Thank you Spotify for the audiobook review copy! I loved Saratoga Schaefer's Serial Killer Support group, this is an edgy and dark, and darkly humorous at times, take on serial killer stories... Imagine investigating the death of a loved one, suspected to be a victim of an at large serial killer, by joining a secret serial killer support group. Dive in, this one is perfect for fans of serial killer/true crime stories with Dexter like vibes, for thriller readers looking for a good plot that is a nice change from the usual suspense read!

A plot that was intriguing and held up from start to end, with a captivating main character and intriguing secondary characters, with strong pacing and thoughtful character development, and a set up for what I can hope might become a series or at least a trilogy, Serial Killer Support Group is highly recommended. The narration from Abby Craden was excellent (I was less a fan of Timothy Andrés Pabon but that's just a style issue for me, he created characterization that matched the plot well!).

Cyra infiltrates a support group for serial killers after she finds out her sister was murdered by one. Knowing the police won’t get very far, she has to take things into her own hands. As she gets to know each killer by pretending she’s one too, Cyra starts to narrow down her list of suspects. The stakes get higher and Cyra begins to spiral down a vengeful path on her way to justice. This novel was dark and full of serial killer facts and kept me on the edge of my seat. This book was unputdownable!!

This story follows Cyra, who joins a serial killer support group in an attempt to find her sister’s murderer. This support group works a lot like an AA support group- which gave this story a humorous vibe. Cyra has an ulterior motive with joining the group to see if one of these killers is responsible for her sister's death. Fun, quick read.

This was a mess. I really struggled to get behind the even initial premise. I think the eventual twist was pretty predictable from the start. I certainly had inklings of it. There was just nothing enjoyable about this book. The plot, the twist, the characters all of it was just really unenjoyable. I'm not even sure who the target audience would be for this. I'm also not sure why this is being labeled as a feminist text. It wasn't.

Cyra infiltrates a secret support group for serial killers, hoping to uncover the truth about her sister’s murder. As she gains their trust, she’s forced to confront her own dark side while walking a fine line between justice and survival.

This was so good - and it’s a debut! Cyra is a morally gray, queer, badass feminist, and I was hooked on her journey. The pace is fast, and every time a new killer was introduced, I felt a mix of thrill and absolute revulsion.

The story is mostly told in third person from Cyra’s POV, but we also get short chapters from each killer’s perspective, which adds so much depth (and creep factor). The audiobook was fantastic, with two narrators who really brought the characters to life.

At its core, this is a whodunnit - and the twist got me, even if it wasn’t a huge shock. The ending ties things up just enough while leaving the door open for more. Sequel, maybe? I wouldn’t be mad.

Thanks to @Netgalley and
@spotify for access to this advanced readers copy

#QOTD what support group do you wish you could join? Real or imagined answers!!

Author: Saratoga Schaefer @Saratogaishere
Narrator: Abby Craden, Timothy Andrés Pabon
Goodreads: 3.70
Publisher: Spotify Audiobooks Publication Date: 03•18•25
Pages: 320
Length: 8h 52m

#bookreview #audiobookreview#SerialKillerSupportGroup #NetGalley

“Serial Killer Support Group” grabs your attention with an immediately intriguing plot: following the unsolved murder of her sister, a young woman infiltrates a group of serial killers, who first met on the dark web and now gather in clandestine meetings to mingle in a support group with others who can relate to their dark fantasies and logistical struggles. I went into this one with an open mind, knowing that Saratoga Schaefer is a debut author, but was blown away by her talent. The plotting pace is consistent, the tension is pervasive, and the characters are both engaging and disturbingly relatable.

I'm not entirely sure why I expected any kind of whimsy from a serial killer support group, so perhaps it should be not be surprising that the tone of the book is grittier than I anticipated. There is some dark humor, however, that takes a slight edge off of the violent subject matter. “Serial Killer Support Group” is a strong performance, both from Schaefer and from the audiobook narrators, who gave a pitch perfect delivery. The book weaves psychology and suspense together in a way that challenges the reader to confront not just the monsters in the dark, but also the moral lines we draw. The result is a compelling novel that's difficult to put down. This is a debut, but hopefully not her last — I'm ready to come back for more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Spotify Audiobooks, and Saratoga Schaefer for an advance copy for honest review.

🎧🎙️Audiobook tour and Review 🎙️🎧
Serial Killer Support Group by Saratoga Schaefer

I'm grateful to @tlcbooktours for having me on the book tour of this book and for the gifted ALC of the book.

🗨️ Book review: 

Okay, whewww! 🤯 Clearly one of the best thriller debut novels I've read. 

After her sister is brutally murdered, Cyra's world comes crashing down on her. A preliminary investigation indicates that it might be the work of a serial killer. Her blood boils for vengeance and she infiltrates a secret support group she believes her sister's killer might be a part of. 

She creates an alter ego 'Mistletoe', and successfully settles herself in the group. She's the only woman there. While looking for her sister's killer, she gets to know there's much more to the group than there appears to be on the surface, and parallel to her sister's story than she's aware of. Layers of truth start to uncover, including Cyra's own condemnable reality. 

She needs to fight or come face to face with her demons, and confront the truth as it is. It's a different take on feminine rage, and sisterhood.

🎧 Praise for the audiobook: 

The audiobook is narrated by Abby Craden and Timothy Andrés Pabon. The narration by both of them is impeccable, and I must mention and applaud the way chapters/sections are divided between both narrators. Quite interesting and innovative. Abby narrates the current events as a third omniscient person, and Timothy narrates the glimpses from the past, wherein the serial killers' version of stories comes to light. 

The scenes where Cyra suffers through panic attacks are written in a way that they feel nerve wrecking, and the audiobook adds a lot of substance to the narrative. And, Timothy's varying amplitude and textures in narration of the serial killers' PoV are amazing, especially for Jason's section of the story. 

I couldn't press pause on this one!


#SaratogaSchaefer #SerialKillerSupportGroup #audiobooks #spotifyaudioboks

I didn't know what to initially write for this audiobook review. The book was really well written and had great voice acting. The story was well-rounded and had twists and turns. I rated four stars here because it's all those things. It's a good book. Just not my taste I think was the issue. The topic was a tad darker than I thought it was going to initially be. But that's not to blame the author or anything like that. The book just wasn't what I was anticipating and in turn wasn't my taste. I would recommend this book to others that I know would enjoy these more dark story plots. But I probably wouldn't personally listen to another audiobook by this author. Though since the voice acting was so well done, I would listen to another audiobook by the readers, just if it was of a different topic

Serial killer support group, is a revenge story. When cyras little sister is killed , cyra joins a support group to find the killer

Thank you Spotify Audiobooks for the gifted ALC!

I unfortunately decided to DNF this one about 50% in. I had a really hard time with the main character. I also was pretty sure I knew where the story was going and after confirming with a friend who had finished the book, it honestly felt pretty cheap to me. (I won't say why so I don't spoil).

It's weird to say a book about serial killers is fun, but that's the first thing that comes to mind for me when someone asks me what I thought of this book. It was a good time and strangely, I liked all of the characters. Definitely not as people, but as developed characters in a fictional novel. I loved getting each killer's backstory. It was a good reminder that they're all terrible, evil people and this is not a story where we're supposed to like them or see their actions as having redeemable qualities. No one was killing for the greater good.

I liked the attention that was brought to the fact that society has almost romanticized serial killers. We do focus more on the killer than their victims, and I always enjoy reading a book that keeps the attention on this.

That said, I did find myself almost shipping Cyra and Lamprey at times. Which I hate. Clearly I've been reading wayyyy too much dark romance right now. BUT I did enjoy the use of Lamprey as a device to show how easily people can be led astray by good looks and a bit of charisma. Which... I guess I'm one of these people. Oops. But at least it's fiction! And I was disgusted by his backstory involving his sister so I was very happy to see him go.

I did find the twist of Cyra/Mistletoe to be a little predictable, but that didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you NetGalley, Spotify, Abby Craden, Timothy Andrés Pabon, and most especially Saratoga Schaefer for this audio eARC of Serial Killer Support Group.

Cyra Griffin's sister is brutally murdered in a seemingly safe town and the local police are doing very little about it. Resolved to find the killer herself, Cyra stumbles upon a support group for local serial killers & sets about embedding herself within the group to find the culprit. Full of humor, horror, and not a little mystery, Serial Killer Support Group was a delightful outing of what appears to be a robust series to come. I can't wait for the next one.

There were parts of this book that I enjoyed but it felt pretty slow throughout where I almost wanted to stop a couple of times and move onto a different book. I appreciated the overall premise and liked that it was not only the main character narrating but also had bits and pieces from the serial killers. I think there could be a little more excitement throughout but the ending had a good twist.

Dark humor.
Multiple POV.
Serial Killers.
Different and exciting plot line. The narration was good. Definitely recommend.

Dnfing 15% in. The synopsis of this book sounded so interesting but the actual story is so unbelievable that I can’t get into it. The narrator was fine.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sensing me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

READ IT IF YOU'RE INTEREST IN OR LIKED
- The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
- My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
- The Collective by Alison Gaylin
- Eye for an Eye
- Dexter
- Fight Club
- Cat and mouse games

BRIEF REVIEW
This book definitely had some dark twists and turns but overall it felt like it went in too many different directions towards the end. The chapters with the individual killer POVs were so engaging and I wish there were more of them. I'm not sure why but I'm seeing this more in thrillers and horror. A good story up until the last quarter of the book and then it gets confusing. It could just be me but other stories I've read this year don't have that issue.

Thank you Spotify Audio for my gifted ALC!

Serial Killer Support Group was everything I hoped it would be and more. It was a delicious, devious, diabolical ride. I loved everything about it. I fully expected to be immersed into a support group for serial killers, and that’s exactly what I got. I loved the background of each serial killer in the support group, and I love love loved Cyra. She was a break of badass fresh air after a few stories with ridiculously unreliable female main characters. It was so easy to inhale this book in two sittings, because I fell hard for Cyra and her mission. There were also some pretty solid twists and turns that surprised the heck out of me. Highly, highly recommend.

Thank you for the ALC of this title! Unfortunately the audio file won’t work for me in the NetGalley app. :(

I will be looking out for this one once it publishes.

The premise of the book is what really peaked my interest and I would say it delivered well enough.

But I will admit, I struggled with the book in the beginning. Often not feeling much for its characters, but continued reading simply to experience the story. I don't regret reading the book, but I could easily see the plot twists. Which I'm assuming most people who binge read horror, thriller, and mystery books will also catch on pretty quickly.

The book has a LGBTQ+ tag, but don't get the wrong idea. One thing is mentioned, but the book doesn't rely on it heavily. Which makes the tag feel... out of place for the book?

Overall, if you let the story play out in the background then I think you'll enjoy listening to the audiobook. However, I can definitely see this being a miss with the folks that want a more serious and realistic tone about infiltrating a group of serial killers.

Side note, it was an interesting touch to include the POV of the serial killers sometimes. Felt refreshing.

After her sister is murdered, Cyra is determined to find her killer. When she gets a tip from a friend, she decides to infiltrate a secret group meeting of serial killers, hoping to find the truth before they find out she isn't what she is pretending to be.

This book was a wild ride from start to finish. The premise of this one pulled me in, but the execution fell flat. I felt like most of the characters were very one dimensional. There were some interesting twists and turns to the story, but they didn't feel earned to me. Overall entertaining enough but not necessarily a book I'd recommend.