What We Kill

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Howard Odentz, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

WHAT WE KILL is a horror thriller shrouded in mystery elements by Howard Odentz. Without memory of how they get there, Robbie Myers, Anders Stephenson, Marcy Cole, and Weston Khan, four life-long friends, wake in the woods. One has a triangle burned into his forearm. One has lost her pants. One is missing his glass eye. The last is covered in blood. Soon, they begin have flashbacks, and the town fire alarm and police department sirens ring. Time is running out: they must unveil the mystery surrounding their memory loss to figure out what they've done and how it's affecting their town.

This was my first Howard Odentz novel, and I enjoyed it. It was a fast-paced read with great character dynamic. Odentz did a great job weaving the mystery plot throughout this horror thriller, leaving the reader guessing everyone's true intentions until the very end. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good horror suspense mystery.

I loved this book ! It had so many twist and turns I never expected Marcy to be what she turned out to be and WOW the twist with her brother was just crazy ! Wish this book never had to end since I couldn’t put it down!

I first discovered this author last year when I read a copy of Little Killers A-Z , the instant appeal for me was that the author wasn't afraid to be weird. He makes his characters do all manner of terrible things, which is very interesting to read!

This book was also unusual, but that didn't stop me devouring it in a single sitting. The main characters are a group of four 17 year olds who have woken up with no memories of the night before, over the course of the book they start to figure out what terrible things they were involved in.

The style of writing was quite unusual in this book, the narrative bounced around a lot so I was feeling a bit confused as to what the hell was going on but it still managed to hold my attention until the end.

My only issue about this book is the revelation about one of the characters near the end of the book (no spoilers here), I could see what the author was trying to do but it was a bit too divisive for my tastes. If you want to guess what the issue was, read my review of Bubblegum by Sari Taurez!

This author has a real knack for the weird and the wonderful, I'll be back for more as he writes.

This thriller would make a fantastic movie! The story plays out like an episode of 24. We follow four teens from the moment they wake up in a maze - without a single recollection of what happened the night before - until the time 24 hours later when they piece together the events that have changed their lives irrevocably. Wow! What an ending. I stayed up way too late reading the last 20% of the book.

What We Kill is told in first person, present tense from the perspective of Weston Kahn - the fat boy turned thin. I enjoyed the author's voice and loved these misfit characters who seemed to fit perfectly with each other, if not with the cool crowd. We're taken on an interesting and twisty journey that delivers more than one shocking surprise. I think I actually said, "Oh snap, that just happened." at one point. Jaw-dropping good stuff.

So why not five stars? Part of the book felt stilted. Weston would go off on these tangents ... which always got us back on point ... but they were oddly placed and ruined the pacing of the story for me. There was some repetitiveness which could've been culled out as well. But seriously - this is a great story that is well worth reading.

I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down, it was a neat psychological thriller that kept me guessing and guessing until about two thirds of the way through when the plot explained itself to tie up all loose ends.
Weston Kahn, the main storyteller was a likeable character and the others were a mishmash of personality that grew on me.
I found nothing confusing here, just a well written, suspenseful novel that would make a good movie.
I will look out for other books from this Author!

"You can't fix broken."

This was quite an unusual story - for a lot of different reasons.

Four upper-class high school seniors and best friends living in Meadowfield, Massachusetts wake up out in the woods one morning - disoriented, sick, and not remembering the last few hours.

There's a lot of different things going on in town and in the story, which is told from the viewpoint of Weston "West" Kahn, a trust fund baby, and one of the four friends.

I like how the author parceled out little pieces of their lost night, as each of the friends remember fragments. I thought the whole story was written well and delivered well. I wouldn't call it horror even though some horrific events happen. I would say this is more psychological suspense.

Unusual, enjoyable and recommended.

I received this book from Belle Bridge Books through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

Wow. This story is amazing, fascinating and a little horrifying. Maybe more than a little horrifying. Not because of anything that goes bump in the night, but because of the dark things than can hide in plain sight.

Meadowfield, Massachusetts is a perfect town, full of perfect people. A town where kids graduate from high school, go on to college and make perfect lives for themselves. It’s a wealthy town. Like most places, there is a side of town that isn’t quite as elite, but this story takes place in the better part of town.

Weston, known as West to his friends, is the narrator of the story. When he and his friends, Marcy, Anders and Myers wake up in a remote, wooded part of town, they are disoriented, fuzzy-headed and sick. They have no idea why they’re there, where they’ve been or what is happening. They spend some time there, partly trying to get over their nausea the rest trying to remember. Trying to remember anything at all. They’re blank. But they know, with sirens going off in town and their own strange and disturbing circumstance, they will have to figure out what happened.

As West and his friends start remembering a few things, Discover a couple of clues, he brings the reader along on the journey. Not only about what happened that horrible night, but the many things hidden and lurking in their families, the school and the town. About two-thirds of the way through the story, the clues began to come together. The last twenty or thirty pages, my chin was dropped firmly on my chest as one twist and turn after another started tying all the ends together…with an ending that had me muttering, Oh, my God!”, over and over again. It’s stunning and surprising…and not surprising at all. It had to end that way.

If you’re ready for a surprising and wonderfully written book about seventeen year old kids in a situation no one of any age should have to deal with, pick up a copy and…

Enjoy!

2shay

As weird as this book was I really enjoyed it! It kept me entertained throughout & the style of writing I could easily follow. The story was definitely unique with quite a few shocks. I highly recommend this book!