Twenty years ago six college students shared a house. A few months later, one of them was found dead in the living room following an end of year party. The police ruled his death an accident ... but the remaining students knew different.

The truth of what happened to the 6th housemate has not stay buried.

Today, the 5 remaining students, who haven't seen or talked to each other in years, all arrive at a crumbing, secluded mansion. All have been invited to be there by one pretext or another.

Trapped inside with no way out and no signal to the outside world, the now forty-somethings fight each other—and the unknown mastermind behind their gathering—as they confront the role they played in their housemate’s death. They are given one choice: confess to their crimes or die.

This was just an okay read for me. I honestly did not like any of the roommates and I didn't care for all the in-fighting and bickering, The story bounced back and forth in time which left me having to backtrack what I'd already read. I have ambivalent feelings about the ending. I wasn't invested in the story, so I found it less than suspenseful.

Many thanks to the author / Skyhorse Publishing / Arcade Crimewise / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

They Did Bad Things was a hard read for me. I found it hard to get into and it didn’t grip or intrigue me.

They Did Bad Things by Lauren A. Forrey is a mystery thriller that kept making me think of I Know What Did Last Summer, except it was more like I know what you did twenty plus years ago. I enjoyed the twists and the overall story line, but what kept me from really getting into it was the characters themselves. These are some selfish, horrible people. There's a lot of flashbacks jumping back and forth. From present to 20ish years ago, yesterday, last year, this morning. It character jumped too, making it quite a bit choppy all around. You get to know each of them quite well through. The only likeable one was dead the whole time. That fact alone, made it very hard to feel invested in their stories, but that didn't stop me from wanting to know what was going to happen next.

In 1995 one of the six roommates is found dead on the couch. The police rule it an accident, but one of the remaining five is guilty. Twenty years later the five, who haven't talked in the meantime, end up together and cannot leave until they tell their secrets.

I liked the book and thought it was well written, but was a little unbelievable in some parts. It wasn't my favorite book, but a decent read.

I was given the opportunity to read this by NetGalley in exchange for an honest. review.

A taut, compelling thriller that kept me turning the pages. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC

I love locked room whodunits so you can bet the premise of this book was something right up my alley. Sadly, the execution and storytelling was sorely lacking even though I actually liked the writing.

It felt like the author tried to make this a complex multi-layer story but all it managed to achieve was confusion and a lack of emotional attachment on my part. I also usually enjoy dual timelines, but this one was convoluted and all over the place with no real pattern. Furthermore, the characters were barely distinguishable beyond typical stereotypes and none of them had distinct personalities. But the biggest issue I had with the book was how it uses several cheap storytelling techniques.

Not a bad story, just needs to be told better.

I loved the idea of a locked room mystery and this one had all the elements of a classic Agatha Christie-esque tale. Five former college roommates, with a murder in their past, brought together at a remote inn in Scotland - add in some rainy weather and this sets the stage for a promising thriller.

This book did a really good job at making you ask all of the questions - why are they there? who brought them together? How did their roommate die in college? Despite all of this, I felt that it fell a little flat for me - likely due to all of the unlikable characters. I often have trouble connecting with the characters if there is no one that I'm rooting for.

I could definitely see many of my fellow thriller readers enjoying this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the story and thought the characters were relatable. My only complaint is that it took me a quarter of the book to really get into it. Once I really started to enjoy the story, it was fast paced and an intriguing read.

Once I got into this book I really enjoyed the story/plot twists, etc. however the main thing Tharp detracted from this being a great book were the characters. I genuinely disliked every single one of them. Usually I can dislike the actions/attitudes of characters and still find something redeemable about their character or at the very least appreciate some small part of their personality. But this was def not the case here. There was def nothing I felt attached to about any of them. Obviously a tough subject that was hard to read at times, and as I said overall an interesting read. If you can get past the fact that there isn't one character with much in the way of redeeming qualities then you'll def enjoy this book. I unfortunately could not.

They Did Bad Things
1 star
DNF 28%
I just couldn’t get into this book. The first thing that I noticed was that the first chapter was very long. I felt like like it could have been broken up. I also couldn’t figure all the characters out. There were too many and introducing them all at once and bouncing around from their point of views. I had to keep rereading things and that probably didn’t help me connect to the story since I had to keep stepping out of it to reread or figure out what was happening. So it’s a no for me...

Five used-to-be roommates, 20 years later, 1 murder down, more to go..

I wasn't positive going into this one, after reading some trusted reviews, that I was going to like it. However, I read this book in one day! It is a fast and extremely twisty read! Everyone is against everyone in this one and I thought it was clever and very fun to read!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers Skyhorse Publishing/Arcade Crimewise and the author.

I would like to thank Arcade Crimewise and the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book.

The story takes place in 1995 when six young university students moved to 215 Caldwell Street. A few months later one of them was found dead on the couch the day after a drunken party. Considered an accident by the police, the death of this young man is considered more like a murder by the five others. Twenty years later they found themselves in an isolated mansion in Scotland. They will be trapped in the manor without being able to get out. They will have to talk about the death of their roommate, tell their role in it and confess their crime or die.

A book read in one go, so much so that I hung on to the story so moving at certain passages, gripping, addictive, captivating, full of suspense and twists and turns with very endearing characters. I love the author's writing.

This book had an amazing plot all throughout. I couldn’t put this book down, even though at times it would scare me. I love books that alternate perspectives and the author did a great job at that in my opinion. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This was a well written book that was just too slasher movie for me. I had a hard time liking any of the characters, and the time jumps threw me off my game. By no mean was this a "bad" book- it just wasn't MY cup of tea.

They Did Bad Things was an intense book to say the least. It had elements of a good thriller but ended up feeling like I was watching a slasher movie. I absolutely hated all characters but couldn't stop turning those pages. The entire plot had a dark creepy feeling to it. I did not mind the alternating timelines but would have appreciated if they were clearly denoted or marked as such. The storytelling also alternated in voice which sometimes made it confusing. As far as the plot goes, I failed to understand the reasoning for certain characters behaving a certain way. Although the general theme would seem to be retribution, towards the end it felt like it was senseless violence. The last thing I expected from this high anxiety causing read was a cliffhanger. I perhaps would have enjoyed it better had the body count not been this senselessly high or seen some kind of closure in terms of justness or restored normalcy.

Thank you NetGalley, Skyhorse publishing & Lauren A. Forry for an arc!

This kept my interest the whole time. I am joyed the characters. I think it could be considered a page turner. It had some good plot twists that made you not want to put it down

A solid thriller! Much like And Then There Were None, this novel had me guessing until the very last page. The time jumps were a bit disorientating but the mystery and atmosphere made up for it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
My one complaint would be that the characters were a bit unlikeable and I did not connect with them. Other than that, this was a solid mystery. I especially loved the end. I did not see it coming at all!

Thank you so much to the publisher for my review copy! This really sounded like it would be a compelling story, but it did not prove to be for me. I’m rating and reviewing here but will not be doing so on Goodreads or the other platforms I review on, as I didn’t find this story remotely compelling. The writing is well done but I felt quite bored by this and was not able to see it all the way through.

This psychological thriller was a good read, I was glued all the way through but in my opinion the ending was a bit of a let down. The plot and setting were great and the style of writing was perfect. But towards the end it got a little confusing. This is the first book I have read by this author and I will be keeping my eye out for more in the future.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I can't give half stars on this review but I would round up to 3.5.

I loved the premise of the book and the story was told so well. It really kept me guessing who was the mastermind behind it all.

The one drawback is that all of the characters seemed so self-absorbed - though maybe that is what got them in the situation in the first place?

Give this book a go.