"Bad Men" invites readers on a rollercoaster of a ride through the twisted world of Saffy Huntley-Oliver, a glamorous socialite with a secret life as a proficient serial killer. The narrative skillfully blends dark humor, suspense, and a touch of romance, creating a unique and addictively readable feminist thriller.

Saffy's character is a complex mix of intelligence, charm, and a chilling moral code that drives her to eliminate society's worst offenders. The tension between her deadly pursuits and the desire for a genuine connection forms the heart of the story. The introduction of Jonathan Desrosiers, a true-crime podcaster with a knack for cracking cold cases, adds a layer of intrigue as he becomes entangled in a murder mystery that puts him on the wrong side of the law.

I gave this three stars because the opening sections were strong, but eventually it became predictable and fell flat.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Overlook Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. Thanks for reading my review!

Seraphina "Saffy" has taken it upon herself to kill Bad Men throughout her life - rapists, murderers, domestic abusers. She started when she was 12 with her pedophile step-father when he went after her 6 year old sister.

Jon is a true crime enthusiast with books and a podcast but when his wife leaves him and he discovers a severed body in a bag on his doorstep, he decides to take step back from his true crime life.

Saffy befriends Jon and together, they tackle the case of whose body was left on Jon's doorstep and who's responsible.

I liked how it switches between Saffy and Jon's POV and I really enjoyed this book but I will say it was slightly predictable. 4/5

Follow me @fueledbycoffeeandbooks2023 for more reviews :)

This was a fast paced read but predictable. The twists were easily guessable. I wish the story line was more focused on Saffy and her “extra curriculars”

A female serial killer staging a meet cute with a true crime writer??
(come on, that plot is actually genius)

A perfect fast-paced and quirky thriller that I genuinely could !! not !! put !! down !! No seriously. I went into this book semi intrigued by the summary but once I started it, this one had me hooked. Honestly at this rate , it was probably one of my favorite reads of 2023.

The main character, Saffy, kills bad men, that's her thing. But, as she gets wrapped up in the life of the love interest, Jon, the two end up working together to solve a murder mystery. The dual POV works quite well with this storyline, providing inner emotions and suspicions that makes you wonder, who is the true murderer? Plus even though Saffy is a sociopath, you can't help but feel for her. Will her "side job" eventually get her caught or not...

Filled to the brim with dark humor, this book needs to be added to your list.

Oh, plus there is an adorable dog that tags along with them everywhere. What's not to love?

I enjoyed this book from page one! The writing is smart and self-aware. The protagonist, Saffy, is remarkably likable for a sociopathic serial killer (who only kills bad men), and the mystery kept me guessing. The chapters written from alternating perspectives keep the reader engaged in experiencing the story from all angles. I highly recommend this read!

What a ride- I found this book to be very readable, but unhinged thriller. This is a story of a feminist serial killer looking for love. It has very dark humor, and is definitely not for anyone who is squeamish. It’s definitely a page turner. I thought the ending was going to be predictable, but then I was surprised!

loved this book about a serial killer who follows her favorite podcaster and wants to find him and fall in love. I loved that he brought out other serial killers and she has a taste for blood. good romance and killer ending . loved it

Overall about a 3.25/.5
The first chapter was really disturbing — the intention i imagine — but still a tough way to get into the story. Then it took a bit for me to settle in because of the alternating narratives. Saffy’s narrative was much more entertaining for me, with witty writing that made it interesting to be in her head, if also quite disturbing. It was a great balance of horror and humor. But Jon’s narrative was more central and I found it to be a bit dry, as Jon just seemed like such a flat character in comparison to Saffy.
Still, it was a fairly engrossing and quick read.

I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book. The book started off with a strong female character who murders her abuser, in a very bizarre, and honestly very unrealistic way. Then from there they girl seems to become a weak woman vying for the attention of a very vanilla man seems to waddle in his own self pity. I felt like the characters lacked depth of emotion. However, as the book progressed, I feel like that may have been a conscious artistic choice. Overall, I think the plot line and idea was good I just wasn't a fan of the writing or execution. The twists were predictable. The title Bad Men had me hoping for "They Never Learn" vibes and it just didn't seem to hit the mark. Thank you for letting me read this book. This will be a hard one for me to rate as I don't believe that it was bad, it just wasn't for me and I hate to give low marks to books that others will genuinely enjoy.

Summary:
Saffy is a proud feminist and lover of true crime. She has a crush on her favorite true crime podcaster, Jon. Saffy is also a vigilante serial killer who is obsessed with Jon. It’s your classic equation for a sweet love story.

Title: Bad Men
Author: Julie Mar Cohen
@juliecohenauthor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
No spice 0/5

Tropes:
Twisty
Bloody Romance
Dark
Clever
There’s a Dog In It

Triggers:
Mention of SA
Violence/Murder
Severed Heads
Trauma


Whitney’s Thoughts:
This is the perfect fall read—it’s a murder mystery, it’s dark, there is hardly anyone you want to root for but you kind of like them anyway. Saffy has a Dexter quality, but more “topple the patriarchy” than “get rid of serial killers”. I loved the twists and turns and seeing things through Jon’s eyes as well as Saffy’s. Lots of bad men, indeed.

3 stars

Big promises here. A female Dexter, heck yes. However, the plot doesn’t really follow through. I suspect this will be a series though, so hopefully we’ll see our MC really become who we want her to be.

All that being said, this would’ve been a great book without the promise of that female Dexter. There wasn’t much serial killing going on here, but the writing was good and again I think this is just the beginning so I won’t write it off just yet.

I have read over 60 thrillers and this my first female serial killer based book. I actually quite enjoyed the plot, but everything felt extremely rushed. The craziest scenes were merely a page long and then quickly resolved. The focus of the book doesn't even end up being about a female serial killer, that part is quite glossed over. It is a super fast read though and took my mind off real life for a while.

Thank you NetGalley and ABRAMS for the digital ARC of this novel.

Personally this book was not my cup of tea! That doesn’t mean that it won’t be yours though so I definitely encourage you to read it ! The plot was just a little too slow to get in to for me.

This one started off really strong for me. I was so excited to read something that reminded me of my favorite show “Dexter”. However about 30% through it took a turn to almost insufferable. It turned to the MC being obsessed and a just a lot of nothing happening.

For a book that started off so strong, it fell flat very quickly.

This was a witty, easy read but often times I kept wondering where the plot was going. I was so interested in the MC especially when we're introduced to her backstory and then the plot centered around Jon...a less than stellar character . Once the two of them met, the plot picked up a little steam, but the overall ending fell flat.

This book interested me because it reminded me of Mindfuck and I absolutely loved that book.

This book begins with Saffy's background and how it led her down the path of killing men, more specifically, killing the most disgusting men alive. Flash forward to the present day, Saffy meets Jon, a true crime podcaster, at his book signing and makes it her missing to create a meet-cute that forms into a relationship - now introducing Girl, the dog with the biggest side-eye I've ever heard of.

I think the premise is fun since it's a lighthearted-ish story about an FMC who is a serial killer and has regular urges like becoming her crush's girlfriend. However, it felt more like a mystery romance since there was still an element of 'who did it' with the current serial killer on the loose and Saffy doing everything in her power to get him to fall for her. It felt more centered on Jon than Saffy since he was the one whose job was to report crimes and help solve them and had the crime brought to his front steps - literally.

Saffy was fun and uncharacteristically upbeat for someone who tortured and killed (bad) living as a hobby. Her sister was included and just felt like an unnecessary character to have since her main purpose was dating a good-for-nothing man who cheats on her all the time. Jon was a bit annoying since he came off as self-centered (thinking everything had to do with him, the killers were obsessed with him, etc.). I loved Girl and how she did everything in her power to act like Saffy was not there, and I don't blame her. I too would side-eye someone who put me in a well for their meet-cute.

Other than that, this book has so much potential and the cover is so cute I'm still planning on buying it because it just looks stunning and it was overall a fun book.

Saffy Huntley-Oliver is a rich and stylish socialite but also a serial killer who targets bad men. She develops a crush on true crime author and podcaster Jonathan Desrosiers. She soon inserts herself into his life just as his marriage is deteriorating and he finds himself at the center of an ongoing murder investigation.
Bad Men is a wickedly fun thriller. It's full of dark humor and addictive storytelling. Saffy’s unconventional quest for love and justice is a refreshing twist to the traditional serial killer narrative and forces readers to question their perceptions of right and wrong.
I do wish we got a bit more of Saffy's serial killing side. After Jonathan is introduced, Saffy unfortunately becomes a bit of a side character when she should really be the star. However, author Julie Mae Cohen expertly plants a number of clues and foreshadowing that seems to indicate we'll be seeing more of Saffy in the future.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and ABRAMS for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this book- I fell in love with the cover but they say never judge a book by its cover. The start of this book was intriguing and the ending definitely gave me the closure- but the middle just drug me through the mud over and over again.

This is story to me jumped around to much from being about a female main character, Staffy or a Seraphina, who wanted to protect women from bad men. To then about a podcaster, Jon, who caught a man who was a murderer which led to him loosing his wife to a divorce and everything he loved. To Amy, the ex wife who hated all things crime related. To then Simon, the biggest fan who loved cats.

Jon and Seraphina meet in a town in Scotland after Jon’s life has gone to shambles and Staffy pretends she knows nothing about this Pod Caster…however she knows everything. These two become close and before you know it Jon starts getting threats sent to him VIA text. From there on it’s a mystery to find out who’s been threatening Jon and why?


*I would say there is slight triggers so please beware of pedophile type references and rape is also mentioned.*

It’s strange; I can’t say that I adored this story, but it was well-paced and action-packed and I couldn’t put it down. I guess it’s super entertaining. Yet, for some obscure reason, I expected Saffy’s murdering-bad-men job to be full time, so I was weirdly wishing there were more murders. In the long while where there isn’t a single murder occurring, in the beginning, Saffy appeared to me like any random character, a bit bland, even though I liked her energy. I can’t say that I connected with either her, her sister, or Jon, and while this story has a love interest, I didn’t believe in them as a pair that would last. Overall, I don’t know what to think of it. I liked it, but I also didn’t :)

Saffy is a gorgeous, intelligent, thrice-over heiress who spends her free time murdering terrible men, taking care of her little sister, and crushing hard on the host of a true crime podcast.

I’m a total sucker for books about charming sociopathic women doing the dirty work of vengeance, and this was such a great addition to the genre. Fast-paced and funny, you’ll 100% be rooting for Saffy to take care of business and get her man.

Perfect for fans of They Never Learn (Layne Fargo), The Change (Kirsten Miller), The Female of the Species (Mindy McGinnis), and Jane Doe (Victoria Helen Stone) - or anyone looking for some feminist escapist fantasy where the bad men are handled and the bad woman is the good guy.