Structured in transcript format, Kill Show is set 10 years after a 16-year-old girl goes missing and the circus that ensued after a true crime show comes to town to try to “help” find the girl. The tale is relayed through “interviews” with all of the key participants in the tragedy and demonstrates how Hollywood and others exploit these tragedies for entertainment purposes. It is a compelling story that is also a commentary on the true crime industry, its dark underbelly, the lives that end up ruined by all of these amateur sleuths and online shaming, and why the country’s fascination with it is often problematic. Sweren-Becker says of the inspiration for the book: “I’m fascinated by our national obsession with true crime. How do we detach from the horrific facts to find it entertaining? How do people doing this professionally sleep at night?” Kill Show is a massive page turner and very thought provoking; I highly recommend this brief but powerful novel.

Written like a true-crime novel, author Daniel Sweren-Becker's Kill Show examines not only a case of a missing teen girl, but moreso the dynamics of families, our cultural obsession with true crime and shock entertainment, and the human condition. Fictional family members, producers, sociology professors, and friends all share their point-of-view of Sara Parcell's disappearance from school one Fall morning. Readers will learn early on whose at fault (for the most part), but the plot itself mostly focuses less on Sara and more on how each person reacted to her disappearance: the distraught mother, the calm father, the calculating TV producer and network executive, the police detective with a savior complex, and the list goes on... Readers are treated to a special brand of interconnectedness between these characters, and the twists make the dynamics even more intriguing. I was disappointed that it wasn't the true-crime-ish mystery I was expecting, but the meta examination of our culture and its obsession with all things murdery was spot-on and definitely made me feel a little too "seen". I liked the story and the varying POVs kept the plot moving even when not much was actually happening, it just wasn't quite what I was expecting.

**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**

Okay, 5 stars. That final sentence! Talk about a smack in the face.

This "true crime" work of fiction definitely had a point to make and it made it. Just take a step back, sit down, and look at how we as a society have turned actual crime into entertainment. This book is fiction, let me say that again, but you could apply it to any popular true crime story you've heard about on HLN or through a podcast.

And it begs the question, just WHO is actually responsible for these crimes. Besides the obvious answer of the person who committed the crime, there can be so many other players and factors at play that feed into the sensationalization of these crimes.

I'm definitely not excusing myself here. I do find fascination in stories of true crime and I've often thought about how and why we got to this place of finding comfort(?) in listening to dramatic retellings of stories of other people's worst days. For me, it all started with the podcast Serial, Season 1 and the story of Adnan Syed. Now, I'm a Crime Junkie fanatic.

But what this book does is makes you really think about what is happening here and how things can go terribly wrong when we bring money, fame, and notoriety into these cases.

I realize I'm standing on my soapbox and haven't told you a word about the plot of this book, but you can get that from the summary on the back of the book. I'll end with, if you're into true crime, if you've ever followed a missing person's case, or if you just want a short mystery novel told in interview format that is so quick and easy to read, pick up Kill Show and don't look back.

Kill Show was a win for me. I love a book that keeps me hooked and makes me think!

16 year old Sara Parcell goes missing one morning at school. Her disappearance becomes an obsession to the public and they make a reality show of her family during the investigation.

10 years after the event, all the participants are interviewed and tell the story of this tragedy that the world could not soak in fast enough. Sarah story is full of twists and turns and corruption that can end up influencing the outcome.

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It was thought provoking and full of social commentary about our consumption of true crime and where the ethics get blurred. It is technically fiction, but written as a true crime narrative. I read it in a day. True crime fans have to read this one!

Thank you to @netgalley and @harperbooks for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Kill SHow bu Daniel Sweren-Becker!

AHHHHH! I am so thankful to Harper Books, Daniel Sweren-Becker, and Netgalley for sending me both a physical and digital copy of Kill Show before this baby hit shelves. I'm a slut for horror books and this one absolutely slayed my expectations.

Wholly original and well executed. I loved this timely mystery about the intersection of true crime, reality tv and the cost to everyone involved. There were many characters but all were well developed, and the storyline moved quickly. I can’t wait to sell this in the store—it’s a perfect fall read!

Daniel Sweren-Becker's new book is Kill Show: A True Crime Novel.

Now, here's the thing...Kill Show is a work of fiction. But, what do the title and cover remind you of? Crime podcasts, crime books? How about true crime shows on your favorite streaming service? Uh huh, me too.

Sweren-Becker has employed one of my favorite styles of storytelling in Kill Show - a modern epistolary form. Television episodes, diary entries, texts, message boards, conversations, interviews and more.

"This is the testimony of twenty-six people who played a role in the events surrounding Sara's disappearance."

I was absolutely hooked by this sentence and couldn't wait to see for myself! My only worry was if I could keep track of twenty six players. No worries, as the character speaking is identified every time. Having so many players opens up many avenues, views, actions, interactions, truths and lies. As readers, it's so much fun to try and ferret out the truth and find Sara. Sweren-Becker does not make it easy for us - there are some crazy twists and turns! Foreshadowing is dropped at the end of more than one chapter to great effect.

So - fantastic story telling, a wide panorama of characters, an addicting format, and a crime to be solved. But, Sweren-Beckers also asks the reader another question. What is our fascination with true crime? Are shows such as this helpful? Or hurtful? Can you believe what you see? "Is this entertainment or exploitation"?

Kill Show is an easy five star read for me.

A sixteen-year-old girl goes missing from the small town of Frederick, Maryland. It was an ordinary school day when Sara Parcell returns to the school bus to retrieve her forgotten backpack and seems to disappear into thin air. Detective Felix Calderon is on the case, but the prime suspect denies being responsible. Everything changes when a candid video of Sara’s parents taken and posted online by Sara’s younger brother goes viral. It catches the attention of reality show producer Casey Hawthorne, who starts a real-time true crime documentary following the family and the search for Sara.

This fictional novel is told in the format of interviews for a true crime documentary. I love this type of storytelling and think it provides a fast-paced read. You get to see multiple points of view since everyone involved is interviewed for the program. A downside is there are a few important characters I didn’t feel like I really got to know since you only get to know them from what they say or others say about them in the interviews.

I wish some of the important parts of the story would have been uncovered as the story progressed instead of being revealed right from the beginning to add more suspense. There are still several twists in the case that I didn’t see coming, and I enjoyed the book. In addition to being a mystery about a missing teen, this book is also a commentary about the public’s fascination with true crime and how many people believe these types of shows exploit tragedy for entertainment and money.

~ Christine

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker is a novel fashioned as a true crime book, told through interviews with the principal characters. Epistolary books can sometimes be tricky, but the format really works here.

Ten years ago, the nation was captivated by the disappearance of Sara Parcell, a young, pretty, white teenager from a seemingly ordinary family. A shrewd reality TV host decides to capitalize on this obsession, and document the search for Sara in real-time. The show instantly becomes the hottest property in true crime, and sets off a chain of events with very unforseen consequences.

I couldn't read this book fast enough! It was like watching a car crash in slow motion; you just know it's going to end in disaster, but you can't bring yourself to look away. Sweren-Becker has managed to truly enthrall, while exploring the appetite of ordinary people for sensational crimes. I'm one of the guilty, who indulges in forensic and crime media, nearly every day. I was impressed and entertained, and thought the book made some really insightful points. On top of that, it was also fun. Wonder what that says about me? Thank you to Netgalley and Harper for the chance to review this advance copy. Kill Show is available for purchase everywhere you buy books now!

𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙬
by Daniel Sweren-Becker
235 pages
October 3, 2023

America is obsessed with true crime and mysteries, especially when a white female goes missing. This amazing true crime novel dissects the disappearance of 16 year-old Sara Parcell using a reality documentary interview format of the key players in the investigation.
As the story unfolds, Sara’s desperate parents decide to go under contract with a reality television producer to create the docu-show 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢.

𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙬 is not only an excellent novel with superb character development and plot, but it also examines our obsession with missing person cases especially when it is a young white female & how far the entertainment industry will go to profit from someone else’s tragedy.
The format reminded me of the interview format of 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘺 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘹 - eminently readable & fast paced.

Thank you to the author and @harpercollins for the opportunity to read the digital ARC from @netgalley for my fair review. 4.5/5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I was obsessed with the Murdaugh murders mystery & watched the documentary on @netflix.
QOTD: What true crime mystery have you been captivated by?

Sara Parcell disappears from her high school on morning in Maryland. Her story became a National obsession due to the reality show of the investigation.

I knew I had to read this since it takes place in Frederick, Maryland, a neighboring town of mine. It is faux true crime, which took me a bit to figure out. Written entirely in interviews, it reads true and unravels in real time. I loved the twists and did not expect them. This was a hard story to put down and it read very fast.

“And it was a bleak reminder: Our capacity to imagine what people are capable of is always surpassed by reality.”

Kill Show comes out 10/3.

I think the scariest thing about Daniel Sweren-Becker's propulsive, brutal thriller is how quickly I know I'd watch a reality show following real people in the midst of an investigation to find their missing daughter. Honestly? I'm more than a little surprised some reality tv producer hasn't tried it already.

What true crime lover wouldn't be immediately obsessed with cameras following every second of an actual investigation as it happens in real time? The arm chair detectives would be falling all over themselves with theories and suspect breakdowns on reddit and Facebook mom's would be salivating to see who's GoFundMe could raise the most money. Every home in America would be glued to their televisions "Searching for Sara."

Which is exactly what happens when reality tv producer Casey Hawthorne get's missing teen Sara Prentiss's parents to sign on the dotted line.

This is a fascinating take down of the true crime industry and a hard look at just what it is about other people's pain and suffering we find so fascinating. Written as a series of interviews conducted by an author researching Sara's disappearance and the ensuing chaos that was the direct result of "Searching for Sara" Sweren-Becker is quick to point out that no one is really innocent in contributing to the tragedy. The nameless author interviews everyone from Casey herself to the boy across the street to sociology professors weighing in on the ramifications of parasocial relationships. Frankly it was an effort to remember I was reading a novel at times.

Despite its subject matter the book is never show boaty or melodramatic. Its very impressive that Sweren-Becker manages to tell a damn good story while also ferrying the reader through the complexities of modern societies fascination with murder and mayhem and the lengths some people will go to to cash in on the craze.

There's also a real, genuine story of heartbreak and tragedy within the glitz and glam of producing a hit reality show. Crimes always have a ripple effect that touches more than just the victim. Putting the crime in question under the microscope of a television camera forces us all of us to see them. Its telling that those moments are the "purest" in the book and also clearly the most disregarded by everyone else.

Its also dangerously easy to label the heroes and the villain's in a story like this, another intentional move by Sweren-Becker I'm sure. We immediately want to hate Casey with her smarmy yearning to "tell a story that matters" even while she happily sets up the local weirdo as an easy scapegoat but we're also sitting right there lapping it all up, writing our angry opinions online and sharing our brilliant deductions with each other. We keep the true crime machine pumping and we're not showing any signs of stopping.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to decide on a murder podcast for my ride home.

I loved the format of this one as it read like a non-fiction true crime book. It was a fast-paced read, which I love, with a lot of characters, which I usually hate. However, each character was clearly identified and it was easy to differentiate who was who.

I found this book to be utterly tense and gripping. Very enjoyable. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Books. This title publishes October 3, 2023.

This was a great book. As a mystery/thriller and true crime genre reader I felt like this book would be right up my alley. And boy was I right! The book is told through interviews with the people involved in the case. When a young girl goes missing a television crew shows up to bring the world's attention to the case and have "a million eyes" looking for her. There are times I question my fascination with true crime and this book puts that at the forefront. It is well written and feels like it is something that could happen in today's world. I recommend this book for mystery lovers.

Kill Show
Daniel Sweren-Becker
Oct. 3
Harper
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this true crime in exchange for my honest opinion.
Set a decade after Sara Parcell’s disappearance , this book reads like a true crime podcast, but it is fiction. This book takes a unique look at this world. I found this to be a thought provoking book, not scary. I would recommend this to fans of “The Appeal” or anything true crime related.
4 stars

Sometimes I read a book and it hits me afterwards just how freaking good that book was--and that is how I feel about Kill Show. I am one of the true crime-obsessed people in this country. However, my obsession comes from about 10 years of studying, interacting, and interning in the criminal justice system and the fact that I wanted, at one point, to be an investigator and profiler. Kill Show is fiction, but reads like a real-life story. Probably because there have been stories similar to this one that have actually happened. You feel the feelings of the townspeople when they realize a nice, sweet girl like Sara Parcell has gone missing. You want the detective and police to move faster and figure out where she is. And you feel the gut-punch when you realize she's dead and it's for such a dumb reason, perpetuated by her father. I felt like I was right in the middle of this story, living alongside the neighbors. This was such a good read, so many social commentary aspects, and that final little twist blew my mind!

KILL SHOW just wasn't for me. I love the concept of the book, but it didn't keep my interest like I wanted it to.

It was a fun read and I liked some of the reckoning/introspection it did, but I wish it had played with the oral history format a bit more -- a little more contradiction, a little more aftermath, etc. It felt a little simplistic. But it was an interesting read.