4.5 stars! I loved this juicy, drama filled spicy suspense book! I was hooked in from the start and had such a hard time putting it down. I flew through it in 2 days and found myself glued to the pages and needing to know what happened next! It was full of twists, unreliable narrators, secrets and untrustworthy characters. It was full of tension and such a wild ride for sure! The only negative part for me was the somewhat open ending with loose ends as I usually like stories to end cleanly and with all loose ends tied up but other than that I absolutely loved this one! I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Bantam publishing for the early digital copy for my honest thoughts and review!

This was insanely good! Addictive and thrilling. A total must read. Katherine Wood is a master of the twists and turns.

A perfect quick, engaging summer thriller! I love any type of rich people drama and her books never disappoint on that front. I could really visualize all the scenes and felt like I was overlooking the beautiful water in Greece myself. I was not used to the spicy / romantic scenes that were intertwined so that was a different twist for me. I thought the plot was realistic enough to figure out but also keep you engaged. I liked the somewhat open ended reveal and ending and the twists of Emilia’s reveal. I would recommend!

Gia and Abby were best friends growing up, despite the fact that Gia is a rich heiress and Abby is the daughter of the cook. But when they were eighteen, tragedy in Greece both bonded and changed their friendship forever. Now, twelve years later, Gia wants Abby to join her on vacation, only she never shows up. Abby and Gia's brother Benny set off to find out what's going on, and their journey takes them right back to Greece.

This was a decent read, with plenty of twists and lies to keep everyone suspect and borderline unlikeable. I felt the relationship between Abby and Benny was unnecessary and just took up space in the story that could have been used to delve more into Gia and her crowd.

3-1/2 stars rounded up to 4 because it was entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available July 9, 2024.

I found the story to be interesting enough that I wanted to know the end. But I didn't feel attached to the characters. I got confused by the story being told by Gia and the paragraphs of her manuscript. Since the characters in the manuscript had the same names, I couldn't distinguish between them. The revelations made were slow coming and then felt rushed into the end of the book. I do better when I relate to one of the characters and in this one I didn't. The writing was done well. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I was super intrigued by this story and wanted to know what happened. I was pulled in by the description of the story and the cover. I enjoyed the dual pov's of Abby from the present and Gia as a manuscript she had written out.

The twists were a little messy however and they felt a bit out of context so I didn't fully connect with them. Thus the three stars.

2.5 stars

Ugh this kills me to say because I have LOVED every other book that this author has written but... this one didn't do it for me. Nooo.

The premise sounded so promising. A greek setting? Yes please. A mysterious violent event plaguing a friendship? Yes please. Forbidden love between best friend and best friend's brother. Yes please.

So how did this let me down so hard????

Okay, first of all, this book is definitely sexy. Like super sexy. Way more sexy than I had ever anticipated in a thriller. This gave me the vibes of one of those erotic thriller films from the 80s and 90s like Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. This also fell into the "con" tropes and I may be learning that those aren't my favorite stories to read unless they have something super unique to them and this did not. The ending was incredibly drawn out and started to lose my interest pretty swiftly.

I think my biggest issue with the book though was a plot choice that the author made that I absolutely abhor. I cannot stand when an author writes in a plot line of sexual assault and then as the book progresses we find out that the assault was a lie/never happened. In this case, which I don't think is a spoiler because this should never be used as a twist/reveal in a book, we find out that a character we believe was sexually assaulted from the very start of the book was actually just caught having consensual sex and went along with the lie of it being sexual assault to avoid getting in trouble. That's fucking nasty. It is 2024. Stop writing false sexual assault claims like they happen all the time. False reporting rarely ever happens and when authors keep writing it as plot points and twist reveals it just continues to contribute to the idea that false reporting is the rampant problem and we should question victims when they report their attacks. Stop it.

Ultimately, I think that this book just tried to do too much but ended up doing too little instead. I will still pick up the next thing this author writes and hope that it does much better for me than this did.

This book was impulsively readable. It hooked me right from the beginning and kept me flipping pages. The characters were flawed and interesting, the mystery kept me engaged, and I was genuinely invested in the plot. Where this fell short for me was at the end. Although I enjoy when books don’t give you all the answers, I felt like this book gave us no answered at all. Nothing was tied up and we’re left with most of the plot threads unanswered. It was a little frustrating because I felt like there was a shift towards the end and I lost all engagement with the book. I’m so sad because I honestly was lovingly this story up until the end.

I received an ARC of this book. I really enjoyed this complex thriller. Great story with lots of twists. It kept me reading until the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to Ladykiller!

I enjoyed this book overall but the ending left me wanting more. If you're looking for an engaging thriller with some twists and turns that don't give you whiplash but also an unresolved ending this could be the one for you. The settings of this book in Greece and Sweden left me wanting to travel, but in the end, this book was a like not a love for me.

“Ladykiller,” by Katherine Wood, Bantam, 368 pages, July 9, 2024.

Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood. Gia is a wealthy heiress. Abby’s mother was the family’s cook. Gia’s brother, Benny, writes screenplays.

When they were 18, Abby was attacked by Gia’s stalker. Gia killed the man and later wrote a memoir about the attack. Abby said that her memory is substantially different than Gia's book, but Abby kept quiet.

Gia and Abby are now 30. Abby is an attorney. Gia is newly married to Garrett. When Gia invites Abby on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden to celebrate her birthday, Abby accepts.

But on the day of her flight, Abby receives an ominous email. When Abby and Benny arrive in Sweden, Gia isn’t there. Worried, Abby and Benny fly to Greece, where they find Gia’s beachfront estate deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts a manuscript she wrote. Pages from Gia’s journal details the trouble in her marriage and her finances.

The novel starts out strong, but fizzles out. The characters are unlikeable, especially Gia who is an egotistical clueless rich person. The plot is convoluted and the ending is vague.

I rate it three out of five stars.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

An heiress goes missing and her best friend and brother stop at nothing to find her.

This will be a short and sweet review. It kept my attention, was full of unreliable narrators and con artists. No one could be trusted. There were twists and turns and I loved the part of the book told from Gia (the heiress)’s manuscript. The first half is slower than the second, the ending a bit ambiguous. You may have some questions you wish were answered.

And this cover!! How gorgeous?! It really drew me in and made me want to request this book on netgalley.

Also- fun fact: Katherine St. John wrote this under a new pen name!

This story hooked me from the very beginning! It is fast paced and has many twists.. Great, thrilling beach read!

This review will be posted on July 9, 2024 to: https://instagram.com/amandas.bookshelf

Rich people with rich people problems is no longer a plot I'm interested in. It's not my thing. If it's your thing, no shade, you'll enjoy this more than me. That said, I had some mechanical issues that got in the way of my reading experience. I don't mind alternating perspectives, but I found the Gia chapters better written and, frankly, more interesting than the Abby ones. They felt so markedly different that I double checked if this was a co-author situation. (Or, maybe I just didn't care for Abby and/or her character's voice.) I found the plot's resolution confusing and messy. I think I clocked two unresolved plot points and, frankly, I didn't think the given explanation covered *every* element of the mystery. The plot holes felt like oversights as opposed to an ambiguous ending, which is what I think was the intent. Overall, I was underwhelmed by this. I wish this had been a standard thriller as opposed to book that leaned heavily into GONE GIRL tropes. #LadyKiller Rating: ☹️ / didn't like it
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This book is scheduled for publication on July 9, 2024. Thank you Bantam @randomhouse for providing me this digital ARC via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ladykiller
A Novel by Katherine Wood

My thanks to RandomHouse and Net Galley for the advanced reader copy of this book. The story has multiple narrators, good characters and a mystery you’ll want solved.

Wealthy Gia, brother Benny and lifelong friend Abby have a history. Most of the action takes place in Greece where Gia, after her father’s death, is ready to sell the family mansion there. Things go bad after Gia marries Garrett after a one month romance.

There is a thread carried throughout the story which complicates this three way friendship. More characters are introduced which add even more complexity, such as deception, suspicion and tension. I recommend this story for readers who like an early hook and a story which will keep them engaged. Four stars.

Happy publishing day! (Note, I do not reword the publisher's description as I believe they do a much better job of it and you can find their "blurb" at the end of my review.)

This was quite a ride. I loved the twists and turns the story took along the way to the, in my opinion, very satisfying end. (Full disclosure: I am particularly fond of ambiguous endings, provided the novel is done right and Ms Wood definitely gets it right with Ladykiller.) The author was very effective in setting the scenes and drawing the reader in so that it felt like one was right there with the characters, almost like watching a play rather than reading a novel.

I especially like when an author lets the characters speak for themselves and allows the story to unfold via dialogue rather than just narration. Not one character in the book is all "baddie" or all "goodie" and, in my opinion, that makes for a much more enjoyable read. This novel is a true psychological thriller which had me veering in different directions almost with every chapter, in a very good way. I found myself thinking about it well after I finished the last page and that, I think, speaks volumes.

Thank you to Katherine Wood, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review. My review can also be found on Goodreads.

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Publisher's "blurb":
Everyone has a story. But not everyone’s story is true.

When a young woman vanishes from her remote Greek island estate, her best friend races to find her, using clues found in the explosive manuscript she left behind.

“Full of sun, sex, money, and greed, not since Gone Girl have unreliable narrators been this fun.”—Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters

Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were eighteen. Now thirty, heiress Gia is back in Greece with her shiny new husband, entertaining glamorous guests with champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun, while bookish Abby is working fourteen-hour days as an attorney. When Gia invites Abby on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden to celebrate her birthday, Abby’s thrilled to reconnect.

But on the day of her flight, Abby receives an ominous email that threatens to unearth the skeletons of her past, and when she and Gia’s brother, Benny, arrive in Sweden, Gia isn’t there. Worried, Abby and Benny fly to Greece, where they find Gia’s beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts the manuscript she penned, detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. Gia’s narrative reveals the dark truth about her provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of their seductive guests, a story almost too scandalous to be believed. But the pages end abruptly, leaving more questions than answers.

How much of Gia’s story is true? Where is she now? And will Abby find her before it’s too late?

This is a fast-paced story that keeps you guessing. I am still not sure if Gia is really a psychopathic killer or a genuinely nice person. Even her best friend and brother aren't sure about her. Interesting story.

LADYKILLER by Katherine Wood was a twisty, captivating marvel of a story -- past and present colliding when old friends Gia, Abby, and Gia's brother Benny are set to celebrate Gia's birthday in Sweden, without Gia's new husband. When Gia fails to show up as planned, Abby and Benny go to her Greek estate where the only clue to the deserted mansion is Gia's manuscript detailing her current life. Years ago, when the trio was eighteen, a brutal crime changed everything for them, but as different as their lives are now, they are still bound by memories and deep affection. .Those memories and trust in one another are sorely challenged as Abby and Benny race to find Gia, being forced to confront the unthinkable and come to terms with what they did and who they are today. For me, the inclusion of Gia's manuscript to speak for the missing woman was a welcome and fascinating perspective in a wonderfully crafted, well-characterized story. Wood's depiction of Abby was particularly realistic and enjoyable -- I deeply empathized with her yearning, her ambitions, and her anxieties, questions, and confusion. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

What an engaging, intriguing, thrilling story. Fast paced, complex, keeps you wondering and wondering and wondering. Even though as opposite as can be, Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood, and Gia’s brother Benny has always been in the picture, too. They’ve kept in touch since a tragedy occurred when they were eighteen, have still remained close but made very different lives for themselves. Gia is an heiress and acts the part, except now that her father has died and left all his money to charity her lifestyle might need to be crimped a bit. Abby studied, studied, studied and now works, works, works. Gia’s impulsive marriage put a little crack in their relationship but it doesn’t seem to be anything they can’t get past. After initial hesitation, Abby is looking forward to their reunion.

Gia invites Abby to go to Sweden to celebrate her, Gia’s, birthday. No husband. Just Gia, Abby and Benny, like the old days. This little holiday doesn’t go quite as planned, though. Right before she is to leave, Abby receives an anonymous email that sounds like blackmail. When Abby and Benny arrive in Sweden: no Gia. When they fly to her estate in Greece: still no Gia, no husband, no one there.

As the story progresses the narrative flips between the present as Abby and Benny frantically try to figure out what is going on and find Gia, and to chapters from the memoir Gia wrote a decade ago. Lies are uncovered and secrets revealed. No idea who they can trust and can’t find Gia.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Publishing Group for providing an advance copy of Ladykiller via NetGalley. It is full of mystery and suspense, opening up like peeling an onion. The more Abby and Benny learn they more they don’t understand. It’s a book that will captivate you and I recommend it without hesitation. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

Ladykiller by Katherine Wood was a edgy, compelling drama!
The characters were interesting and very entertaining, wonderful setting and the twisty storyline is really intriguing.
I got so engrossed in this story. I loved the writing style and the twists just kept coming. I honestly found it hard to put down.

Thank You NetGalley and Random House, Ballantine & Bantam for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!