I loved the setting for this story, and could imagine the characters vacationing in Greece. It was very atmospheric. This story is told in alternating POVs through Gia’s manuscript and Abby in the present day. The characters were well written, though many of them were unlikeable. I didn’t know who to trust, and the mystery and suspense was well done. I was curious to see what was actually going on, but never get a clear answer as to what really happened. This would make a great buddy read, or book club read so that you can discuss thought and theories with someone. I would recommend this one is you like ambiguous endings.

Favorite quote: “Time is like water; some of it is clear and some of it is murky, but the more that stands between you and the past you’ve buried, the less that you can see it.”

This was an interesting domestic thriller, and I wonder if I had read it at a different time if I would have enjoyed it more. The naive woman who marries a monster and finds out once he “changes” gets old to me, but I understand how it played into this book. I just didn’t enjoy it and it made me want to the book down on Gia’s chapters. I also didn’t love the ending. I would have liked it to be a little more solid. I also didn’t think that Benny’s plan of having it both ways was going to work out. The book is told in two perspectives Abby’s in current time and Gia’s new journal she calls her manuscript. Abby and Gia were as close as sisters when they were young, despite Abby’s mother working for Gia’s family. They drifted apart after a traumatic incident in their early adulthood but Gia has reached out inviting Abby and Gia’s brother Benny to Sweden for Gia’s birthday. Despite misgivings Abby goes, but what promised to be a fun weekend turned to worry when Gia appears to be missing. The hunt to find Gia leads down a path of secrets Abby wasn’t expecting to find.

The Ladykiller is an interesting read.

Kind of gives off soap opera vibes.

Who can you trust? The two best friends, the brother or the new husband? Any of them?

Definitely not one you can predict from the beginning. Lots of drama and red herrings in this one.

The cover is great and what drew me to this book.

A great beach read full of questions.

Thanks to netgalley and Ballantine for the arc.

LADYKILLER has a juicy plot and a lavish, sparkling setting, but don’t come looking for answers - enjoy the ride.

It is a story of money, lust, lies, and deception. But who is fooling who?

Gia and Abby are childhood best friends with a shared dark tragedy. Having gone their separate ways over the years, Gia, the heiress, is missing, and Abby is desperate to find her before the truth might surface.

Told through Gia’s manuscript and Abby’s point of view, it gives us insight into their lives but leaves a lot of room for questions. There is a mystery in here. But I found it to have all the makings for a sensual domestic /psychological drama.

The shimmering cerulean waters of Greece, the con artists, and the toxic friendships made up for the unresolved ending, but I know some of you will want answers. I guess it’s up to our imagination to figure out who really was the Ladykiller or if we had all been conned.


Thank you @penguinrandomhouse for a gifted ebook via NetGalley.

Thank you @PRHaudio for the gifted audiobook.

Ladykiller was a sorta slow start for me. I did love the Beautiful back drop of Greece. Told from different characters points of view always makes for an interesting story. Abby, Gia and Benny have known each other forever, one summer everything changes. Gia wrote a memoir of that summer but what’s true and what’s fabricated. Now 12 years later Gia goes missing and Abby finds a manuscript. Will it lead to Gia? I do feel that after the slow start the story takes off.

Thank you NetGalley and Katherine Wood for this e-book. This review is my honest opinion on this book.

This thriller will make the perfect addition to everyone's summer TBR!

This book was giving "if it sounds too good to be true... it probably is." Trauma bonded lifelong friends are looking to reconnect in an all expenses paid trip to Sweden to celebrate a birthday. Rich people... gorgeous backdrops... and unexpected twists and turns sprinkled with some unexpected delicious scandal - this one will either be a love or a hate story of the summer.

Thrillers with rich people are usually the most fun because horrible things are happening against beautiful backdrops. This one takes us to luxurious mountain lodges and gorgeous Greek isles. This book is a very capable thriller that keeps you invested in the characters and keeps the tension high.

“Time is like water, some of it clear and some of it is murky, but the more that stands between you and the past you’ve buried, the less you can see it.”

I have not really seen anything about Ladykiller, the debut novel by Katherine Wood. But between the title, cover and the synopsis I was intrigued.

You know what they say there is three sides to every story. That is exactly what this book was. Gia, the rich heiress who in the wake of loosing her father got hastily married and Abby, the child of the family chef, who was Gia’s best friend.
The manuscript, from Gia’s POV or the present story line from Abby’s POV.

I usually don’t love when stories are not wrapped up at the end. But strangely I didn’t mind it for this book. Ladykiller kept me guessing and drawing my own conclusions throughout the book and now after I have finished. Was the truth more than manuscript or was it the story?! Or did it lie somewhere between the two?! I found myself toggling back and forth between the two and what to believe.

Also just to note the abandoned island mentioned in the book, Palaces at Kampos, was so similar to the abandoned Burj al Babas in Turkey. If you haven’t heard of it, it is definitely something to look up. It is wild to see.

Thank you Penguin Random House and Netgalley for this eARC copy to read and review.

This book was fun and zany. Usually, I don't enjoy this type of genre, but this book was addicting. Great writing, great story, but overall, I don't think it's very memorable or groundbreaking. A solid decent read by an exciting new author.

This had all the thrills and chills you want with the plots twist that have me still second guessing the ending. I feel a bit like I did after reading Verity and trying to decide what side I lean on. Though that just shows how well this was written and I can’t wait to see more from this Author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for the eARC.

If you like beautiful settings, friendships cemented in tragedy, and an unreliable narrator then Katherine Wood has written the exact book for you. I really enjoyed this novel, and really was unsure of who to trust and what was real. 4/5 stars for me! A great summer thriller.

"Ladykiller" is a thriller that follows two childhood friends, Gia and Abby, whose lives were forever changed by a tragic event in Greece (because Greece). Gia wrote a memoir (because narcissism) while Abby became a lawyer (because counterbalance). Now, they're 30, and Gia's gone missing. Her brother and Abby search for her, but all they find is a manuscript that raises more questions than answers. So far, so good. The story's told in alternating POVs, with Abby's chapters in the present and Gia's manuscript filling in the past - or not. The twist? Gia's manuscript is about as reliable as a Twitter user claiming to be a "journalist." Yet, the uncertainty works... until it doesn't. The ending reads like a Reddit thread, which might be your thing, no judgement. Readability score is high, but resolution takes us back to counterbalance.

3.5/5 ⭐️
Abby’s best friend Gia is a rich heiress who is recently married after a whirlwind romance. When Gia fails to show up to a holiday in Sweden, Abby and Gia’s brother become convinced something has happened to her and try to find her before it’s too late.

This seems to be another in a recent trend of thrillers that feature diary entries from what later turns out to be an unreliable narrator. Because I’ve read others like that recently, I was inherently distrusting of Gia’s memoir chapters. Because of that, I feel like there was not really a twist for me. It also ended in a super unsatisfying way in my opinion. It felt like the author almost didn’t know how to wrap it up? A decent thriller overall and maybe someone that has not recently experienced the unreliable diary entries in another book would get a bigger twist here.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone has a story. But not everyone's story is true.

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

Ok I tried. I really did. I tried to start this book several times. I put it down. Came back. But I just could not get invested in it. I am not sure if it was the story flip flopping between Abby and Gia’s manuscript that tripped me up, but I just was not drawn into their world.

Thanks for the free ARC Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and the author.

A fun spin on the Talented Mr Ripley trope of rich dilettantes scammed by grifters. But who is grifting whom? Ladykillers keeps you guessing as the case of a missing heiress is investigated by her best friend, a woman of modest means with secrets of her own. Surprisingly fun!

I am a big fan of this author's work under her previous pen name, Katherine St. John. LADYKILLER was a juicy thriller with a gorgeous setting and rich people problems. I completely ate up the first third of the book. There was a bit of a lull for me in the middle and it left me wanting more.

I was definitely getting White Lotus vibes from this one with all of the crazy, unsettling dynamics between the characters. I never knew who I could trust. The ending wasn't very satisfying for me because it was left open-ended and I had too many questions. However, I've seen some people say they liked that the ending was open for interpretation.

The synopsis was promising but the book was so poorly written that it was a struggle to finish. I do not recommend it.

Who can you trust? Who's telling the truth? What's been exaggerated? Who's real?

Gia and Abby have been best friends ever since Gia's mom has worked for Abby's family and an unspeakable tragedy bonded them. Years later, the two have a falling out when Gia refuses to give Abby her blessing to marry a guy Abby barely knows. However, when Gia receives an email from Abby asking her to come to Greece for Abby's birthday, Gia hesitantly agrees to come. What unfolds is a multitude of secrets, betrayals, hookups, and breakups.


There were very few moments that I could guess in this book, which I loved! There were a ton of twists and this book kept me on the edge of my seats for the whole read! I don't normally love an unreliable narrator, but this one was done is such a fun way! My only complaint was that it was hard to know what timeline we were in sometimes as they weren't always laid out. The author would switch timelines mid chapter without any preamble and it confused me sometimes.

But this was definitely a fun, tense, thrilling read! Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing - Ballentine for an eARC of this book! All opinions are my own!

Destination thrillers are becoming a favorite for me. This one transported me to Greece. Reading Gia’s manuscript feels like a fever dream and definitely brings the Talented Mr. Ripley that I can only assume Wood was going for. This has lies, deception, sex and everything else you want in a summer thriller. And hey, maybe don’t marry someone you’ve known for 2 months?

Abby Corman and Gia Torres have been best friends almost all their lives. When Abby’s mother took the position as personal chef to the Torres family all those years ago, neither girl envisioned how close they would eventually become. Abby was dazzled by Gia’s charm and daredevil attitude, while Gia was steadied by Abby’s more sensible presence. Gia’s wealthy father Hugo even took a shine to Abby, paying for her schooling and vacations so that the best friends would never have to spend too much time apart.

Abby has since grown up to be a corporate lawyer, while Gia travels the world as an acclaimed memoirist. The women keep in constant touch, but even so, Abby is taken aback at receiving an unexpected wedding invitation from her bestie. Gia has only been dating Garett Hoegg for a few weeks now, but is certain that theirs is a lasting passion worthy of matrimony. Both Abby and Benny, Gia’s younger brother, caution her to take more time. Gia agrees to get Garrett to at least sign a prenup but marries him almost immediately after. The newlyweds then jet off to live on the Greek estate where Gia, Abby and Benny spent so many of their own summers growing up.

As is the way of such things, Gia soon comes to regret her hastiness. She doesn’t mind giving Garrett money to help tide over his shipping business, but other facets of his personality begin to bother her more and more. When Benny comes to visit with his latest actress girlfriend in tow, things come to a head, with Gia taking an intense dislike to the newcomer:

QUOTE
It’s unfortunate, because I haven’t seen my brother in months and I’d like to spend some quality time with him, but not if it means spending time with her. Or even worse, leaving her alone with Garrett.

Though perhaps she’d be doing me a favor, taking him off my hands.

I don’t mean that. But after yesterday, I think it’s safe to say the honeymoon is over, and I wonder if I made the right choice in marrying him. I wanted passion and excitement and unpredictability, but maybe those aren’t the right ingredients for a marriage. Maybe Abby was right.
END QUOTE

Several months later, Benny and Abby each get an invitation to celebrate Gia’s thirtieth birthday with her in Sweden, just the three of them once more. They’re surprised but willing enough to upend their schedules to meet, especially since they’re both starting to suspect that Gia has finally come to her senses regarding her hasty marriage. But when Gia doesn’t show up, sending only a series of increasingly weird and unlikely emails to excuse herself, the pair decide to fly to Greece to figure out what’s going on.

Abby does not have the best memories of the last extended period of time she spent on the islands. If the typewritten memoir she and Benny find in the deserted Torres estate is any indication, Greece hasn’t been the happiest place for Gia recently either. As they begin to search for their missing loved one, the manuscript becomes their main source of clues. Will they be able to follow it and find her before the very worst happens?

Told from the perspectives of both Abby and Gia, this is a novel that examines the cost of keeping up appearances while harboring devastating secrets. Despite their seeming closeness, Abby and Gia have plenty to hide, from the world and from each other. Soon enough, Abby’s quest to find her friend has her unsure of whether she’s become inextricably entangled in someone’s sick idea of vengeance for crimes Abby long thought buried. When she tries to come clean to a local authority about what really happened the last time she was in Greece, he gives her some sage advice, under the guise of asking if she knows what a remora is:

QUOTE
“It’s a fish about this big”--he held his hands three feet apart–”with a suction cup it uses to latch onto sharks. The remora keeps the shark clean, and the shark provides protection and food for the remora. But if the remora becomes too annoying, or the shark is particularly hungry, it will eat the remora.”

I drew back. “Are you saying I’m a… parasite?”

He shook his head. “It’s a mutually beneficial relationship between the shark and the remora, but the shark always has the upper hand. Do you understand what I’m saying? A shark may provide for you, but it will never be your friend.[“]
END QUOTE

The social commentary is pitch perfect in this novel of wealthy killers and thieves. Ladykiller has all the intoxicating ingredients of a thrilling beach read, with its unreliable narrators and gorgeous settings, but chooses to inject a dose of elevated literary philosophy into the mix towards the end. Even as a reader who is deeply in love with metafiction, I thought that the ambiguous ending was not as strong as the rest of the otherwise solidly glamorous and sordidly sensational novel. That same ending does, however, provide an interesting change of pace from the rest of the subgenre, with the novel as a whole being an entertaining riff on jetsetting summer escapism.