meeklovestoread 's review for:

Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh
3.5
dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
I'm so bummed! I really wanted to like this one. I've read from Steve Cavanagh and enjoyed both the works I've read from this. Both books being from his Eddie Flynn series. I was excited to see that he came out with a new book and I was excited to read something from him apart from his infamous series. Alas, I was sadly this disappointed.

And confused. This book is rated very high on here and on Goodreads and I just don't get it. This book starts off very slowly. And didn't possess a lot of thriller elements to me at all. I found myself confused about how the POVs were gonna tie in because at that point it felt like I was reading two separate stories. I was waiting for something exciting to finally happen, but never did at least for the first 70%. Now, there are certain thrillers that I like to call "slow burn" thrillers, where you're following the events of the story that lead to the big twists in the end. I'm not opposed to thrillers like those, but they're not my favorite. However, since it was Steve Cavanagh I was willing to stick it out and see what he does, but not gonna lie I considered dnfing this book a few times.

Now, I will say there were some parts where I got anxious for certain characters, but overall, I felt like the book was very lackluster. Also, the twist that happens about 60% into the book.
Ruth being Wendy/Naomi and conning Amanda. And the story in Ruth's POV is set in the past. Like I knew
Ughhhhhhhhh! I was so mad! I PREDICTED it! It was actually my first prediction as soon as I started the book, but I put it off, but then when a certain scene happens.
Ruth didn't care that she got an innocent man killed, I knew for sure that she was Wendy. That being said I knew Wendy didn't kill Crone either.
I knew my prediction was right. 

I don't mind predicting things in thrillers. I'm here for entertainment, not plot twists, however, guessing that plot twist which I bet the author included to be a major one annoyed me because I already found the book to be lackluster and me guessing the twists didn't ease how I felt. However, I will say I didn't guess the ending scene with Ruth.
Ughhhhhhh! I found that twist to be kind of annoying. Billy being Mr. Blue Eyes. Like what?! That's a terrible ending. Oh, yes, has the man who literally traumatized and assaulted this woman and almost left her for dead been the "hero" who put her back in the hospital? And what is even more annoying is that this is the last we hear from Ruth and Mr. Blue Eyes, the serial killer, is never caught.
I wasn't vibing with what happened at all. Some people say it was misogynistic. I don't know if I would go that far, however, I do see the argument there. The ending overall, in my opinion, was completely justificatory. 

Also, there are loose ends that are never explained.
Why did Billy/the prowler/Mr. Blue eyes not kill Ruth then and there when he attacked her the first time? Also, why'd he go through all this trouble to find her just to not kill her? Additionally, why is this "meticulous" serial killer leaving so many loose ends? Both Ruth and Amanda are alive as well as the people who saw him in that complex.
Also, why did I have to read about Farrow's back problems if they weren't integral to the story? Honestly, who could've taken Detective Farrow out of the story, and the book would've been relatively the same. I didn't dislike his character, but I found his chapter to be pretty redundant. Also, especially towards like the last 20% or so, certain events were too convenient.
Like Billy picking up Amanda as she was running from the police just to name one.


Also, this book mentions a lot of criticism about presidents (we find out why later, but I just found it weird that this book that had nothing to do with presidential politics kept mentioning it so much). And "Starbucks" and the street names are mentioned so often. I don't know if he meant to be atmospheric or what. I think the author is from the UK, so he's probably unfamiliar with NY, so maybe that's why.

Overall, I still like the writing and the way Steve tells a story, however, this book has more misses than hits for me, unfortunately. I think I might just stick to the Eddie Flynn books by Steve Cavanagh for now.

Also, just found out there are two versions of this book, a UK and a U.S. version. I read the U.S. version if you're wondering.
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