This story had plenty of suspense and mystery to keep my interest. I enjoyed it at first. What really turned me off were the sheer number of sex scenes and descriptions. That just really isn't something that all readers like to read. I think many of those scenes could have been cut without damaging the story's narrative. We get that Gia and her husband have an intense relationship. I felt that those scenes were a bit too much though. It detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

That aside, I did enjoy the elements of mystery and suspense. The story was told with alternating narrators. Abby was narrating her parts in the present. Gia's parts were narrated by her manuscript, which Abby and Benny are reading after Gia's disappearance. Once Gia is back on the scene, the characters interact in the present. The technique worked and gave the reader some insight into the events happening far from where Abby and Benny were staying in a snowy hotel.

I liked the red herring that the author threw in there. I won't give it away though. Even the ending does leave some things up to the imagination.

The settings were done well too. I could really see the beaches and beauty of the setting on the Greek island. And the snowy mountains and the beautiful hotel there were described well. The supporting characters also added to the scenes and brought their own drama to the story.

Overall, it was well-written, but I'd have cut out most of the smut and left just the better elements of the story.

Ladykiller was a propulsive, twisty, exciting read! A take if friendships, drama, and revenge, this is a perfect pool binge.

Dark and twisted. A good mystery thriller that kept me guessing, all the way through that last chapter.

The story may be a bit confusing at first. There are two POV and 2 timelines - there are chapters numbered for Abby and her POV. And there are numbered chapters for Gia POV.

Abby is in the now. She's preparing to visit a childhood best friend she hasn't seen in awhile. Abby has been wrapped up with work and Gia has been recently in a whirlwind romance and a quick wedding.

Gia's chapters are from just a month or so before the now. And she's trying to get her writing going again by writing about her day to day with her new husband while they vacation in a home she recently inherited.

The story is compelling. The chapters may be told from different people and be very different stories, but they hold well being together in one book. Gia's chapters are a bit spicy. She has some pretty intense chemistry with her husband but they are both adventurous and they have a new couple that has befriended them on the island. As you try to work out if everyone is as they say they are, it's hard to stop reading their story, the web is so fun to try to untangle.

I loved the tension and the mystery. Gia's chapters always had a layer of danger to them, as they pushed boundaries and tempers heated. I loved that I never knew what she was going to do next and who to believe. The story had me hooked and the twists kept me guessing. This isn't your average mystery and I loved the feel of reading something that stands out. This one was good!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

As to the who-done-it’s (yes, more than one!), this is a five star, right up through the final pages. Suspicion falls on everyone, and the hints are never convincing enough to point the finger for long.
I do suspect that the privileged lifestyle, drinking, drugs, and sexual activities would be a bit much for a number of our readers, so I won’t recommend it, yet I found it to be a good read. I hope suspicion doesn’t fall here as a result!

But 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.

This story had me jumping from one twisted guess to the next about what could actually be going on. Gia disappeared, but left the manuscript behind that left clues as to what has transpired leading up to her disappearance. Her childhood best friend and her brother try to find determine what has happened to Gia. They have a shared history themselves.

I enjoyed reading this book and playing sleuth and it kept me turning the pages. 3 stars because some areas of the book seemed to drag on too long.

I hated our characters and really liked the book!

Okay, I didn’t hate all the characters. I liked the himbo. But ALL of the other characters sucked.

The first quarter or so of the book, I actually contemplated DNF’ing. Like, who wants to torture themselves with horrible people? But before I knew it, I was hooked. I still hated all but our himbo, but I needed to know what the truth of everything was! From that point forward, I was hooked. The mystery of everything ended up being twisty and compelling and the ended packed a nice little punch.

Everyone but the himbo still sucked, but I ended up really enjoying the book!

• ARC via Publisher

Ladykiller was RIVETING. I could not put this book down and it kept me guessing at every turn! I kept thinking I had “figured it out” only to have another twist thrown my way. I enjoyed all the characters and their unique personalities. Wood also did a great job with the little bits of sexy spice weaved throughout. I truly enjoyed every page, and the final line of Gia’s Manuscript in the epilogue was genius. Can’t wait to read more by this author!

I really loved this book and how the story unfolded through a manuscript within the story! Such a very cool, inception-like vibe of a story within a story. I really liked the mystery in this book as well as the twists and turns, but I did find myself wanting the story to be a little quicker at times. Overall, this was a great read that kept my interest all the way until the end and without spoiling, I’m really hoping for more books!

Wow! That ending! Definitely left me with more questions! I loved how fast paced this was! I think this was the first book I’ve ever read that did flash backs instead of different chapters to go back in time, which was definitely a nice change! So much going on and very entertaining so had me glued to pages wanting to know what happens next! Can’t wait to read the next book she releases!

Wow...I don't even know where to start with this one. For starters, I absolutely LOVED Abby - she's a strong, independent lead actively trying to spearhead her way into the law world. The story goes back and forth between her perspective and a writing piece that her best friend, Gia, is working on. While engaging, this book was pretty long and read as a slow burn rather than your typical, fast-paced thriller. To be honest, I think I would have preferred if they were two companion novels rather than in the same back. Regardless, this story was packed with plenty to think about and would be a great book club discussion pick - plenty of twists that leave you wondering who to trust. Thanks for this ARC!

Ladykillers by Katherine Wood is a two stories in one book that ultimately come together in a mysterious (do I smell a possible sequel?) conclusion. On one side, you meet Abby, who even though she is laser focused on making partner at the law firm she works for, agrees to meet up with her best friend, Gia, and Gia’s brother, Benny, in Sweden to mark seeing the Northern Lights off their bucket list. Abby and Benny make it to the tucked away resort with the glass igloo to best view the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis. The problem: Gia never shows and beyond a few texts, has no contact with anyone.

The other story is told through a manuscript that Gia is writing that she hopes to publish after being off the writing radar for ten years. Gia is living at an estate on a Greek island with her husband, Garrett, that they are renovating in preparation for selling it to one of her deceased father’s wives. Married just a few months after only knowing each other a month before wedding, Garrett is shrouded in mystery. He has asked Gia for money under the guise of saving his shipping company, but when Gia’s accountant looks into the information she shares with him, he comes back to her with more questions than answers.

I liked the flow of the book. I found myself thinking that Gia’s manuscript could honestly be a standalone book of its own, as well as a book just focused on Benny and Abby’s story. You find yourself sucked into the intricate web of deception that is threaded throughout the book. Wood places you in the hot Greek sun, the feel of the sand between your toes and the water cooling your sun kissed skin. I found myself trying to figure out the mystery right up until the end, because you still find yourself trying to determine what the truth really is. That is brilliant storytelling if you keep the reader guessing even after the last page is read, not because of the loose ends, but because there are so many angles to what might’ve happened.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own. This book is set for publication on July 9, 2024. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#netgalley #arc #bookstagram #KatherineWood #Ladykiller #Bantam #PenguinRandomHouse

“Ladykiller” is a highly entertaining novel of mystery and suspense. Set mostly on a gorgeous Greek island, with side trips to Switzerland, Sweden, and London, it’s a story about rich people behaving badly and those who seek to take advantage of them. It’s also a story filled with sensuality, seduction, sex, and surprise.

The promotional materials and many reviewers have more than adequately summarized the plot, so I won’t duplicate their efforts, especially since doing so might inadvertently spoil some of it for readers. Suffice it to say, this is a long but well-written tale filled with interesting characters: some rich and powerful, others parasites or grifters, and still others trying to do the right thing despite past mistakes. Many of the characters can charm. Few are truly likable, much less admirable.

The Greek Island setting is rendered so well that readers should be able to see the white beaches and aqua waters, feel the heat of the day reflected off the town’s white walls, hear the cicadas and jangle of goat bells, and taste the ouzo and moussaka. And the Torres family home author Katherine Wood builds—where much of the novel takes place—is a treat.

The plotting is complex, relies on a number of past secrets, and is filled with twists and turns designed to keep readers guessing. The ending is ambiguous enough to allow them to come to their own conclusions as to what really happened.

My thanks to NetGalley, author Katherine Woods, and publisher Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for providing me with a complementary ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. This book hooked me from the beginning. The epilogue was so engrossing and then I really enjoyed the story as well.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Abby is excited to visit her best friend. When she arrives at the destination her friend has disappeared. This book grabbed my attention from the first page

Who doesn’t love a thriller that begins and ends with a mystery that just might be a secret, or is it? When best friends use money and influence to make a murder seem like something it’s not you wonder how long will the past stay silent until it catches up with them.
Also which friend is lying or embellishing their story to sell copies of a book? Or are they now hiding behind the law to right the wrongs of their past. Follow to best friends down a twisted path of the past that unravels in a new way now to make you question who’s the liar!

Abby and Gia have been friends for ages, bonded after a tragedy that happened in Greece when they were 18. Gia monetized her trauma while Abby immersed herself in trying to good in the world by becoming a lawyer. They have a bit of a falling out when Gia decides to marry Garrett after knowing him for a month. When Gia extends an olive branch by inviting her brother Benny and Abby to see the northern lights in Sweden, everyone drops everything to join her.
The book is told from two perspectives and timelines -- from Gia and Abby her childhood friend. These two points of view eventually converge into the present tense.
I think the characters were really not relatable - we have clueless Gia and realistic Abby - both of which were interesting characters. However, this was an ambiguous read - and I was really hoping we’d get more things tied up. The ending was not my favorite but If you like rich people doing bad things, so shocking you question everything, you'll love this.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for this advanced copy, all thoughts in this book review are my own.

Ladykiller had me intrigued right from the beginning. The cover is gorgeous and the title enticing. I really enjoyed the dual point of views and I feel that this really added to the story. My favorite part was reading the "Chapters" they were very well done and kept the story moving at a fast pace.

Oh my god, did I love this! First, the setting was gorgeous. The characters were Beautiful People With Lots of Flaws - and so many twists and turns! I could not wait to read this book each night and I can't for others to be able to read it. Very Patricia Highsmith/Ripley.

HIGHLY recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.

It's always so difficult to review a mystery without giving anything away! But let me just say this is the kind of book where I got anxious because I didn't trust most of the characters. I couldn't quite piece together why that was, but I knew not everything was as it appeared.

The book is told from two perspectives and timelines -- from Gia a wealthy young woman who is conveying information via an unpublished manuscript and Abby her childhood friend. These two points of view eventually converge into the present tense. And tense it is!

I really enjoyed this book. And would definitely recommend it I you like mysteries and psychological drama.