Never Saw Me Coming is a twisted novel about a group of physiological college students. The intent is to study them and find a way to help them feel normal feelings.

Reading a book like this lets you into the mind, a little bit, of the characters. You see them acting as they think they should act but still have bad intentions. In the end you wonder what will happen with the study participants in the future.

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian is a thriller novel. Some have this one as young adult and others as adult, technically it is new adult with the characters being college students. The point of view in the story will change between a few of the characters who by the way are psychopaths!

Chloe Sevre considered it destiny that she is attending John Adams University having applied to all the colleges in the D.C. area. You see, Chloe has a plan, a revenge plan, that she intends to see through to the end against the boy who did her wrong when she was only 12, Will. The fact that Chloe is now on a full ride scholarship courtesy of the psychology department only makes her more determined to see out her plan.

Chloe obtained her full ride to the university because Chloe has been diagnosed as a psychopath. She is now part of a study carried out by a professor at the university, a renowned psychologist, who had brought in six others like Chloe all on scholarships. As Chloe is activating her mission however one of the other students in the study is murdered bringing attention to the campus.

The first thing that comes to mind with Never Saw Me Coming is that these aren’t very likable characters. Well, we are talking a book on some cold and calculating psychopaths so I didn’t expect cheery and delightful either. I also couldn’t help but think what does it say about me that I enjoy reading about these characters? However, I do have to admit I was fascinated by Chloe and her mission as much as I was with finding who was the murderer on campus and I did keep flying through the pages all the way to the end so I did enjoy reading this one.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

A secret school program for psychopaths? Whoa! Who thinks up this stuff? Vera Kurian does! I’ve never read anything by this author before. This is one psychological thriller you won’t forget! It started off good then got a little slow in the middle because I was having a hard time connecting to these psychopaths which I guess is a good thing I could not understand why they did what they did! Right? Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published September 2021.

Chloe Sevre is a diagnosed psychopath. She attends John Adams University as a freshman and has joined a special clinical study there with other students that are just like her, they all lack empathy and emotions. Chloe, however, has an ulterior motive for attending this college and that is to kill Will Bachman. Will did something really terrible to Chloe when she was 12 years old and she is out for revenge. Things take a turn for the worse when students in the clinical study start turning up dead. Chloe decides to investigate with the help of fellow students in the program, Charles and Andre. The problem is can they trust one another? Will Chloe be able to successfully execute her plans for Will Bachman or will she end up being a victim of the killer?

Vera Kurian has created a very interesting spin on the psychological thriller genre with NEVER SAW ME COMING. I really enjoyed this book! I found myself quite engrossed in the storyline and always trying to guess the killer’s identity. This one really stumped me. If you're looking for a quick-paced thriller with a unique twist, I would recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) on September 2, 2021.

Never Saw Me Coming…yeah, we did. There is a great premise here. Mental illness is so often misunderstood and the characters here are best to be seen as fun examples of what a psychopath may be. Sure. But there isn’t much sneaking up on you here. Again we have people who go to college with the freedom of not actually paying for it and no real reason to care if they do well. Now, some of them are psychopaths. A little thrill added to the pack. I enjoyed this little trip, though I was hoping for more from the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy to read.
And read I did. I couldn't put the book down! I read this over two days and had a blast, which is exactly what you should expect from a fun, intriguing thriller. The concept hooked me from the start - a group of college aged psychopaths being stalked by a serial killer and having to work together to save their own and each others lives. Not an easy feat when you're a psychopath and have no feelings or empathy. The interactions between the characters was fascinating, and the side plot (which I originally thought was going to be the main plot) of one of the psychopaths who has her own plan to stalk and kill someone was fun to follow through. Overall, a great quick read. I was a touch disappointed by the ending, the discovery of the serial killer was a bit of a let down, but the rest of the book, and how much fun I had reading it, made up for the less than overwhelming reveal.

Kindle Copy for Review from NetGalley and Killer Crime Club.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

It is a riveting thriller that will keep you on your edge.

A psychopathic game of cat and mouse turns quickly as you will find yourself lost in the game. A clinical research gone wrong or was it planned? Whose motive was really deadly?

A fascinating read.

The premise of Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian is what initially hooked me; I couldn't resist the idea of seven psychopaths attending the same college as part of a psychological study. The students in the study were not told who the other participants were, and the student body at large was not informed that there were seven known psychopaths in their midst. (Imagine finding out your roommate was part of this study!)

The plot was twisty and clever, and I loved how details were slowly revealed. There was enough action to keep the pace moving, but I will say the plot was perhaps too ambitious: we had Chloe seeking revenge on Will, a supposed serial killer hunting down the study participants, one student faking his diagnosis and a cyberstalker all vying for our attention. I felt some plot points were not adequately resolved, and the climactic scene near the end was too easily resolved.

I found the characters to be likable, even though by definition of psychopathy, they lacked empathy. Some of their actions and things they said were almost humorous until you took into account their limited capacity for affection and propensity for manipulative behavior and egocentricity.

So this book was heading for a five star rating but due to the plot issues listed above, it finished as a four star rating for me.

I will recommend this to readers who like psychological thrillers with twisty plots.

Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Park Row and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Dr. Wyman's admirable study aims to collect young psychopaths with potential and teach them to control their impulses long enough become upstanding members of society. Since his pool includes Chloe, who only joined for the chance to murder her rapist, and Andre, a perfectly normal young man playing up a racist misdiagnosis for the free tuition, his odds of success are low. And that's before someone starts murdering the participants. It's difficult to tell cat from mouse in this twisted thriller. Kurian gives even the ruthless Chloe an engaging voice.

⭐️Review⭐️
Title: Never Saw Me Coming
Author:
Releases: 9/7/21
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Thank you to the publisher for a free Netgalley!
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Loved:
- I loved the idea about a college running a program using psychopaths. I felt it lended itself to many possibilities.
- The plot was overall enjoyable. I liked the three main characters as they were different enough to not feel their stories were repetitive!

Didn’t:
- The pacing on this one was a bit too slow. I will say it 10000 times. Most thrillers do NOT need to be 400 pages.
- The psychology was part of the appeal for this one. However, it felt the research used was surface level and repetitive.

Though this missed the mark just as tad for me, I recommend if you like slow burns. Definitely will read what this author writes next!

So this book had its good points and its bad points. Chloe Sevre is a college freshman who just happens to be getting a full ride because she is part of a hush hush program that deals with psychopaths. There are several other people in the program. Chloe is here on a mission of revenge but someone else also has a purpose with this study-hunting down all the psychopaths participating in it. The setting was awesome and the idea for this book is definitely unique. I didn't connect at all with the main character though and when the reasoning for the big bad trying to out-psycho the psychopaths by murdering them all is revealed it wasn't at all the twisty turny tada that I expected. Still this author has some serious writing skills and I look forward to reading her future books. I also want to say that I may be an anomaly because so many people really liked this book!

What a ride this novel was. Scary, thrilling and a page turner for sure. "Never Saw Me Coming" is a great novel by Vera Kurian. I never saw the twist coming that is for sure. Plus, I totally loved the cover of this novel!

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this early!

I really enjoyed this book- It was intriguing and addicting as I wanted to know how it will end!

Quick Synopsis:
This story focuses on seven students attending a college as part of a study on psychopathy. One by one, the students in the study start to die, and the list of suspects just keeps growing.

Please keep in mind this is a work of fiction, this is not necessarily a depiction of the kind of various ‘psychopaths.’ MANY of the characters are highly unlikeable, but that’s part of the journey!

Read this book for what it is, a crazy thriller with a new perspective, and enjoy.

I love a revenge story, especially when the revenge-seeker is a young woman -- and even more when she's a diagnosed and self-aware psychopath who isn't going to get bogged down by pesky morality and change her mind and spare the trash human who wronged her.

Chloe is one of seven subjects in a research project for psychopaths at an elite college in Washington DC. The project comes with perks, like free tuition, but her real motivation to participate is to get her closer to the target of her vengeance (the aforementioned trash human), Will Bachman. There's plotting and scheming and murders and the most reliably unreliable narrator interacting with a slew of other psychopaths. This book was so fun, and I wanted Chloe to win the whole time. Highly recommended for fans of They Never Learn and The Female of the Species.

Chloe is one of seven students at her college that is admitted on a full ride in order to be a part of a program within the psychology department because she is labeled a psychopath. As she enters her freshman year she realizes what this program really means and then her fellow students start getting attacked and she must trust others in this program to get to the bottom of it all.

While that was the synopsis I read that got me hooked and ready to read the book and that ultimately was what the book was about, for me the book weaved in and out and the plot and at times I was close to putting it down, but Chloe as a character and the need to know who was the culprit kept me charging through. And thankfully I was very satisfied by the culprit as for me that matters most!

I think for me the hardest part of the book was the pacing. It took a long time to start ramping up and while I am typically fine with that as long as I feel like we are at least starting to climb a mountain, but with this one, I felt as though we were at the starting gate for a long time. I was thankful that the characters and my darn FOMO kept me reading.

While Vera Kurian has some other books listed on Goodreads, this feels like a debut and because there were characters that kept me intrigued, I would be ready and willing to read more from this author in hopes that my concerns were alleviated in the next book.

It's been weeks since me and my reading buddies finished this book, so my review won't be in depth as I first planned it to be.

Never Saw Me Coming stood out to me with it's cast of characters.
It is rare to read about main character who happens to be a psychopath, but it is extremely difficult to find a book with many psychopaths represented, all in one story, all together hanging around, making jokes and just simply being themselves.

I was already familiar with basics when it comes to this state of mind (diagnosis or whatever is the right word for it) and I think the author did a good job when it comes to representation.
I also want to stress out that I do appreciate the idea/point she was making by telling this story.

My favourite character was Cloe and I wish the whole book was written from her perspective, following her narration in first person.
Some parts written in third person following different characters were entertaining, but some were boring.

At some points I was really invested in the story. My favourite part was the revenge plot, and I'll be perfectly honest with you, as the big thing was happening my heart was racing 100/h.

I am sorry to say that with all the preparing for the grand finale and revelation about the killer, I ended up disappointed and to say it simple, the end was underwhelming.

Overall, this was very entertaining novel set in college and I would recommend it as a quick read, but I wasn't satisfied with the way it wrapped up.

Chloe is a smart, funny college freshman who is part of a special program at Adams College in Washington DC. This program is very special in that only certain students are allowed, and they are given full scholarships to attend the school in exchange for this program....the hook - these students are diagnosed psychopaths.

Regardless of diagnosis, Chloe was going to attend Adams because a boy from her youth is already there. A boy who did something horrible to her. But, while there is a revenge element to this book, there is a larger serial killer story line that was much more interesting and what kept me hooked to the end of this 400 page tomb.

Vera Kurian is a good writer - this book isn't quite adult fiction, but is a bit too adult/sexy to be YA --it will be interesting to see what her next book is and where it goes. This is an interesting topic and something I haven't read before - where every character isn't likable and you aren't really rooting for anyone, and yet you are still kind of rooting for everyone.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Whoever can say:
"Psycho Psychopath Psychopathology" 5 times, super fast, wins!

On your marks! Get Set! GO!!!

'Psycho Psychopath Psychuopathgy
Psycho psychi syopatholgy'

Damn! I'm out! Haha.

First things First. A stellar creative idea for the plot. Psychopaths, participating in a psychopath psychological experiment along with other psychopaths? Sold!

But wait for the bonus, an unknown person begins to hunt and kill the participating psychopaths. Say What!

And then the brutal truth. So much potential. Some very interesting characters. Yet, even with different narratives provided, I still failed to connect with anyone. It's ironic, and that may have even been the authors point.

Even after walking in the mind of a psychopath, there was still a struggle to connect with them. And please note, my disconnect has nothing to do with them being psychos or any of the creepy stuff they think or do. (If that's a problem for you alone, I recommend passing.)

No, I couldn't connect with them, as illustrated in this book. As the the mind of a psychopath was quite dull! Few things interest them. They are bored easily. Narcissistic of course. Detached, and detached was I as well.

The author displayed my previous comments very well. Unfortunately, too well. I was not able to find purchase on the suspenseful aspects. I know the psychopath is going to head into the scary dangerous situation every time. But they're never actually scared, no fear. In turn I felt no suspense. And as such, I got bored myself. A few moment's with gravity occurred. Otherwise, I was numb myself, by the end.

Thank you to HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) via NetGalley for the digital reader copy.

A fabulously entertaining ride from start to finish. I'm obsessed with Chloe and would follow her anywhere.

seven students, all psychopaths in a special program. Chloe is determined to kill another student, WIll Bachman for a rape and video when she was 12. She is determined to hunt him down
now someone is murdering the psychopaths. Chloe and friend Charlie are trying to figure out who is trying to kill them and chloe is determined to make Will's death look like that person killed him too