is funny and fast paced. This vigilante read will have you swallow this book up quickly. Highly enjoyable read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A very nice book by Michelle Gagnon. I’ve never read a book by this author before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story.

This book starts out with Amber being kidnapped by a serial killer and escaping, then fleeing to Vegas, only to find herself being hunted by another serial killer. I'd describe this as a comedic thriller, with a good twist near the end (I could hardly believe a book about serial killers could be lighthearted but still intense, but this nails it). It was a refreshing change from the typical dark thriller/mystery genre, and was an easy read that I didn't want to put down!

This story had suspense, colorful characters, and made me laugh at times. The author used a unique writing style for her main character. The setting was perfectly described, I felt I was there. Maybe there will be another adventure for Amber.

When I first started reading this book, I didn’t think it would be such a good time, but alas, here we are. Killing Me was witty, sarcastic, and a comedy of errors of a woman trying to escape multiple serial killers (and the friends she makes along the way).

This book had a couple of turns that weren’t totally unpredictable, but still very much appreciated. I felt like I knew there was always something new coming up, and it didn’t let me down. I’d definitely recommend this to people who love true crime/thrillers but also want a lighter read. It didn’t feel too dark, and it was a refreshing twist to the genre. Thanks to NetGalley for providing the arc!

Talk about a FUN book! Who knew books about serial killers, revenge, and a Pokémon fetish would be so entertaining!? Michelle Gagnon, you’ve made a fan out of me and I expect nothing less from you ever again. 😂

KILLING ME starts off with a bang, or should I say a kidnapping, and that’s only the first part of the story. When Amber Jamison is abducted in the most laughable way, she knows her life is nearing its end. However, right before her demise, she is saved by a mystery woman who doesn’t explain what her motives are by being a serial killer vigilante. When Amber is left with her serial killer dead and no explanation, she is left wondering what her next move would be. She has a past of her own that she worries will destroy her now that she’s involved with the investigation. Once Amber decides to escape to Las Vegas, she befriends a motel owner and a sex worker, creating a unique trio that lands in the crosshairs of another serial killer—Amber just can’t catch a break!

This was one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. This laugh-out-loud thriller was an expected surprise after reading back-to-back meh stories, so it’s a very refreshing read for me to say the least. I can’t WAIT to see what Michelle Gagnon has next for readers—I’ll be waiting!

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on May 16, 2023

Serial killer novels seem to be popular, despite the relative scarcity of real-world serial killers. Mass shooters are a more serious threat to society, but writers haven’t figured out how to turn them into interesting villains. They shoot, they get caught. No intrigue at all. Perhaps it is the scarcity of serial killers that makes them appealing to readers and writers.

There are enough serial killers in Killing Me to fill one of those cork board maps with colored pins that are connected by strings (or in this book, dental floss) to uncover patterns. Only one of the killers matters to the story, although the killer’s identity isn’t immediately clear.

The book begins with Amber Jamison painted blue, head shaved bald, and tied to a table. A serial killer is about to dismember her when Grace saves her. The map with all the pins belongs to Grace. She tracks serial killers but only because she’s chasing one in particular. She’s been chasing him for a long time. She’s obsessive about it. She’s obsessive about everything, including her diet and the unspoiled cleanliness of her home.

While Amber is grateful to be rescued, she has an attitude. Amber is Grace's opposite. Amber is messy. She enjoys fast food. It seems to Amber that Grace and the man she’s chasing are playing some sort of game with each other. Amber’s attitude isn’t improved when the suspected serial killer begins to stalk her. Amber is also worried that the FBI might be chasing her, given her checkered history as a con artist.

Amber ends up at a cheesy motel in Las Vegas before she realizes that she’s been manipulated to land at that destination. Amber doesn’t have friends before she arrives in Vegas, but she befriends the saucy motel owner and a hooker for whom Amber has the hots. The motel owner belongs to a group of women who make a hobby of investigating serial killers. Naturally, they’re thrilled to learn that Amber is being pursued by one. They’re less thrilled when they become targets.

The story is written in a breezy style that offsets its dark subject matter. Amber, Grace, and the man Grace is chasing all had difficult childhoods. The Vegas women are quirky and easy to like. Their feisty personalities add humor to the story.

The plot creates deliberate confusion about the serial killer’s true identity. The resolution doesn’t come as a shock, but the ambiguity worked by making me uncertain about how the novel might end. While the details that hold the plot together might not withstand close scrutiny (the odds of Amber journeying to exactly the right motel in Vegas, or in Vegas at all, nonwithstanding efforts to direct here there, are mighty slim), overthinking the story would cause its fun factor to evaporate.

The story moves quickly and the plot is sufficiently plausible to carry the reader to the story’s end. This isn’t the kind of book a reader will think much about after turning the last page. It’s fun while it lasts and that’s all that a beach read needs to be.

RECOMMENDED

This was such a fun spin on a serial killer story. Usually you follow an FBI agent on the hunt, not a potential victim who survived one serial killer only to be in another serial killers line of sight.

This book was a humorous story of surviving. The narrator, a serial killer survivor, was funny and kept the story from becoming too dark.

Amber is a college student and gets kidnapped. She is rescued by a woman that is very tough. Wherever Amber goes the rescuer follows her and sends her messages.
I enjoyed this book very much due to the humor included.
Thanks to the NetGalley for the ARC and to the publisher G.P. Putnam.

Amber was walking home when she gets kidnapped by the Pikachu killer. All of a sudden Amber is saved by ski mask girl when she kills the Pikachu killer. Ski mask girl lets Amber know she cleaned up the scene because Amber doesn’t want to deal with cops. Amber then gets a call from the FBI and decides she needs to say good bye to her life and move on. She heads to Vegas to work on her new start when shes all of a sudden being chased by another serial killer.
This is a quirky book and a very fast read. There were some twists in it that I wasn’t expecting. I really enjoyed this book and read it super fast!!

Serial killer suspense novel with a lot of heart and humor mixed in. This is the perfect read for fans of Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich) or Finley Donovan (Elle Cosimano). Amber Jamison is the latest victim of a serial killer who she is able to escape from with a little help. Most people would be thrilled to have survived, but this puts Amber in an even more precarious position. She is forced to flee and ends up in Las Vegas. There are many twists and turns in this novel, it will constantly keep the reader guessing, and this is its strength, along with a fun cast of characters. I would follow Amber on further adventures and thought this novel was very entertaining.

I absolutely loved the tone of the MC in this one and the wild plot was quite entertaining. I couldn't set it down, found it really original and loved all the twists. Thank you so much to Putnam for the ARC of this one.

This book was a very different kind of book. It was quirky humourus and wierd at times. Amber got herself mixed up with all kinds of different type of people in different town and places. But in the end dhe comes out the winner Hurray!!!

A Comedic Thriller set in Las Vegas 🤑

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the gifted e-ARC in exchange for this honest review!

↓ Similar Reading Experiences ↓
1. The Thing in the Snow by Sean Adams
2. Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry
3. How To Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Amber is absolutely livid, and more than a little embarrassed, when she realizes she has been abducted by a serial killer. One with a strange obsession with PokemonGO at that. Things only get weirder from there when she is saved by a masked woman who wields a cattle prod. Next thing Amber knows, she’s in Las Vegas reliving a past she swore she’d leave behind, willing her eyebrows to grow back ASAP, and running from yet another serial killer…

LOVE NOTES
I had no idea what I was in for with a book described as a “laugh-out-loud thriller,” but I have to admit that Amber as a main character was quite the dose of entertainment. Her inner thoughts and dialogue made me laugh aloud multiple times even as she found herself in deeper, dangerous waters. I loved seeing the lesbian representation, the unique lively setting of Las Vegas and the feminist commentary on the history of serial killings in the US. I can definitely recommend this book for the elements above, especially the humor.

LOW NOTES (vague as to avoid spoilers)
I would say that this reads more as a quasi-cozy mystery than a thriller. What would make it quasi is the fact that cozies don’t tend to go into serial-killer territory. We are told so many times that we need to fear the man hunting Amber, but we only see glimpses of him from afar by side characters, so I never felt that Amber was in real danger until the end. And, even then, their face-to-face encounter didn’t scream scary genius killer to me. Instead, I was more frustrated with Amber’s gullibility when, in reality, the evidence to make her question herself and those she was working with was very weak.

With that said, would I follow Amber on another insane adventure involving serial killers? 1000% yes.

*SPOILER SECTION to be added in Goodreads Review.

Wow! I just finished this book a little bit ago and can’t stop thinking it about it! The story grabbed my attention from the first page and I finished it in less than 2 days. I have never read a thriller like this before, escaping from a serial killer was the easiest part of Ambers situation and if that sounds crazy - that’s because it is! What happens next is a twisted tale of trying to find safety when she isn’t sure who to trust and what is true and not true anymore.

The twist was simple once you read in that it wasn’t shocking but it was so clever and intriguing I was doubting my guesses up until the very end.

I highly recommend going into this one blind and hang on for this crazy ride. I went in blind and was throughly impressed with this chaotic cat and mouse game that Amber got herself caught up in. She thought she escaped and survived one serial killer only to be caught in the crosshairs of another and it will take all of her skills and an unlikely bunch of comrades to help her survive again.

Killing Me is set in the backdrop of the less than shiny side of Las Vegas and with an eccentric cast of characters. This book is humorous, a little chaotic and definitely entertaining mix of what happens to the final girl when she can’t catch a break.



Thank you @ putnambooks and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

3.5 stars - The write-up intrigued me and I enjoyed the beginning humorous slant. Amber getting saved from a serial killer and then on the run from the FBI was not what I was expecting. I liked the characters in Las Vegas and the planning and set up for the end. The middle was slow and I struggled with it, but I'm glad I continued on because the ending has quite a few twists and I wasn't sure where it was going and at one point who the killer really was.

I received this advance review copy from from NetGalley & the publisher for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an eARC of Killing Me in exchange for my honest review!

I had a blast diving into the bitingly dark comedy and endearingly flawed characters of Killing Me, a book that reminded me very much of the Finlay Donovan series (I'm a huge fan of those hilarious books, too). The brisk pacing made it a breeze to keep turning the pages and following the noir-inspired plot's zigzagging path. Going back to my Finlay Donovan comparison, Amber feels evocative of the likable messiness in Finlay's own life. She's dealing with a whole bunch of shit and she's fully capable of making mistakes, but she endures all of it with a sarcastic sense of humor and a determination that gets us to root for her.

The supporting cast is made up of other compelling characters, too, including hotel manager Dot, sex worker Marcella, and the masked woman who rescued Amber from being murdered in the first place. The importance that Gagnon places on companionship between women is another Finlay Donovan-esque aspect that I appreciate. The casual queer rep is superb, too.

My only major criticism is that the third act whips out a twist in a certain fashion that leaves me feeling like the book straight-up lied to me. There are proper ways to handle this sort of twist, especially when they involve an unreliable narrator, but I don't think it was smoothly executed here.

Overall, I'm officially rating Killing Me 4.25 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to 4 stars on Goodreads. Apparently, Gagnon will write a sequel, so I'll be looking forward to that.

Stephanie Plum and Amber share a lot of similarities. This book had me laughing out loud in parts also while being quite twisty and kept me guessing. This is my favorite genre and the author did a great job with the pacing and character development. It started out with a serial killer bang with a lot of humor (pretty blue paint observation). It was just fun!

Amber, a former thief, wakes up chained and gagged in a van. Serial killers kidnapped her. Amber's angry, not terrified. She's furious at herself since she doesn't think she'd get herself into this scenario.
When she thinks a Pikachu-loving psychopath will kill her, a masked woman saves her and kills her captor. She leaves, leaving Amber to wonder who she is, where she came from, and how she discovered her. Amber, who has a history of defrauding people, must pack up and move to a new place with a new identity when the FBI knocks on her dorm room door.
She befriends Dot, a motelier, and Marcella, a sex prostitute, and things seems to be improving until her masked savior tells her she's in danger again. All these women must work together to stop another serial killer who is targeting her.
What a zany adventure. Humor abounds. These flawed characters are charming. I adored them. The zaniness of the settings and the emphasis on female companionship and support reminded me of Finlay Donovan. LGBTQ representation, too. These women are worth rooting for, and a sequel is likely. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group-Putnam for this advanced reader's copy.