I don’t mind stories with different POVs but I really did not like the way this one was set up. We have Abby and Gia’s manuscript thrown in between, that it was hard to keep up with exactly what is happening in the present. And it takes a while for the manuscript to catch up with the present. I almost did not finish this book. The ending was also unsatisfying because I don’t like books that just leave a cliffhanger for interpretation. I like for it to be buttoned up in some way. I did love the Greek setting and overall terrible demeanor of rich people.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam Publishing for this advanced copy to read and review.

I really liked the premise of this book. I love con stories as well as an unreliable narrator, however the back half of the book lost me. Gia was a little too unreliable as the narrator. The story also got confusing and it was hard to keep the characters and how they were related straight. The ending of the book felt very abrupt and some of the similes (specifically about the bookcase) I found very taxing. However, Wood does have a way with words and describes the scenery and feelings of the characters beautifully. I look forward to reading more of her writing in the future.

Ladykiller is not the classic tale of the "haves" and the "have nots." Gia, one of the "haves" is starting to struggle financially, and she decides to sell her beloved summer home in Greece. Her estranged best friend is to meet her in Sweden to celebrate her birthday; only Gia does not show up. When Gia does not show up, revelations come out about that fated summer in their teens when their relationship began to become strained. Abby, along with Gia's brother, Benny, rush to Greece to unravel the mystery of her whereabouts.

The story is told from Abby and Gia's point of view. Gia is writing a manuscript, so the reader is unsure if it is a minute-by-minute account of true events or if she has embellished her story. This makes the mystery even more intriguing. Everyone seems suspicious so you are left wondering just who really did what!

I was able to read this quickly because I did not want to put it down. Ladykiller is a good mystery and keeps you asking for more.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

A mystery with a wealthy heiress in a beautiful location? Say no more. I was hooked by the description and cover. I feel like the publisher's blurb gave away too much, so I recommend going in somewhat blind. All you need to know is childhood friends make plans for an exotic vacation, but one of them never shows up. There are a lot of twists and turns that keep you guessing. I did find the ending slightly unsatisfying, which is why I give it 3 stars instead of 4.

Ladykiller was unlike a lot of other books I read - in a good way! It started out slowly, setting the scene and getting the reader acquainted with the characters and the setting. Gia is the rich heiress, raised by wealthy parents and sent from boarding school to boarding school, and spending summers at her father’s villa on a small island in Greece, who is now married to a man she barely knows and mostly estranged from her best friend Abby. Abby was the daughter of Gia’s parents’ chef, and was inseparable as a child from Gia, who she was sent with to boarding school with by Gia’s parents. Until the summer they turned 18 and there was a tragedy on the island, when they began to drift apart. Now on the eve of their thirtieth birthdays, Gia invited Abby to join her and her brother Benny in Sweden to reconnect. The morning she’s set to leave, Abby receives an mysterious email hinting at the incident years ago, which she tries to ignore as a random prank and continues to look forward to seeing Benny and Gia. But when she arrives in Sweden with Benny, Gia is nowhere to be seen and they’re unable to get in touch with her. When she continues to receives messages, Abby grows more concerned about Gia and coupled with their inability to get in touch with her, they fly to Greece, only to find the villa vacant except a recently-written memoir. As they race to find Gia, we learn more and more about the past and what may have driven them apart. Told in alternating timelines - Abby in the present and Gia via chapters of her memoir going back a few months, the tension continues to build and build until the end and readers are still left in disbelief. I found it a little slow to start as the scene and characters were being set, but once everything starts to click, I found it so compelling that I raced through the rest of the book quickly. This is a great sexy, sultry thriller perfect for summer, especially if unreliable narrators are your jam! I’ll be looking forward to Katherine Wood’s next book.

I really enjoyed the alternating POVs in this book, especially how they are done. One being a manuscript and the other being a direct POV. It had me guessing the whole time. I also love a good twist, and this book was full of them. I usually don't like ambiguous endings, but this one worked. 4 stars because the description gives away major plot points and it did get a little convoluted towards the end.

I absolutely devoured this book, it’s just so good. The dual POV was fantastic, with one of them being a manuscript of the events leading up to Gia’s disappearance. You never quite know what’s real or who to trust. So many fun, crazy, suspicious characters. The perfect summer thriller.

When I go into reading a thriller, there are always a few aspects of a story that I am kind of expecting. One of those things is that when the "AHA" moment(s) happens at the end, there is some form of realization as to why the person who did certain things, did them in the first place. In this book, I felt a little out of sorts with how much misdirection was in the story and then also with the ending.

Firstly, I was sucked right into the story. It's filled with intrigue, mystery, danger and a whole lot of "what in the world is happening" moments. I especially was interested in Gia's manuscript perspective which was a past tense retelling of her own events leading up to her disappearance. But once the dual timelines came together and the truths were spilling out the sides, I felt slightly left wanting and filled with a whole lot of questions.

There are times when I want to be left with open ended conclusions in the story, much like this one was, but this book left me with a feeling of not really being sure of what actually did happen and what was fabricated. Maybe that's a good thing because I spent many hours after I finished it, going back through all the pieces in my head trying to better understand what actually did happen.

Which is why I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars; it left me with a psychological imprint and was continuously running through my head. Even though I was disappointed not to have all the pieces laid out for me with a full conclusion of "this person did that" and here is your moment of truth, the story certainly stuck with me. It's a well written thriller filled with most of the pieces I want in a good book, but I was left without a clear cut finality.

Want a sneak peek into the jet-set, exotic lifestyle for your next summer read? Katherine Wood’s LADYKILLER has us flying off to Sweden and the gorgeous Greek Isles. And what a trip. WOW.

This is a psychological thriller with dual POV’s, both past and present, that follows two main characters; -Childhood friends Gia, the heiress and Abby, the daughter of their chef.
With secondary characters; -Benny, Gia’s brother and Garrett, Gia’s new husband.

Then—As teenagers the girls were involved in a tragedy while vacationing in Greece that is now directly tied to the present, twelve years later.

Present, one month before—Gia has inherited her late father’s villa in Greece that she has been readying to sell. Staying with her at the villa is her new husband Garrett and other guests. Gia, Abby and Benny have planned to meet the next month at a Swedish resort for Gia’s birthday.

Now—Abby and Benny arrive in Sweden, but Gia has disappeared. They fly to Greece where Abby finds Gia’s unfinished manuscript, in it, is a juicy tell-all describing the last few weeks with her new husband, Bennys actress girlfriend, and these strangers she calls houseguests. Abby feels it will have clues into Gia’s disappearance. As Abby and Benny search for Gia, they realize everyone is hiding something.. their lies being revealed as the story plays out. This keeps the books momentum flowing, doubling the suspense. All these characters are extremely unlikeable.. not a nice one in the bunch, and there’s nothing better than how Wood describes the picturesque Grecian setting and the obnoxious wealth that accompanies it. Wood takes you down this path of crazy with even wilder twists and turns, red herrings.. and the level of greed insatiable. Finding out the truth was near impossible leaving you to question what’s really going on. Short chaptered, a suspensive edge-of-your-seat mystery thriller with an unreliable narrator.. this checked all the boxes for me. Katherine Wood previously wrote under the pseudonym Katherine St. John.
4 stars — Pub. 7/9/24

I received an advanced review copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged, the characters were interesting and the location was perfect. I did not trust or really even like any of the characters, but they were so dimensional and untrustworthy that I could not stop reading. The book very much gave those "I can't look away, even though I probably should" vibes. The book was written in two perspectives, Abby's point of view and Gia's Manuscript. The stories are very much intertwined, as Abby and Gia are best friends from childhood. Gia grew up in ultra wealth and her family took care of Abby financially as a child. Now that they are adults, they live very different lives. Their perspectives, although similar, are not the same, which leaves you wondering what really happened, all the way past the final page. This book takes place in Greece - where Gia lives with her new husband. When she does not show up to celebrate her birthday with Abby and Benny, they find themselves digging up the past to find her. What really happened then and now? And who can be trusted?
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

📚: Ladykiller by Katherine Wood
⭐️: 3.5/5 (rounding down on #goodreads)

The gist: Gia and Abby - childhood best friends, forever tied together after a tragic scandal when they were 18. Now, 12 years later, Abby starts to receive threatening emails as she boards a plane to meet Gia in Europe. Worst yet? Gia’s gone missing.

The good: The last 30% of this read was tension-filled, page-turning suspense. As the past and present timelines converge, this comes to a dizzying conclusion.

The eh: A sloooooooow burn read here, where by 40% in, I was wondering when we’d be really getting to the plot that’s given in the synopsis. I forced this as a one-day read, wanting to finish it as I was afraid that I’d let it drag out for days on end otherwise.

Thank you to @randomhouse Ballantine via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Ladykiller is out this Tuesday 7/9.

This book had me all the way through. Suspense, drama, mystery, a little spice... I really enjoyed it!

Then the last 4% happened. I'm just lost. I was expecting another twist, which didn't really happen. But, I would've settled for just a clear explanation of what really happened to these characters! Is there going to be a sequel? Is that why the ending just dropped off like that? Is that why everything was so vague? The important questions just weren't answered, at least not in my opinion.

I really would've given this a 4.5 or 5 star rating if it didn't end like that. I'm frustrated.
But, because 96% of the book was so good, I'll give it 3⭐️.

As always, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy. Ladykiller is written by Katherine Wood who previously wrote under the name of Katherine St. James. Ladykiller follows Gia an heiress as she works to sell the Greek estate her father left her. Gia ends up going missing and her newlywed husband is the main suspect. Gia’s best friend Abby and Gia’s brother Benny go to Greece to search for Gia. There are many twists and turns along the way. Wood did a great job at casting doubt to each of the characters. The ending left me conflicted on what actually happened and which story was the truth.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Bantam for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book officially publishes on 7/9/24!

I will say right at the top that I do not believe that I am the ideal reader for this novel. To me, this fell pretty flat and I only became invested in the story for about the last 40%. This was a slow burn with a lot of character building, which I typically do not enjoy as a reader - but I know there are a lot of folks that do! That being said, the last 40% was twisty and had the reader guessing up until the last page. Given the location of the novel, I believe it would be a good beach read. If you are someone who needs that immediate “hook” and prefers fast-paced plots, this one may not be for you. However, if you enjoy a slow burn mystery with a little bit of spice I would recommend picking this one up. If you do decide to read this one, please check any relevant trigger warnings before doing so!

Thrillers based around the rich and elite are one of my favorite specific niches of the genre. And Ladykiller was a great fit for that niche and I really enjoyed this one. I really love the switch in POVs between Abby's actual perspective and Gia's manuscript. The suspense was built beautifully and the prose is wonderful. I do wish that there had been a more definitive ending, as I am not personally a big fan of ambiguity.

Ladykiller by Katherine Wood, Gia Torres is still morning the loss of her dad Hugo when she calls to tell her best friend Abby she is getting married to Garrett, a guy no one really knows. When Abby refuses to go to the wedding they argue and she doesn’t speak to her best friend but win an invitation to meet her in Sweden arrives to see the northern lights and celebrate Gia’s birthday Abby agrees to go especially when she finds out Gia‘s brother Benny is also going. In the meantime Gia is staying with her new husband at her Greek Island estate left to her and her father‘s will but despite having a sizable trust fun she seems to be running out of cash this is why she is selling the estate to her step mother. She really gets along great with her husband until she invites a couple they meet Tinman and Amelia to stay with them and when her brother comes to visit with a famous actress in tow things go from bad to worse The actress flirts with everyone except the man who brought her in although Benny couldn’t care less Gia cares enough for the both of them. Fast forward to a month later when Abby and Binny show up in Sweden to meet Gia, Gia doesn’t show. It doesn’t take long for the two to worry about her and when someone from Greece shows up at the lodge in Sweden things just get stranger. This is how Abby finds her self back in Greece at the place where their first tragedy happened will this be the second where is Gia and where is her new husband? I know this review is convoluted and of course there’s way more to the story but just know the summary is also convoluted they don’t get clues from her book, the book may have well been the second POV because that’s exactly what it was but having said that this is still an awesome 360 of a book with twist on top of twist, I mean this book is TWISTY!!! Even though this book is very long I can honestly say I read it all at one time I could not put the book down and didn’t want to but be warned the twists may give you whiplash. Just a quick aside I am so tired of summaries not matching the story… I mean doesn’t the author read the summary before okaying it how could they get it so wrong so many times. Either way I definitely recommend this awesome book!#RandomHouseValentine, #NetGalley, #KatherineWood, #Ladykiller,

Ladykiller
Genre - domestic suspense
Rating - 3.5⭐️/great

Thanks Bantam Books for the advanced digital copy of this one - it's out 7/9🙌🏻

This is a super sexy, exhilarating domestic thriller - the absolute perfect beach read. I went in blind to this book and definitely recommend the same approach with this one - don't read that synopsis!! Told in dual timelines with two POVs, with a rich setting on a remote island in Greece (and secluded resort in Sweden!) this is a perfect escape read for summertime. Rich people behaving badly is a soft spot for me, especially for a summer read, and it was a no brainer to stay up past my bedtime to see how Abby's and Gia's story ended. This story was also low on my gore scale, but high on the dark and twisty side, which I always appreciate.

I felt certain I predicted the ending- I was not even close. Still, I need a solid payoff to push a thriller to 5 star territory for me, and here I personally thought it was a bit lacking, without giving too much away. Despite that I flew through this one and loved reading it. We need more fun books in this world and I’m excited to see this one get the loves that it deserves!

This sounded perfect when it showed up in my email. After getting into it though, it just moved a bit too slow for me. I am picky about rich people behaving badly stories, and this one wasn’t my favorite. I see that it’s getting lots of love, and I’m so happy it is.

"Ladykiller" by Abby and Gia's lifelong friendship takes a dark turn when Gia mysteriously disappears during a mountain retreat she invited Abby and her brother to. As they investigate, they uncover a web of deceit and danger that threatens to consume them both. The novel explores themes of friendship, betrayal, and the lengths people will go to for love and revenge. While the story starts strong and builds suspense effectively, the focus on sexual exploits and the ambiguous ending left me somewhat disengaged and frustrated. Overall, "Ladykiller" offers a thrilling ride with vivid settings and intriguing twists, but falls short in its resolution. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the ARC.

How was this a debut?! Having been to Greece myself, the author did a fantastic job with the sizzling Mediterranean backdrop, with depictions of the hot sun, salty sea, private pools, Greek cuisine, and endless ouzo.

The book starts off with the funeral of Gia's wealthy father, surrounded by all of his ex-wives and children. He leaves Gia an estate on a remote Greek island where she grew up. Gia decides to sell it for 15 million, but has to fix it up first, with her new husband, Garrett who she has only known for four months. We bounce back and forth between Gia's story and her best friend Abby's story, which focuses on Gia's sudden disappearance and the questions surrounding that.

I love this kind of thriller, where everyone is shady, you don't know who to trust, and it plays with your head. The characters brought into Gia's manuscript chapters were so fun and I loved some of the aspects such as the creepy well on the property and the tales surrounding that, as well as the abandoned development with hundreds of identical half-built mini palaces. I couldn't put this one down.

Be sure to check out this summer debut thriller!

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine, and the author for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.