This book is an absolute BANGER!! I found myself ripping through the pages and reading until the small hours of the morning - simply not being able to put my kindle down!

Easily handing over 5 unforgettable and thrilling stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


✨ For fans of The Silent Patient and Gone Girl, a razor-sharp and Hitchcock-inspired psychological thriller about two ordinary women who make a dangerous pact to take revenge for each other after being pushed to the brink.✨

╰┈➤ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂

Amanda has recently lost her young daughter in an extremely tragic way - she was murdered and she knows who has done it but due to his father being a very rich and very powerful man in NYC as well as the perp being careful in his crimes, nothing has stuck and he's a free man just living his life. Shortly after the death of her daughter, he husband who blames himself entirely for her death commits suicide.

Completely alone and with her life utterly shattered... Amanda now has to participate in a court ordered group therapy for grieving parents due to violating the restraining order placed on her for stalking the man she believes killed her daughter.

In group therapy she meets a mother of a young girl who was r@ped and murdered by her school teacher. After getting to know one another over the course of a few days, many drinks and bonding conversations- a plan is hatched. They will swap murder- Amanda will kill the man who r@ped and killed Naomi's daughter and Naomi will in turn kill the man who killed Amanda's daughter... nothing better than revenge to get these grieving mothers the closure they need...

While in another part of the city, Ruth is home alone when the beautiful brownstone she shares with her husband, Scott, is invaded. She’s attacked by a man with piercing blue eyes, who disappears into the night. Will she ever be able to feel safe again while the blue-eyed stranger is out there?


╰┈➤ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼

I'm blown away, I'm speechless, I'm so freaking impressed how these twists crept up on me and I had no clue until the author wanted me to know!

I love thrillers, always have... but to be honest. In recent years, I have really struggled to find some good ones. This story is hands down - extraordinary, cunning, and suspenseful - laced with apprehension and anticipation. Leaving the reader full of fear and anxiety, but NEEDING to know what happens.

I honestly had my heart beating out of my chest as I read as fast as I could while these characters were putting themselves in harms way to do unthinkable things - or to find out the truth to other things. You know what I'm talking about - that feeling of omg don't go there, don't do that- you're going to get caught... omg. I was on the edge of my seat, biting my actual nails!

The story is told in third person with alternating POV's- the main ones being Amanda and Ruth. Sprinkled in are also, Scott's - husband to Ruth as well as the detective working both cases - Farrow.

I would say that right from the first page, the pace is a little slower than I would have expected but still very enjoyable. Once you get to around 25% in - it's off to the races. Plan to stay up until you finish the book!

╰┈➤ 🗣️ 𝓗𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓵𝔂 𝓡𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓕𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓞𝓯:

✔️ Thrillers/Psych Thrillers
✔️ Detectives
✔️ Edge of your seat story telling
✔️ Unexpected twists and turns
✔️Very satisfying conclusion




Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and Steve Cavanagh for the complementary copy in exchange for my honest review. 🌺💗

Earlier this year, I was excited to discover Steve Cavanagh would be releasing a new novel. About 2 years ago, I read one of the novels in his Eddie Flynn series and was very pleasantly surprised. However, I found that Kill for Me, Kill for You did not work as well as Th1rt3en. That being said, I think it will be a super popular book that a lot of people love.

Kill for Me, Kill for You is a psychological thriller that starts with the concept of Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. Two grieving women meet and decide to swap murders in revenge of their murdered children. But fear not, Steve Cavanagh puts a new spin on the old tale and still keeps readers guessing.

Kill for Me, Kill for You is primarily told from two perspectives – that of Ruth, a woman who is the victim of a home invasion, and Amanda, a woman whose spouse and daughter have died. Sprinkled here and there are two additional perspectives from Ruth’s husband, Scott, and the detective on the cases, Farrow. Cavanagh keeps you guessing on how all of these perspectives will converge.

Based upon my previous experience with Cavanagh’s novels, I expected Kill for Me, Kill for You to be faster-paced and pull me in quickly. However, nothing substantial occurs until about 20 percent into the story. That first fifth of narrative is filled with background about the women and the crimes experienced. Once Amanda goes to group therapy, the narrative begins to pick up in pace.

Perhaps I read too many thrillers and watch too many procedurals, but the fact that these two women thought the authorities would be unable to connect them seems naïve. This is particularly so when you consider the knowledge Detective Farrow already possesses about their lives. I typically do not complain about believability in thrillers, but the fact the women are so easily convinced their plot will work seemed a bit ludicrous.

I may have been more accepting of their plan if the two women were more fleshed out characters who felt real. However, all the women in this book felt one-dimensional. While I thought Cavanagh had ample opportunity to develop the novel’s characters, it was readily apparent that he was unsuccessful at embodying a woman’s voice, thoughts, and POV. Consequently, the entire narrative became less believable.

Finally, while the final twist is a fun one, it did not sit well with me. I think the main character’s lack of reaction is what bothers me most. The plausibility of that reaction seems extremely unlikely, and so, I am left sitting uncomfortably with the ending. Every time I think of it, I realize a little more how it does not quite fit.

Overall, I did not love nor did I hate Kill for Me, Kill for You. I found some of the twists super predictable and others I met with mediocre reception. The writing and short chapters propelled the story forward, but the women’s voice and development fell short. I think this novel will have an audience with those that love domestic thrillers with a lot of twists and who do not need everything to be plausible.

Note: I received an electronic advanced reader’s copy of this book from its publisher, Atria Books. Regardless, I always provide a fair and honest review.

📜Kill For Me, Kill For You
✍️Steve Cavanagh
📠Atria Books
📚Mystery/Thriller, Fiction
🗓️Pub date: March 19, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @atriabooks for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨Revenge comes in many different forms. When two women, Amanda and Wendy, meet by chance, they decide to take revenge to the max by killing the men responsible for murdering their kids.

✨However, knowing the police would turn to them if the men end up dead, the women devise a plan. Have an airtight alibi and I’ll kill for you, if you kill for me.

✨Meanwhile across town, another woman, Ruth, is brutally assaulted in the middle of the night in a violent home invasion. How are these crimes connected? Is anyone safe?

✨I thought I would like this more than I actually did. I had a hard time with the dual crimes and different killers and trying to keep the characters straight. It was entertaining, thrilling, and well written, however, maybe only two POVs would have been easier to follow.

#netgalley #killformekillforyou #stevecavanagh #atriabooks #springreleases #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #ivegotbooks #killmewithwords #idratherbereading #thrillerfiction

Two women meet through tragedy in a support group and become fast friends. What would make them able to get on with their lives? Easy, revenge. This seems like the only answer to their pain and their newfound relationship is so intense they are willing to do this for each other.
A high intensity book with believability that two strangers could actually carry this out for each other. But knowing first hand of how they are haunted by their common trauma makes it easy for them to make it happen.
As expected, there are twists that have you turning the pages waiting for the next improbability. You’ll never see it coming!

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for the e-ARC. I've started Steve Cavanagh's Eddie Flynn series many moons ago. However, I've never felt as hooked as I have reading Kill for Me, Kill for You. Our main POV's of the story are Amanda, Ruth and Farrow. Scott (Ruth's husband) has a few chapters, but I considered him as a side. Farrow is the detective who was assigned to work on Ruth and Amanda's cases. One night, Scott left Ruth at home to go hangout with some friends. Around 11:30 that night, Ruth woke to some glass shattering and assumed her husband came home drunk and dropped a glass. When she came downstairs to help, Ruth ended up being attacked and almost left for dead.

Amanda's case is a bit different. Her little girl is murdered and her husband took his own life. Amanda regularly would stalk her daughter's murderer to see if she can just catch him herself. Farrow is trying to help Amanda and Ruth with both of their cases. Amanda goes to a parental bereavement group where she meets another woman Wendy where her daughters killer was never caught. In this case, they decide to swap murders where Wendy will kill Amanda's daughters killer and vise versa.

***SPOILERS***









The twist. WOW. The turning point in the book when we realize Ruth was attacked in 2008 (her chapters are in the past) and Amanda is in 2018. That's when it hit and I had to put my kindle down to process that Ruth was Wendy/Naomi in the bereavement group. Ruth wanted justice for herself when her husband murdered the wrong blue eyed man who attacked Ruth. In the process, Ruth created all these different identities for herself and would con people on murdering men who looked like her attacker in exchange for her "murdering" the others who were conned. Come to find out, Ruth never murdered any of them and the murders she enlisted were of innocent victims. Now that wasn't even the main twist of the book. I'm leaving that out of this review. However, I'm so glad I gave this author another chance as I absolutely loved this book and I am glad Amanda finally found peace in the end.

This was such a good book! I loved the characters, and their story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable. I was very surprised by the ending!

wow I loved this! we follow two main narrators, Amanda and Ruth. Amanda is struggling in the aftermath of her daughter’s murder and husband’s suicide. Amanda meets Wendy in a support group & they form a quick friendship, bonded by their mutual desire for revenge on the men responsible for ruining their lives. so how about a murder swap? Meanwhile, Ruth is struggling to hold on after she was attacked in her own home and nearly killed while her husband was out playing poker with the guys.

I was sucked in immediately to this story. this was fast paced and had me on the edge of my seat. I love twists, especially twists I don’t see coming. 5 star read for me, no question about it. READ THIS BOOK.

thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Steve Cavanagh and Atria books for an ARC. This was such a heart-pounding thriller that kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time! It had so many twists and I was waiting with bated breath to see how the two storylines were going to converge, and glad to report that I wasn't disappointed AT ALL! I had not seen that climax coming and the little twist at the end was definitely a shocker! I loved how the author kept me guessing throughout the entire plot, trying to figure out how everything was connected. If you're a fan of fast-paced suspenseful narratives with well-developed characters, this book is for you!

Ruth is viciously attacked in her own home by a mysterious blue eyed serial killer. Amanda’s family has been destroyed by a murderer as well. She meets a stranger at grief group and they agree to help each other out in the vein of Strangers on a Train. They will each kill for the other for vigilante justice. What could possibly go wrong, and how do these stories relate? You’ve got to read to find out!

This book takes a classic Hitchcock premise of Strangers on a Train and completely upends it. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, found myself completely obsessed with this story, and needing to know what would happen next. That’s truly the mark of a five star thriller for me! Although I ended up guessing one twist, there were several others that took me completely by surprise. I loved the multiple narrators, the separate storylines that left me wondering how they’d converge, and the crazy twists. This book had me completely enthralled from the first pages to the shocking conclusion.

Thank you to Steve Cavanagh and Atria books for sending me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

🚨 NEW FAVORITE THRILLER ALERT

Thank you @atriabooks for my #gifted copy!

Run 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️ do not walk to preorder this book! It’s been awhile since I have been so invested, engaged, and enthralled by a thriller, and @sscav does a fantastic job in his new book.

One day, Amanda and Wendy meet up and agree to k*ll for one another after they learn they have much in common. Another woman, Ruth, is trying to recover from an attack.

Told in alternating POVs and with short chapters, you will not want to put this one down. I binged this one in around 4 hours and stayed up later than I should’ve to finish it. I just could not stop reading.

I loved the plot and how quick it was. Yes, it’s an out there story, but it’s done so well that I had no trouble suspending all disbelief.

The twists in this one were also done very well, and I was surprised by the ending. I really hope there’s a follow up to this book so I can read more!

I highly recommend this one (DM for CW/TW) and suggest setting aside several hours/a day to read it because you’ll want to read it in one sitting.

Out March 19!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#litbylillireviews

Nothing makes me happier than a thriller that keeps me guessing and provides endless twists. As soon as I read the description of this one, I knew it would be a hit for me and it definitely did not let me down.

The first half was a little slower in pacing than I typically prefer, but I was eager to learn how all the characters came together and when the dots would all start to connect. And once the first big twist was revealed, this picked up quite nicely to the point where I struggled to put it down and get anything else done because I wanted to keep reading.

It was hard to root for the characters, but I enjoyed that aspect. I wouldn't say they were particularly unlikeable, they were real and flawed but not in a way that made me dislike them, but I struggled to connect with any of them on a deeper level. But they felt very real and multifaceted. Overall, the writing style was strong and made me like this one so much.

I can't wait to recommend this one to my following leading up to its release and hope to read more novels by this author soon.

This one started a bit slow for me, and I kept thinking it cannot be such a basic Strangers on a Train retelling. But then.......this book totally wowwed me in the second half. About 75% in there is a very large twist that I did not see coming, and that is a very rare thing......and that was not the only twist that totally caught me off guard. I loved so many of the characters in this one, and I would actually love to Fowler and Hernandez (the lead detectives) have a series of their own. The plot was twisty and engaging, and I kept looking forward to getting back to reading it. If you, like me, find it a bit slow at the start, then hold tight because I promise that this book is most definitely worth the read!

Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh is a gripping and twisty psychological thriller that explores the dark side of revenge. The book follows two women, Amanda and Wendy, who meet by chance in a bar and decide to swap murders. They both have a common enemy: a man who ruined their lives and got away with it. But their plan soon spirals out of control, as they discover that nothing is as it seems and that they are not the only ones with secrets. The book is full of suspense, surprises, and clever plot twists that will keep you guessing until the end. Cavanagh is a master of creating complex and realistic characters, who are flawed, vulnerable, and relatable. He also tackles some important themes, such as trauma, justice, and morality, in a nuanced and thought-provoking way. Kill for Me, Kill for You is a brilliant and addictive read that will make you question how far you would go for vengeance.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️

Fast-paced, multiple POVs, short chapters—this was surely a page-turner. The plot twist definitely took me by surprise, but the character’s motivations were just ridiculous. I also wasn’t buying that this character was able to convince THAT many people to do what they wanted them to do. Also found the whole Scott storyline a bit implausible—he’s supposed to be a lawyer, but the actions he took were impulsive, sloppy, and ultimately pointless.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for this ARC!

WOW! The author, Steve Cavanagh did an excellent job of grabbing my attention from the very beginning. I was intrigued by the different story lines--similar in the fact that the women suffered major trauma, but also different enough that I really wanted to find out how they were connected.

After some astonishing twists and turns, with descriptions of an agreement the women made that was shocking, the surprises kept coming.

Anyone who wants to read a well-written psychological thriller should read this book.

Two women, Amanda and Wendy, meet by chance at a support group. Both of them have suffered such terrible losses. Each of them knows the identity of the man who ruined their lives, but the law cannot help them, and they come up with an ingenious plan. They will each kill the person responsible for the other woman’s loss, and there will be nothing to tie them to the crime. It seems like the perfect plan except someone has an ulterior motive.
Then there is Ruth. A woman who is attacked in her own home, and is lucky to be alive. Until the man who did this is caught, Ruth is afraid to leave her hotel room. Too scared to go home, her husband, Scott is the only thing that is helping her barely keep her sanity. How does Ruth relate to Amanda and Wendy? The twists just kept coming and this is one of those books that the less said, the better. The plot kept me just wanting to read just one more chapter, and when everything was wrapped up, I was shocked. An enjoyable read that kept me guessing.

Three women who have suffered great personal tragedy, the type of tragedy that forever changes a life. Three women who are desperate to see justice served and finally feel some measure of peace. Their paths are somehow, someway connected in this clever thriller, but the path this story takes is one of the twistiest I've ever read, and its a nonstop roller coaster ride to those final, stunning answers. 


Kill For Me, Kill For You is a propulsive, intense story that pulled me in from the first paragraph and didn't let up until I turned the final page. I love an author who can trick me into thinking I know what's going on, only to prove me comically wrong in the final pages. Steve Cavanagh made it look easy, and I've never enjoyed being wrong more. This book is a smart, unpredictable thriller and an easy 5 stars. I'll for sure be reading more from this author.


Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read an early copy of this book.

Kill for Me, Kill for You is a takeoff on Strangers on a Train. But don’t worry, it quickly veers in another direction with the first of many twists. Two mothers who have each lost a child, meet and bond over their desire to see justice done. They agree to seek revenge for each other. Meanwhile, a woman has been attacked in her own home and left traumatized.
Cavanagh does a good job of writing out scenes, especially violent ones. The story moves at a brisk pace. Of course there are multiple plot twists, some of which it was easy to see coming. The major twist was an interesting concept, but it was just a little too out there for me. As the story went on, I stuck with it just to see how it would all resolve.
Chapters alternate between Amanda, Ruth and Farrow, a detective. I wasn’t impressed with either of the women, neither of whom felt real. This is a story to read for the thrill, not for any character development.
I am a fan of Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series, so I will continue with them.
My thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.

4.5 stars. I'm usually more into character-driven stories when it comes to mystery thrillers, but this very plot-driven book just hits! It reads like a three-star book for the first half, but once the story picks up, the author just hits you with plot twist after plot twist. More importantly, those plot twists MAKE SENSE. My personal pet peeve with thrillers is when the author intentionally withholds important details from the readers. Like no way you're gonna find out who's the killer, and in the end, you can easily swap the identity of the killer to any character in the book. But Steve Cavanagh did an amazing job planting shocking plot points without treating his readers like idiots.

Another thing I really enjoy is the characters. By the end of the book, I felt so conflicted with almost all the characters. Steve Cavanagh successfully captures the complexity of humanity. You can't tell right from wrong, and you don't know if you love or hate those characters. Oh but I do know I love detective Farrow:)

I will recommend this book to all kinds of mystery thriller readers!

This was a book and author I’d heard nothing about until I both got a free copy from the publisher (with rave reviews online) and I saw it’s a possible March pick for BOTM club. Figured I’d check out what the fuss was about!

The book mostly follows Ruth, who is brutally attacked in her home by a blue eyed man. Meanwhile Amanda is reeling from the kidnapping and murder of her daughter, and then the suicide of her husband. We also meet a bunch of police detectives who are involved in both cases. Anything more than that and it’s probably too much as this is one of those books it’s best to go into blind.

This books certainly was one I had a hard time putting down. I had absolutely no clue why the stories were connected until the end. The writing is good to fair, though an American editor probably should have done another one over- no one calls subway cars carriages for example and no one goes to Greenwich Village - it’s east or west. In any event aside from some weird turns of phrase that no American would say it was a solid book. Like a lot of thriller I didn’t quite get some of the motivation of people involved but my attention was captured and I furiously turned the pages to find out the ending. If you enjoy twisty thrillers and can hold your suspension of disbelief this will be one you’ll want to pick up.