Tense and deeply disturbing yet touches of humour shines through. The atmosphere is thunderous and the characters are not to be trusted but it is one page turning read.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

🎵IT'S ME, HI, I'M THE PROBLEM, IT'S ME🎵!!!!! The Greedy Three written by Karen Katchur just wasn't for me. The story itself kept me on my toes, but the amount of side characters just confused me too much, I couldn't keep track of who was who, and who did what without getting confused. The synopsis sounded so interesting, I knew I had to get my hands on this book, the story line was definitely very interesting, but I just couldn't keep up with all of the characters, it was just very confusing at times. I went into this book with very high expectations, but I was a bit disappointed I couldn't keep up. This is definitely a suspense novel that will keep you guessing from start to finish. Multiple times I wanted to DNF this book, but I knew I had to keep reading to find out the ending. I wanted to love this book more than I did, but after I kept on getting confused, I just had to lower my expectations halfway through the story. I tried to give myself motivation, telling myself the story would get better, but I just didn't find it getting any better. If you love a good suspense novel, then I recommend this book to you, but go in with lower expectations than I did. I'm not bashing this book or author in any way, but this book just wasn't for me at all. If any of you do decide to read this, I hope y'all have better luck than I did.

"A person has a right to choose who they want in their life and who they don't. Those around them either accept it or they reject it. Either way, there's not anything they can do about it".

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND PODIUM FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!!

When a kidnapping goes completely wrong, three desperate humans find themselves trapped inside a remote cabin with a baby and a bag full of cash. During a crazy storm, these characters find themselves drenched in sweat in a cabin with no power, water, spoiled food etc. Now, let's introduce the characters, Noah is a kidnapper, he was hired to buy a baby from a human trafficking ring, Noah is supposed to smuggle the baby across the Canadian border for a half a million dollars, I think this book didn't sit well with me because of the smuggling a baby for a human trafficking ring, it just made me sick to my stomach having to read about that. Eve is a teenage runaway who takes the infant, and the sack full of cash away from Noah. Hester is a outcast, living alone in a backwoods cottage that doesn't see much activity, Hester is also harboring secrets of her own. Hester is actually not allowed near her daughter and her grand daughter for purposes. But, as this story goes on and these three humans cross paths, it's anyone's guess who will come out on top. In my opinion, I thought Hester was a bit crazy for my liking, for crying out loud she had a fake baby doll, and baby clothes hiding in her secluded cabin, like what?

At first, Eve and Hester didn't see eye to eye, but as the story still went on, they still really never saw eye to eye, but they were together on finding a way to get Noah out of their hair, because he would just sit there and watch their every move with a rifle pointed at them. I just feel like the human trafficking didn't sit well with me, it made me like this book even less, it might seem interesting to some people, but for me it was a no go. With the baby not being biological to Eve, she couldn't breast feed the baby, so Hester had to teach Eve how to heat up formula on the little burner she had, and without power in the cabin it made it even more difficult. Eve had no clue how to change the baby's diaper, so I think she learned a lot from Hester. Eve and Hester tried to get Noah out of their hair, by making him eat spoiled ground beef, but Noah made Hester and Eve eat off his plate before he did, so he knew they weren't poisoning, but little did they all know they would all have to run to the bathroom five seconds ever single time from the spoiled ground beef. Hester was such a trouble maker, it kind of made me laugh at times.

I’m so glad I picked this up. While some parts were a stretch for believability it was a very entertaining read. I kept thinking how are these people going to get themselves out of this situation and who is going to come out on top. It touched a lot of dark topics like sex trafficking, drugs, and rape but it also had a dark humor to it at times, mostly during the character’s conversations. I loved how Hester frustrated Noah and her idea to escape that didn’t go to plan. There is a lot happening at once but the chaos of it all sucked me in and before I knew it, I was at the end of the book. The ending was not at all how I thought it was going to go but I liked how everything was wrapped up.

Thank you to the author @netgalley and @suzyapprovedbooktours for the gifted copy.

Favorite Quotes:

Then she looks inside the silverware drawer. Several girly magazines are thrown in with the forks and spoons. Not surprising to find porn in a man’s cabin in the woods. They need some kind of entertainment, because God forbid they neglect their penises for a couple of hours.

Time has a way of dulling memories, smudging the sharp edges of tragedy, smoothing out the vivid images in order for a person to go on living. She supposes what she’s feeling now, sitting here, is a kind of quiet reflection. It doesn’t mean she forgets the sacrifices that were made or the lives that were lost.

My Review:

I was transfixed on my Kindle while reading this gripping, brutal, horrifying, and haunting story. I rarely read such tragic, gruesome, or violent tales but the storytelling was simply stellar and oddly captivating while told from multiple points of view with expert handling of the interior narratives of the devastatingly fractured characters. I was taut with tension, enthralled, anxious, intrigued, and growing increasingly fretful as their stories unfolded and tragedies compounded. Karen Katchur is an evil genius, her neighbors should tread quietly and carefully.

This book was twisty, full of suspense, and it encompassed everything--action scenes, murder, it was emotional, mysterious, thrilling. I was intrigued from page one. I loved how the different plots converged. Excellent book.

The Greedy Three is a 2023 suspense novel written by Karen Katchur, who wrote the Northampton County trilogy, which I read and enjoyed a few years ago. Set in backwoods town not too far from the Canadian border, the three main characters fight for control of a half million dollars and a baby. Meanwhile, the local sheriff is obsessed with solving a missing persons case from years ago, one her father, the former sheriff, couldn't solve before his death. As we get to know the protagonists, we see their eccentricities and difficult childhood's impacting their maturity and view of life.

Hester, also known as The Witch, gave her daughter up for adoption but then tried to steal her back. Eve, a teen who brings the baby to the cottage, is caught up in some sort of sex/child trafficking scheme. Noah is the go-between and has promised a baby to a couple in Canada, who I might, are quite the peculiar pair themselves. There's a scene involving a phone and a balcony which I still don't get! In some ways, the characters are over the top and too comical for a suspense novel. I almost struggled to believe some of them given their exaggerated actions and opinions. That said, they were all very strongly depicted and memorable, so it was just a matter of taste... as the writing was solid.

The background setting was vividly described, to the point it saddened me over how some people live in squalor and depression. Both set the tone for the book and envelope readers in the misery that the characters have lived with all their life -- a great talent from the author to make us feel it too. The fight scenes are good, and in the end, the path forward is not at all what either of the greedy three would've predicted. The sheriff has a personal connection to one of them, and as we discover their history, we see the human side of her personality battling with the logical limitations of her job. Enjoyed the read; probably prefer the Northampton series as it's a bit darker / less comical, but the balance here will be perfect for many readers. Looking forward to more from Katchur in the future.

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, sad at times, and so many crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. Really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read that kept me wanting more. I loved the different points of view and the interlacing of plots. I didn’t love the ending, because I was rooting for certain characters, but would still recommend this one!

Loved it!!! I'm pretty sure that's the most visitors Hester ever had to her cottage. All Hester wanted to do was put a puzzle together and instead she got a lot of unwanted visitors. Nothing seemed to intimidate her. I actually think she enjoyed having Eve and Noah there. I can't believe they actually ate the hamburger. The one question I couldn't wait to find out was why the grocery stores wouldn't sell Hester diapers or formula. I can see why she was fixated on babies. Being a mom, Priscilla should have realized why Hester wanted to be in her life. Although, Hester did go to extreme measures to be with her daughter, she was probably traumatized from what happened. Hester is the reason Ivy survived. Would the FBI shoot that many bullets into a house? They had to know that there were innocent people inside. Noah did a pretty good job of getting rid of people. If you need to kill someone, he would be the person you wanted by your side. Not one single thing worked in Noah's favor. He even got attacked by a bear. There was so much to this book and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.

Definitely recommend the book. It was a great mystery/thriller, but also had a bit of humor to it. I never knew what was going to happen next. I enjoyed the multiple POVs. Loved the characters, story and writing style. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Podium through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

There was something about the blurb of The Greedy Three that had me intrigued immediately, and I couldn't resist adding it to my shelves even though the deadline was short. The promise of a crime thriller with some dark comedy thrown in sounded like the perfect recipe for an entertaining read, and exactly the kind of story I was in the mood for. And guess what? I ended up having so much fun with this absolutely bonkers story!

The Greedy Three definitely isn't your ordinary crime thriller. There is something darkly comical about it all and while things can be said about the credibility, the entertainment factor is through the roof. This is one of those books where it's best to sit back, relax and not worry about the fact if the situation is realistic... Because if you like dark comedy, you will be in for a treat with this story. What at first glance seems like a typical kidnapping and crime thriller plot, turns out to have so much more packed into it. There is a lot going on at the same time, but somehow this chaos works in the plot's favor and it only added to that bonkers vibe.

The story uses a multiple POV structure, which really works in The Greedy Three. Like I said, there is a lot going on in the plot, and the multiple POV structure both adds suspense and helps explain better what is going on and how everything slowly starts fitting together in the end. The main POVs are probably the kidnapper Noah, the eccentric Hester, the runaway teenager Eve and local sheriff Laura, although you will find a wide selection of characters and POVs before you reach that final page. Somehow it's not that difficult to keep them apart though; this is probably due to the fact that they are all flawed and colorful, and easy to keep apart.

The Greedy Three is darkly comical and the dose of humor was exactly right and simply spot on for me. Despite the heavy topics and focus on for example human trafficking, rape, abuse and mental health, the story turned out to be surprising entertaining. The fact that things just keep going 'wrong' for the main characters is strangely hilarious, and despite their deep flaws it's easy to enjoy spending time with them. It's actually hard to decide who to root for out of the three characters in the cabin (Noah, Eve and Hester), and somehow this makes you even more invested to see how things will end.

I really enjoyed the writing style and pace, which made it really easy to fly through The Greedy Three and I literally finished it in one sitting. Darkly comical, seriously twisted and strangely entertaining, this is a perfect fit for those who love both their thrillers and humor on the dark side.