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A review by nzlisam
You Killed Me First by John Marrs
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It’s Guy Fawkes Night and the village bonfire is alight!
A woman regains consciousness.
Her head is pounding.
She has no idea where she is.
Then she smells smoke.
With dawning horrifying clarity she realises she’s bound and gagged trapped in the centre of a burning bonfire.
A phone vibrates in her pocket.
Through an earphone a ringing sounds in her ear.
When the call connects she pleads for help.
A cold voice resonates down the line,
“You killed me first.”
Following this harrowing yet exhilarating prologue we then backpedal eleven months to the day ‘snobby and bitchy’Margot and ‘dowdy and doormat’ Anna meet their new neighbour ‘seems to have it all’ Liv. Chapters alternated between the three women as we close in on the 5th November. There were also italicised chapters from an unknown first-person narrator.
You Killed Me First, a psychological thriller set in an outwardly picture-perfect domestic setting was explosive. Fans of this genre and this author’s particular brand of twisted twisty plots are in for a shocker. I was already sucked in by the title long before the synopsis was released.
The snarky spiteful thoughts (Margot’s especially) and veiled compliments (Liv’s directed at Margot) were bitingly witty and entertaining. As you would expect You Killed Me First contained all the usual privilege, wealth, gossip, secrets, lies, threats, blackmail, revenge, and dark pasts surrounding Liv, Margot, and Anna, as well as igniting twists. The writing was John Marrs’ usual high standard and I loved the various references to ‘fire’ sprinkled throughout.
I toggled between the e-book and audio, and all the narrators were superb, especially when it came to the italicisedchapters and the performance for chapter 61 was bone-chilling.
Once again John Marrs’ psychotic plot has blown me away.
A woman regains consciousness.
Her head is pounding.
She has no idea where she is.
Then she smells smoke.
With dawning horrifying clarity she realises she’s bound and gagged trapped in the centre of a burning bonfire.
A phone vibrates in her pocket.
Through an earphone a ringing sounds in her ear.
When the call connects she pleads for help.
A cold voice resonates down the line,
“You killed me first.”
Following this harrowing yet exhilarating prologue we then backpedal eleven months to the day ‘snobby and bitchy’Margot and ‘dowdy and doormat’ Anna meet their new neighbour ‘seems to have it all’ Liv. Chapters alternated between the three women as we close in on the 5th November. There were also italicised chapters from an unknown first-person narrator.
You Killed Me First, a psychological thriller set in an outwardly picture-perfect domestic setting was explosive. Fans of this genre and this author’s particular brand of twisted twisty plots are in for a shocker. I was already sucked in by the title long before the synopsis was released.
The snarky spiteful thoughts (Margot’s especially) and veiled compliments (Liv’s directed at Margot) were bitingly witty and entertaining. As you would expect You Killed Me First contained all the usual privilege, wealth, gossip, secrets, lies, threats, blackmail, revenge, and dark pasts surrounding Liv, Margot, and Anna, as well as igniting twists. The writing was John Marrs’ usual high standard and I loved the various references to ‘fire’ sprinkled throughout.
I toggled between the e-book and audio, and all the narrators were superb, especially when it came to the italicisedchapters and the performance for chapter 61 was bone-chilling.
Once again John Marrs’ psychotic plot has blown me away.