The Kind Worth Killing

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But the worst thing, for a thriller, there was only one plot twist and it was so poorly done that I can't even call it a twist.

The story has great pacing, not too slow, not too fast. While I was reading, I thought that I knew every little detail and I didn't really know how it will end, since in the beginning Swanson tells the reader everything. Haha, I was wrong. The ending was so good. I didn't expect it at all. It was mind-blowing and at the same time it was creepy as hell.

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The characters are frustratingly stupid, the dialogue cringy, the motivations are either stupid or none existent. We essentially retcon the original ending of the kind worth killing. His ninth and most recent novel, The Kind Worth Saving, a sequel to The Kind Worth Killing, was released in March 2023. [2]

There are quite a few morally questionable and conflicted characters and choices in this one - it often gets one thinking deeper and that can be a sign of a good story IMO.Kind of rambles along, two time frames. The present and 20 years ago as teens. The main character, George, seems pretty clueless and passive throughout, like a passenger on a bum road trip. Totally engrossing, I inhaled this book. As with all Swanson books, I adore the cleverly worded title . I can't give it 5 stars though due to THAT ENDING! When artist Hen and her husband Lloyd move to a quiet suburb outside of Boston, they are hoping to embrace the quiet life their new town has to offer. But their neighbors Mira and Matthew jolt them out of their reverie and draw them into a nightmare.

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." Don't you think Lily was super nice in offering to help Ted? Oh, Lily, you were brilliant! You didn't even bat an eyelash. We are brought up to believe that murdering someone is the worst thing we could ever do, but is it? If a person is leaving a wide wake of broken hearts and battered spirits and in some cases much, much worse, is it really the worst thing we can do for all of humanity to give that person a nudge towards the afterlife? Of course the question remains, are any of us capable by ourselves of being the defense, the jury, the prosecution, and ultimately the judge? 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....Henry Kimball is an interesting character, although I didn't immediately warm to him. As an ex-high school English teacher he was involved in a school shooting. As a policeman he was accused of stalking a suspect. Now, as a PI, he has come full circle he finds himself employed by an ex-pupil to investigate her husband, another ex-pupil. Ted meets a mysterious woman at the airport and, thinking he would never see her again, spills all his secrets to her right then and there. He confides that his wife Miranda is cheating on him, and that he secretly wishes he could kill both her and her lover to teach them a lesson. Once Ted and the woman arrive at their destination, they part ways, but that turns out to be only the beginning.

I enjoyed the story and found it to be written well with multiple, unexpected twists. I love multi POV books the most, often it helps with the pacing and I think it did here too. This also includes two timelines. There must be some mistake. She can’t possibly think this well regarded, mild mannered, school teacher is...a...killer? He does read J. D. Salinger, which makes him seem a bit more suspicious. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson is a psychological thriller that will have you guessing until the end!

Customer reviews

If you haven't read this book, I recommend skipping my review and the blurb. There aren't any big spoilers here, but going in blind is probably the best... If you are thinking about reading this book, please, please, don't read any of the summaries floating around, because they give away important plot twists.