An absolutely enjoyable audiobook. Loved the content of the story as well as the narrator.
Loved hearing him mention a city very familiar to me and my family.
Each chapter ended with me longing to start the next.
I highly recommend this audiobook. Don’t pass it up’

What a psycho! The killer really thought this one through. I will say, since the beginning of the book was written in the murderer’s POV, I was kind of rooting for him, but that was definitely short lived. I also really enjoyed the ending. It was perfect.

This is my second Ira Levin book and I am glad I gave this one a try since I wasn’t sure if I loved his writing style or not. I read Rosemary’s Baby and that one was not my favorite, but this one was so much better. The dialog and mystery was great since you didn’t actually know who the killer was even though it was written with his POV in the beginning. Then this book really had you guessing who the killer was.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Throughly enjoyed. The narrator was wonderful - gave each character nuance and inflection. Plot was a little melodramatic and “cheesy”; Bud definitely kept it in the family and you have to wonder why he would take such risks, it stands to reason sisters will talk, but oh, well, such fun.

I was really intrigued by this one, but it just did not live up for me. I was not fully invested, I felt confused with all the characters. It was definitely diabolical and twisty. It just wasn't the book for me.

What a fabulous twisty story - and one that feels like it could have been written this year, rather than over 70 years ago! This was a clever, dark, disturbing story, exactly as one would expect from the man who brought the world Rosemary's Baby. With a cast of characters that combine the odious with the obvious, it served up more surprises than Christmas morning. Frankly, given the timeframe in which it was originally published and the tendency to more linear, straightforward, single-twist/-focus plotlines in that era, I was doubly surprised at where things went and at how contemporary the writing style felt. The narration was excellent and captured all of this intensity and drama perfectly. Clearly I'm going to have to look up the rest of Levin's works - and revisit Rosemary and her evil baby in audiobook format!

Thanks to NetGalley for the Audiobook.

Ira Levin and all his books has been an inspiration to many thriller writers and I have come across references to his books in books I have read recently. So finally I get to read a book by Ira Levin, I don't know why it took me so long. I am highly impressed.
Having watched the Hindi movie adaptation of this book(though there are lot of changes), the twists were not really surprising. But I see why he is the master in this genre. The story is engrossing. Each of the 3 parts gets a different treatment and the ending of each part keeps you in anticipation.

The foreword by Anthony Horowitz is insightful but full of spoilers. Excellent audio narration by George Newburn.
I have added Ira Levin's other books to my TBR, there are not many.

I'm a huge fan of Rosemary's Baby and The Boys from Brazil. I've tried a handful of times to get into Levin's other works, but they didn't quite reach the depth that I expected. When I saw this title offered up by NetGalley, I jumped at the opportunity.
The book was ok. I expected a little more... but it just fell short. I zoned out a few times throughout the story and started trying to "guess the next twist" instead of enjoying the journey. Even though I felt slightly dejected by it, I can see this one as being a favorite of many.

#AKissBeforeDying by #IraLevin - the same author of the infamous #rosemarysbaby and #thestepfordwives !!! This was great on audio, acted out by @georgenewbern and #RoryBarnett and produced by @blackstonepublishing! Thank you for allowing me to listen in exchange for a review!
First of all, let me applaud the making of old stories and movies into audiobooks for us all these generations later! BIG FAN of that whole concept. Now I had never heard of this book, which was also made into a movie, and I didn’t recognize the name Ira Levin, but I sure knew Rosemarys Baby because I watched that iconic film back in the 70s when I was really too young to be watching that movie if you know, you kNOW!!! lol 😂 Anyhow, knowing this writer was a man of horror and suspense, I immediately sought out this title. And it did not disappoint. Now this is a historical fiction suspense thriller and it had a bit of that old movie flair to the acting - it’s a TONE of voice or a way of speaking, or the turn of phrase - but it was done superbly by @georgenewbern and #RoryBarnett - awesome job! This story is about a rich family with three daughters and a man who brazenly tries to get in with the wealth. He seeks out each of the girls trying to woo them (some more successfully than others) and he really is a devious sucker. A psychopath really. In the end I think he was not ever really about the MONEY but how much bs he could get away with! But omg the last 15 mins of this story I knew there was comeuppance on its way and I could NOT wipe the grin off of my face. As I walk for part of my commute I must’ve looked quite devious myself bc I was SO ready for BUD to get what was coming to him. If you love a thriller that serves up some wicked karma, you’ve got to give this a listen. Its ending is different from the movie and much more satisfying - check this one out it was fantastic!

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

This book came out many years ago and I’ve always had it on my TBR so I was excited to get the chance to listen to the audiobook! The writing was fantastic and the story holds up after all this time! I enjoyed how the story is told from the main males perspective, and even though his actions in finding a rich woman to marry are horribly atrocious, it makes for a good read. I would recommend to anyone who likes psychological thrillers and mysteries!

Man Bud was diabolic! But fortunately, he got what was coming to him in the end. This was a good read and I am glad that Ira Levin pioneered this type of genre in reading, it's my favorite!

#AKissBeforeDying
#NetGalley

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks for the free audio book in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by George Newbern and Rory Barnett, both of whom do an exceptional job! I highly recommend the audio book!

So this is the early work of the infamous author of Rosemary's Baby and the Boys from Brazil. That was enough to intrigue me to request this book. I can't believe that I did not find it until this listing on NetGalley.

All I can say is WOW! This is such a well written novel that surprised me by how much I really enjoyed it! The suspense and twists had me on the edge of my seat all the way to the ending. The pacing was perfect and fast! The setting is the 50's and it felt like I was listening to an old black and white movie from that time period! I loved the sisters and hated the men, all blonde conniving psychopaths. Despite knowing who the killer is, which is revealed mid-book, I had to know how it ended.

I am so impressed, yet again, by the talent of this great author!!!

Highly Highly recommend - 10 stars!!!

TW: Language, unplanned pregnancy, smoking, racial slurs, death of parent, cheating, forced abortion, talk of death by suicide, drinking

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Dorothy meets a handsome young man with an eye for her inheritance while she is in her first year of university. They are to be married and her life will be blissful; but Dorothy is pregnant and her fiancé's plans are ruined, for Dorothy would be disinherited if her father discovered the truth.So the young man provides his bride-to-be with some pills that will solve the problem. Soon there will be no baby - and perhaps no Dorothy either.
Release Date: June 1953
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 224
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. I love Ira Levin books
2. Love the writing
3. Trying to find out who killed Dorothy

What I Didn't Like:
1. Some parts ramble about things that don't matter

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

So excited that this is my 5th book from Ira Levin. I adore his writing.

There is a section of the book where the young man talks about war and a Japanese man, while using the racist comment of calling the character yellow.

Wow this young man is real piece of work. Get her pregnant and then bump her off and call her a slut.

Love that Dorothy lied to him about taking the pills and messed up his plans.

I can't believe he just threw her off the building. I feel so badly for her. She wanted to get married but this dude is just wanting money.

I couldn't imagine a newspaper saying I was an "attractive" lady. What do they do if they don't think you're attractive.

How does Ellen know that her sister was murdered? I get that her sister had all the signs that she was getting married, but it never passed her mind that maybe he changed his mind and she did die by suicide. Interested to see how she figures this out.

Had to laugh since the part of the sister trying to find out what happened to her sister and showing up to investigate, reminds me of Psycho.

I love that we don't actually know who's the real man that killed Dorothy.

Honestly it just can't be Powell. The man that killed Dorothy went out of his way to not have anything to link them together so why would he sit there and tell Ellen that he dated her. Plus he saw a photo of Dorothy's sisters already so it would be weird to ask her out.

The building still leaving the door unlocked but having only to use in an emergency is odd. Why would you go there for an emergency unless there was a fire escape?

Great Bud is actually the one that was with Dorothy. He just killed Powell. Poor Powell who was trying to help Ellen. So Bud has been dating Ellen now.

I'm shocked that he seriously killed Ellen. I didn't think he really was going to.

Marion is the last of Dorothy's sisters. If course Bud finds his way to her. This dude is committed to getting this family money. Also how gross to date your siblings boyfriend. No thanks.

Leo talks to Marion that Bud went to both schools that her sisters went to school.

Convinced that Bud is actually only in love with his mom.

This scene in the book where they take Bud to to the factory to show him what Leo's company does seemed to go on. I knew why it was there, clearly they were going to kill him there. They know they didn't have proof he killed the sisters so they had to kill him. Well, he killed himself.

Poor Bud's mom.

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed the book, but I think I wanted a little bit more from this. There were some minor twists that happened, but overall I thought they would be a bit more exciting. Of course I loved the writing style. The book reminded me so much of a murder mystery from the 40's, so that was amazing.

I thought it was insane to think that 3 sisters never talked to one another about Bud enough to really get an idea about who he was. When Marion started dating Bud she took his answer that he wasn't that close to Ellen and they were almost friends, despite Ellen saying they were going to get married. It was just like – how did she not know her own sister enough to know that it was more serious than this random dude would mention.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing – Audiobooks for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

This book holds up so well. The dialogue, the psychology, the characters -- I found myself believing what was happening and feeling tense as I watched more and more terrible things happening, with so much trauma to one innocent family. I went through a period where I read classic mysteries, but somehow missed this one. I would recommend this to people who enjoy both classic and modern mystery/thrillers, because the plot and characterizations are so well done. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook, with its excellent and convincing performance

What were you doing at 23? Well, Ira Levin was writing this incredible masterpiece. Suspenseful and full of twists, it has aged surprisingly well as a book and it’s still impossible to put down. In other ways it does seem old-fashioned but, as long as you keep in mind that it was written in 1953 and the story is set at the beginning of that decade, it is not surprising how everybody, including a pregnant woman, smokes; or how suicide seems more appealing than having a child out of wedlock. This is a pulp classic full of memorable characters. The lead is immoral, materialistic and a complete b@stard and I was still rooting for him. How does Levin accomplish that is outstanding. The voice that George Newbern lends him doesn’t hurt, fitting him perfectly. He is gruff, rough and you can picture the character completely. His voices for the rest of the cast are also well-rounded and he even makes the female characters distinguishable from one another by their ages. The foreword, read by Rory Barnett, adds some context to the story. It does contain spoilers, so I left it for the end. This audiobook is a great way to read this classic for the first time, or revisit it if you’re familiar with the printed version.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Blackstone Publishing.

A Kiss Before Dying written by Ira Levin and narrated by George Newbern & Rory Barnett is an awesome vehicle to bring this incredible work of fiction into the 21st century while retaining its autheentic, original magnificence

The narration is sublime, absolutely perfect to reflect the era and storyline and utterly captivating

I read A Kiss Before Dying many, many years ago and enjoyed it immensely then, so to see it as an audiobook, I snapped it up and I was so glad I did! You know when narrators really, really "get" a book and bring it to life? This is absolutely the case here. If ever you want to have a great introduction to audiobooks, here is one

A Kiss Before Dying deserves the accolade of being one of the greatest Mystery/ Thriller books of all time (Time Magazine) due to its incredible skill in turning a simple premise into a deep analysis of the criminal mind alongside the pitfalls of materialistic greed and how far people will go to get rich

A brilliant masterpiece, highly recommended

Thank you to Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks, the author Ira Levin and exceptional narrators George Newbern and Rory Barnett