The Kind Worth Killing: A Novel

The story is about Ted Severson and Lily Kitner, who meet on a flight back to the US from London. Ted is distraught because he had recently caught his gorgeous wife, Miranda, cheating on him with their general contractor, Brad. Ted and Miranda live in Boston but are building a luxury home on the coast of southern Maine. Ted was going to surprise Miranda for a visit because she spends a great deal of time in Maine supervising the building of the house while it is being built. On his surprise visit, as he is approaching the home, he sees Miranda and Brad through the windows having sex in the kitchen. On the flight, Ted is drunkenly telling the story to Lily, a complete stranger (he thinks-which adds so much suspense to the story later) and in his inebriated state says he is so mad that he wants to kill Miranda. To his utter surprise, Lily responds by saying something along the lines of "Well why don't you just kill her then?" At first Ted is shocked but as Lily talks openly about her thoughts of people with morals like Miranda and of murdering people, Ted becomes convinced that he should kill Miranda. He doesn't want to divorce her and let her have half of his fortune after what she has done to him and Lily has put forth a pretty solid plan on murdering both Miranda and Brad to make it look like Brad is the killer. Lily would be Ted's alibi and, to Ted, it looks like all should go as planned. Ted and Lily meet a few times to make plans and then the plan should be put into action. However, things go awry. And I mean they ago crazy and the story goes all over the place, but not in a way that the reader can't follow the story. The author just does an excellent job of taking the storyline and flipping it on its head. This story goes everywhere. I can honestly say I had no idea what was going to happen next. I was compelled to keep listening because I had to know what was going to happen. I couldn't believe what I was reading! I kept saying to myself "Is this really happening?" and "Are they nuts?" I was all over the place with my feelings. It really got in my head because I just couldn't stop thinking about it. When I started this book, I really didn't have time to read it so I listened in pieces and then had to start over, but when I re-started it again a few days ago, I got hooked and listened to it pretty much straight through and got to a point where I just couldn't listen to it in my car anymore. So I brought it inside and listened until very late into the evening to the very end and had everything figured out. The chapters switch voices between Ted and Lily at first and then some major twists and turns take place and in the following two parts of the book, Lily and two other voices take over in the telling of the story. I don't want to say whose voices take over because that may lead into spoiler land. It was very well written and the major characters; Ted, Lily, and Miranda; were very well developed and I felt like I knew everything about them and what made each of them tick. The storyline flowed well but like I said, there were a few times that it was literally flipped on it's head. However, the twists and turns didn't make the story confusing, it added more suspense. This was a pure thrill ride that got into your head like an earworm and made you keep thinking about it over and over until you just couldn't stop and you had to know what was happening and just finish the darn story. This was one of the most thrilling/suspenseful novels that I have read in awhile! And I read a lot of mysteries! For a mystery to get 5 stars from me it really has to stand out. The author, Peter Swanson, is literally killing it in this novel of psychological suspense! I highly recommend it to any fan of this genre. In fact it is up for a Goodreads Choice Award. Definitely 5 stars!! READ THIS BOOK!

Here you go, folks. The latest terrific thriller for you all to read, "The Kind Worth Killing" by Peter Swanson. This is much like "Gone Girl" and current #1 best seller, "The Girl on the Train" in that it tells the same story from the viewpoints of four different characters. Each chapter alternates to the point of view to a different character, and it is told in the first person. This means you will often see the same scene in the story, but told from a different point of view. The book starts when Ted and Lily meet in a bar in London's Heathrow Airport while waiting out a delay in their flight to Boston. They get to talking, Ted reveals that he thinks, no, he knows, that his wife, Miranda, is cheating on him. He is so upset about it that he says that he'd like to kill her. Could be all those martinis Ted had in the bar and on the flight talking, but then Lily says "Maybe I can help..." So begins the story, which also includes flashback scenes in Lily's life that shows just how uniquely qualified she may be to help Ted out....and just exactly why she is so motivated to do so. Kind of like Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train." This is terrific book and perfect read for relaxing during vacation, or reading on a summer Sunday afternoon, when you just don't feel like watching the ball game on that particular day. The mix of ingredient that include a rich-beyond-belief cuckolded husband, his beautiful, but scheming wife, Miranda, a ruggedly handsome building contractor, a determined Columbo-like police detective, and at the center of it all, the mysterious and captivating Lily makes for one whale of a story. If you read this blog, you know that I love these kinds of novels. There are a few twists and turns, one of which I kind of suspected, and another that took me by surprise. It is a very tightly written story that moves very quickly, and it's one you just...oh, man, I really wanted to avoid this cliche, but what the hell....it's one you "just can't put down" once you start.

The premise gripped me, I was drawn by it....for the first quarter of the book. But the pace feels odd; sometimes rushed but 80% of the time is spent in descriptions, while I agree it does set the tone, most of them drag a lot and I skipped huge portions and skimmed through pages just to find the next action. Also, there's that one plot twist that was unexpected but not in the exhilarating way I expected, it is interesting and did keep me going but I hoped for a more thrilling reaction. The characters feel nuanced but hollow? Not sure how I can explain that, I couldn't connect with any of them emotionally. I barely made it to the last quarter, half heartedly and at least the ending was a punch I wasn't expecting and amazingly made it jump from 2 to 3 stars. I wanted to like it, I'm sure is just a matter of taste, it wasn't my cup of tea but regardless, I'm glad I gave it a chance

WOW!! I’m starting with wow because ‘The Kind Worth Killing’ is soooo Alfred Hitchcock “Strangers on a Train” and he would have LOVED this book!! Maybe others who have read this novel may not agree, that’s fine, but you definitely can compare the basic of the plot...yet then it goes into so many unbelievable twists and turns too!! I cannot believe I read this in January, read it again last month and completely got more out of it! It’s like watching a movie over & over, and you find yourself saying “I don’t remember that?! So cool!!” This Novel it a bit hard to give my best review because of the suspense and thrill of it, and I do NOT want to give any spoilers..it’s so good! Anyway so this married man meets a woman on a plane and he obviously looks distressed. He starts talking about wanting to kill his wife because she’s cheating on him..at first I was “really?” YET it’s not just ‘that’ talk or ‘just’ wanting to kill his wife. I can’t say anything else because this book is not only an excellent classic style of writing and plot, like I said there are so many twists and turns, and ‘no way, oh my gosh!’ turns too! It’s also got a very psychological thriller aspect as well. Let’s just say, it’s not just one conversation or one motive, nor ‘one person’. Besides Hitchcock being my absolute favorite director and his wife, who always wrote his scripts in their day, this Novel is right there! It’s a psychological, suspenseful, thriller, outstanding, please read novel! Plus not one, not two, but four characters, each, special in their own...(think Strangers on a Train) way. OVERALL - Highly recommended for murder/suspense/psychological/thriller listeners. There's mention of casual sex but nothing explicit, and a sprinkling of F-words throughout the story. Totally recommend 👏👏

“I want to murder my wife,” says Ted Severson to a complete stranger in a Heathrow bar on his way home to Boston from the UK. He’s recently learned his wife, Miranda, has been unfaithful. Caught her in the act, actually, with contractor Brad, the man he’s paying a small fortune to build them a mansion in Maine. To anyone else, the sentiment might be reason to alert the authorities or to run the other way, but Lily Kintner isn’t just anyone. She’s got a few literal skeletons in her closet and a unique view on exactly what kind of folks deserve killing, including Ted’s wife. The two are seated in business class on the same flight back to the states, giving them ample time to discuss Ted’s theoretical dream plan. But he won’t go through with it, will he? Lily and Ted part with a tentative meeting set for a week into the future. Neither will be disappointed if the other doesn’t show, but if they both do, it’s with the intention of going forward with conspiring to kill Ted’s unfaithful wife. Miranda has plans of her own. Engaged in a romantic tryst with contractor Brad, she has designs on ending her marriage, suddenly. And the game is on. I had heard a lot of great things about The Kind Worth Killing, and the book doesn’t disappoint. With everyone more or less mentally unhinged, it’s hard to guess who might do what next. The only certainty is that someone is getting murdered. If you’ve read and enjoyed Mark SaFranko’s No Strings or even Caroline Kepnes You, The Kind Worth Killing has a lot to offer. Obsession, grudges, past intruding on present, and a twist, which is the biggest reason I’m rating this one four instead of five-stars. Author Peter Swanson pull something I’ve recently seen done in The Wife Between Us (though Swanson did it first) and I felt it was a cheap trick both times I’ve seen it employed (no spoilers). Otherwise, this is a fun page-turner with a lot of possibilities and one hell of an ending. The letter from Lily’s dad at the end is a perfect punch! I’ve been disgruntled with endings lately and am glad to have had this one wrap on a high note. Highly recommended for fans of characters who behave unpredictably.

I just discovered this writer - where have I been?! I’m officially obsessed, have barely left my house all weekend. I won’t summarize or say much about the plot as I’m sure other reviewers cover that, but a main thought I’ve had in encountering Peter Swanson’s work is that it’s so interesting - the distinctions made between what is considered “literary” writing and what is not are oftentimes a genre based bias. Sometimes it has very little to do with the actual quality of the writing. This is the third book I’ve read by this author - and while the subject of each may be “crime” or “murder” each book has been completely different, in terms of style and theme and voice etc. Sometimes the narrators are savvy and self-aware, sometimes they’re not so swift but terrifically funny - there are countless brilliant asides about what goes on between men and women in relationships, social commentary, stuff about class and hilarious send ups about academia and artists, the rivalries between women, rivalries between men, the differences between a plain ‘ole murderer and a psychopath - and, stunningly, this writer is able to make the reader care for, and root for both. Even as the characters say and do reprehensible things, they are so human, so relatable, so real, even when they are satires of a kind of pulp novel character found in a Jim Thompson novel, for example, or even (especially meta), when they’re aware of having the kinds of thoughts a character in this kind of novel might have. To me, that is genius level writing - along with descriptions that are so skillful and finely wrought, they raise the bar in terms of what description can be and what setting can achieve- in ANY kind of novel. All this just to express my admiration and say thanks…and so excited I have so many books of his still to read!

The progression and development of the story are engaging and complex. Then, suddenly, you arrive at the end of the story and a conclusion you did not expect. Good read!

This modern take on Patricia Highsmith's famed STRANGERS ON A TRAIN is a pulsating thriller of betrayal and love skewed, with plenty of extra twists to its tale. Swanson keeps the tension high, even as he switches perspectives between characters, and throws in some exquisite curveballs, taking the story beyond where you think given its set-up and initial hook. But this isn't just a well-plotted high concept book full of action and suspense - Swanson threads in some lovely prose and nuance, along with good depth of character to elevate THE KIND WORTH KILLING above most other big-name 'domestic suspense' and psychological thrillers out there. "Truthfully, I don’t think murder is necessarily as bad as people make it out to be. Everyone dies. What difference does it make if a few bad apples get pushed along a little sooner than God intended? And your wife, for example, seems like the kind worth killing." The hook is set early, as a man and woman meet at the airport bar in London, and their conversation takes a darker turn. Ted confesses his wife is cheating on him with a contractor working on their mansion, and jokes he'd like to kill her. Lily thinks certain people deserve to die, and seems willing to help. Serious, not joking. A set-up straight out of Highsmith, but Swanson makes it his own throughout the rest of the book, laying down twist upon twist upon twist as the story heads to the United States and he ratchets up the tension. The best laid plans go awry. Flashbacks flesh out what we know about characters, shifting perspectives, suspicions, and understanding. Just why is Lily encouraging, even pushing Ted to take action? Who is playing who? The line between heroes and villains blurs, morphs, and flips. Swanson adroitly keeps us on our toes. It's hard to talk about THE KIND WORTH KILLING with much specificity without giving too much away about the plot, which is very clever and well-thatched. Murders are planned, committed, and investigated. Tension builds well throughout. There are lots of twists, but even going into the book knowing that, Swanson still manages to surprise. The shifting perspectives between characters could be a clunky format in lesser hands, but Swanson writes with style and a deft touch. Overall, this is an excellent thriller that's likely to elbow its way into your 'best reads of the year' list.

The kind worth killing definitivamente sobrepasa las cinco estrellas! Es una grata sorpresa encontrarse con un thriller contemporáneo que vale la pena leer. Lo recomiendo bastante!

non capisco come questo libro non sia conosciuto, per chi piace il genere gone girl e affini è bellissimo! avvincente, difficile non leggerlo tutto in una sera...

Bra handling och bra skrivit men den var inte för mig

Ted meets Lily at an airport bar while waiting for their flight. They strike up a conversation about their lives and Ted confesses to this stranger that his wife, Miranda, is cheating on him with their contractor. Lily offers to help him get his revenge, by having her murdered. They devise a plan and set out to make it happen. As the story is told from different perspectives, we get to see how these characters have come to this point in their lives. It's a good page turner and we see how each person, with their own dark tendencies, try to one up each other. I can see this book being made into a movie

Couldn’t put it down. ❤️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️