The Kind Worth Killing
A Novel
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A devious tale of psychological suspense perfect for fans of Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train—and is soon to be a major movie directed by Agnieszka Holland.
In a tantalizing set-up reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith’s classic Strangers on a Train… On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. Sharing one too many martinis, the strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate details about themselves. Ted talks about his marriage that’s going stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. Ted and his wife were a mismatch from the start—he the rich businessman, she the artistic free spirit—a contrast that once inflamed their passion, but has now become a cliché.
But their game turns a little darker when Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done. Lily, without missing a beat, says calmly, “I’d like to help.” After all, some people are the kind worth killing, like a lying, stinking, cheating spouse. . . .
Back in Boston, Ted and Lily’s twisted bond grows stronger as they begin to plot Miranda's demise. But there are a few things about Lily’s past that she hasn’t shared with Ted, namely her experience in the art and craft of murder, a journey that began in her very precocious youth.
Suddenly these co-conspirators are embroiled in a chilling game of cat-and-mouse, one they both cannot survive . . . with a shrewd and very determined detective on their tail.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
American writer Peter Swanson first came to our attention with his impressive debut thriller, The Girl with a Clock for a Heart. His dark and elegant follow-up grabbed us from page one. After two strangers named Ted and Lily exchange martinis and candid conversation in a Heathrow lounge, they hatch a plan to kill Ted’s cheating wife, Miranda. Switching among the perspectives of his main characters—Ted, Lily, Miranda, and an obsessive detective—Swanson keeps up an electrifying pace, luring us in with pulpy details and gasp-worthy reveals. Fans of Gone Girl will appreciate Lily, a femme fatale who casually quotes T.S. Eliot.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Revenge has rarely been served colder than in Swanson's exceptional thriller, his second standalone after 2013's The Girl with a Clock for a Heart. When Ted Severson, a wealthy Boston entrepreneur, and Lily Kintner, an attractive archivist at Winslow College outside Boston, meet by chance in a Heathrow airport lounge, they trade intimate secrets: Ted wants to kill his unfaithful wife, Miranda and Lily, who's about Miranda's age, wants to help. Unbeknownst to Ted, Lily has made a career of dispassionate homicide, at one point musing, "to take another life was, in many ways, the greatest expression of what it meant to be alive." While Ted and Lily hatch their devious scheme back in Boston, police detective Henry Kimball tries to untangle the web of deceit that surrounds Lily. With scalpel-sharp prose, Swanson probes the nature of cold-blooded evil. Few will be prepared for the crushing climax.
Customer Reviews
Good Read for Sure
I really like his writing style and the interplay of the characters. Fun, twisted, read.
WORTH READING
I loved it! Wish ending was different but amazing book
An ok book
This book is worth the read, although it is a little slow at parts and not structured as you would imagine. I wish it ended differently and not so abruptly. It was ok.