What a pageturner! I read this in two sittings. It grabs you right away and doesn’t let go. None of the characters are likable. They already all liars. There is just enough truth that you are left wondering who, if any, are telling the truth.. Just when you think you have the worst of them figured out, there is a twist and it goes into a different direction. Even the ending leaves you guessing. Great debut novel.

Utterly fantastic - One of my favorite reads of 2023! Ladykiller was a mind boggling, twisty thriller that I truly couldn’t put down. I think I still need some time to process this, because I’m not convinced on what was truth and what was lies. I found myself jumping to conclusions, just as Abby was doing, and then changing my tune when I learned new pieces of information. Everyone in the story had something to hide and something to lose. Will you be able to unravel the mystery?

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an ARC of Ladykiller in exchange for an honest review. Regrettably, my honesty is not complimentary.

First and foremost, the genre of this thriller is close to pornographic. Exceedingly smutty. I am appalled by the lewd and crude scenarios and dialogue. The mystery is compelling, however, and I learned to skim and skip large segments when I determined the crude, crass, and vulgar content was approaching.

Once I concentrated on the mystery content and found I could skip the aforementioned, I was hooked on the mystery. But there are a lot of factors at play. Something terribly tragic that happened twelve years earlier, Abby and Noah, or was it Gia and Noah, Abby and Benny, the three con artists: Garret, Emelia and Tim, and the main unlikeable, narcissistic character, Gia. There are a lot of scenarios at play as well: the unfinished castles, the mother in a sanatorium in Switzerland; dead goats no one but Gia witnesses; a contaminated well who Gia claims is cursed and she throws peace offerings down the well to appease the evil spirit ( this is addressed ad ad nauseam yet with no revelation concerning it); employed help whose identity can’t be confirmed; the plight of the kitchen cook crying- on and on and on. A. LOT is never explained or resolved.

It is a slow burn, finally building up to the rising action very late in the narrative. There are twists and turns galore, building tension and excitement. Chapters alternate between Abby’s perspective and Gia’s manuscript. That becomes confusing as the chapters are written entirely at different time periods. The reader is kept guessing until the very end: who is the ladykiller? Regrettably, the reader is kept guessing after the story ends. There is no conclusive resolution to the who-done-it. It is a huge disappointment, having been psyched for a killer ending, then..….poof. Unanswered questions and unresolved scenarios- very unsatisfactory denouement.

I was asked to review the novel, “Ladykiller” by Katherine Wood. Other than knowing this book was somewhat of a thriller, I was not sure what to expect. When I found out a major part of this story takes place in Greece, I was very excited.

Gia and Abby have been BBF since childhood. Unfortunately, a falling out leads to estrangement. But then Abby is invited to Sweden to celebrate Gia’s birthday. Yet, when Abby arrives, where is Gia?

Abby’s search leads to a heart-racing tale. The beautiful descriptions—especially of Greece—really put me in the moment, though I did not find either main character all that likable. Part of the story is told through Abby’s POV while part is told through Gia’s manuscript as well as through other literary devices. Though the change in narration could be jarring in places, I liked the technique.

Three and a half out of five stars.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story about two friends, one who mysteriously disappears while staying at her family home on a Greek Island, fell flat. Described as a thriller although it wasn’t very thrilling, it read more like a harlequin romance novel trying to be taken seriously. The characters were all silly and cliched and I just didn’t care about any of them. The only plus is the gorgeous descriptions of the Greek islands, but it wasn’t enough to save this book for me.

4.5 stars

An explosive read! I flew through this story - books about books, a dash of folklore, themes of friendship, wealth/privilege, betrayal, romance - it’s got it all!

I was pulled in from the start with the gossip column-esque overview of Gia’s dad’s funeral, and enjoyed the different literary devices the author employed. The jump between Gia’s manuscript and Abby’s present-day POV helped pace the plot perfectly and created an aura of mystery. I thought the characters were all very well developed, but wish Emelia also had her own POV chapters. I think that would have really helped connect all the events together. Additionally, I would have like to have seen Gia’s obsession with the well and her spiritualism around it explored just a bit more.

This story is equal parts Rachel Hawkins’s Reckless Girls and The Villa, and Andrea Bartz’s We Were Never Here - the ultimate suspense thriller! I highly recommend checking it out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

While I enjoyed the book for the most part, I found that it was not what I was expecting based on the synopsis.
It wasn’t quite as suspenseful as I was hoping, but I did like to hate the characters and their privileged lives and problems.

I also enjoyed the unique style of writing, it was a bit different at first but after a while I got used to it and found that it made for a fun reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This novel is a salacious, twisted glimpse into a world of wealth and privilege where the characters live by their own rules, often at the expense of those around them.
While not especially likeable, their story was compelling enough that I wanted to know what happened to them, and the details of their lives were juicy enough to hold my interest. I found the ending to be a bit of a letdown, and there were a few plot holes that left me shaking my head, but overall this was a fun, quick read.

So darn good! I flew through this quickly as I stole every spare moment to read it. Great characters and plot. Just when I thought I had it figured out another twist exploded. How far can friendship go? And will secrets from the past ever go away? This will be an easy one to promote!

I could not get into this book at all. The writing style seemed weird to me. The book didn't seem to follow much of what was described in my opinion. It was extremely slow in the beginning and I almost stopped right away. I kept moving a little ahead hoping something exciting would grab my attention; it didn't. I didn't even go to the back to see what happened. not for me. Expected it to be a great suspenseful thriller and it was not.

I really liked the description and thought I would love it, but it missed the mark for me. There was so much going on that my head was spinning and I found that by the end, I no longer cared what the outcome was. I realize this was an ARC, I hope a good editor will pare down the repetitions and make the shifting timelines more readable.

I loved this one set on a Greek Island . It was a good thriller and was fast paced and tension filled with a plot that kept you engaged till the end
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

An intriguing and captivating thriller set on a gorgeous Greek island.

Abby and Gia are an unlikely pair of best friends - Abby is hard-working, low-key, and from humble beginnings while Gia is glamorous, impulsive, and wealthy. When Gia convinces Abby to join her for a lavish trip to Sweden, Abby senses something is amiss when Gia never shows up.

This was a fun, tension-filled read with plenty of surprises - I loved it! The storytelling alternates between Abby’s point of view and chapters from Gia’s latest manuscript which seems to be a retelling of the events leading up to her disappearance. 4.5 stars.

Thank you very much to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This was such a great, suspenseful thriller! I couldn't put this book down and I would love to read more by this author. You'll never guess the twist at the end!

I hate to say this, but I'm so disappointed by Ladykiller. Based on the description, I thought the story would center around Abby finding the manuscript and slowly uncovering clues based up on it. However, the actual narrative was very different — and very imbalanced. It feels like at least 2/3 of the book is Gia's manuscript, which is woven throughout the length of the story. Her perspective is fairly one-dimensional and repetitive, and not very compelling.

On the other hand, Abby's POV is far less frequent, but is where the action plot-driving action is — so it's confusing that it almost feels like a second thought. As for her finding the manuscript, that doesn't happen until the 70% mark, so the discovery doesn't do much to forward the plot. Any twists were pretty clear early on, so there wasn't much of a payout.

Ladykiller seemed like it would be the kind of book I would love, but unfortunately, it was a huge miss for me.

This was not a win for me unfortunately but I would definitely check out this author in the future. Solid writing, just didn’t enjoy the plot unfortunately.

There is a lot going on in this book. It's the story of two friends, Abby and Gia, and a horrible thing that happened to them when they were 18. It's Gia's memoir of her life with her new husband, Garrett. It's about Abby's relationship with Gia's brother, Benny. And it's about a scam that changes all their lives.

Parts of this book were good, I kept reading to find out what exactly was going to happen, and there's a sinister tone throughout the book which was compelling. Gia is a well-drawn character, but not at all likable. The problem is that Abby and Benny are not nearly as interesting as Gia, and I found myself not caring at all what happened to them.

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

I found this quite enjoyable. The slightly different timelines were a little hard to follow, but I enjoyed the author's style. The descriptions of the Greek islands were wonderful, and captivating for me. All in all a suspenseful;, well-written tale that had several interesting twists.

I absolutely would read more from the author.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being given freely.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this E-arc for my honest review.
An excellent thriller with multiple twists that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout! Great ending too…This book was excellent!!! Highly recommend to all psychological thriller lovers.

Gia and Abby have been best friends since they were kids. After a falling out they don’t speak for a while, until Abby receives an invitation from Gia to Sweden to celebrate her birthday. After some debate Abby accepts the invitation, but when she arrives in Sweden, Gia isn’t there.
When I tell you I ate this up, I mean it. This sucked me right in and I loved the pace. The characters instantly draw you in and I LOVED that there was so much that left what was true and what was lies up to interpretation.
Having Gia’s manuscript be part of the narration was also an added bonus, it was intriguing to read what her life was within the manuscript compared to what she presented her life to be on the outside.
This is one I’m going to love re-reading to pick up on what I missed the first time.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.