I loved this! It was so unique and funny it was a joy to read. I didn’t know where the story was going and that element made it that much more enjoyable.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

I love, love, loved this book! This book was hilarious, fast paced and, surprisingly, heartwarming. Even though it is a book about serial killers, it has lovely characters that I fell in love with. The main character was so funny and the people she meets are charming and sweet. I also thought the LGBTQIA representation was spot on. Awesome book.

Wow. This was really fun, and kept me guessing all the way to the end.

If you like crime but also get a little scared or stressed by them, this is a good one to pick up. It’s definitely a crime novel, but the humor gives it less of a sting.

Amber is kidnapped by a man in a white van. The former con artist, who tried to start over, wakes up in the man's basement - she's nakedher head is shaved and she's been pained blue everywhere. She realizes she's been kidnapped by the Pikachu killer.

In comes a masked woman who sets her free, kills the killer, and, after much persuasian, gives her a ride back to town. But who is this woman?

The FBI comes sniffing around and Amber, who is a couple months from getting her college degree, knows she has to run or risk the chance of her past coming back to haunt her.

She ends up in Vegas, makes some friends and ends up in another weird plot twist.

This one had a few interesting twists and turns!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was one of the most fun and entertaining thrillers I’ve read in a long time.

We start the story with Amber in the back of a van being driven by someone coined, “the pikachu killer” and the wild twists just keep on coming! I really loved the messy group of ladies working together to evade danger and end this game they were forced to play. The characters were complicated and all a little bit broken, and that made them more lovable. I think I would categorize this as a “cozy murder game thriller?”

The setting being the seedy side of Vegas made it even more fun!

No plot twist really had me gasping in shock, but I had a great time reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Killing Me by Michelle Gagnon

Published: May 16, 2023
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Serial Killer Fiction
Pages: 335
KKECReads Rating: 5/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Michelle Gagnon is a former modern dancer, bartender, dog walker, model, personal trainer, and Russian supper club performer. Her bestselling thrillers have been published in North America, France, Spain, Argentina, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Australia. Michelle splits her time between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“I wasn’t even good at lying to myself anymore.”

A masked stranger saves Amber, and now she is running for her life. She grabs what little she has and heads west. The only problem, Amber doesn’t know she is now a key player in the game of life… or death.

I enjoyed how this book was written. It was very comfortable, very conversational. The plot flowed smoothly. It started a bit slow in the beginning but quickly picked up and stayed at 100 through the end.

The characters were fantastic. I loved Dot; she was the kindest, most connected, somewhat maternal figure. Amber was intelligent, a little shady, and hellbent on continuing to be a survivor.

Each character was so well defined and had such a distinct shape. The plot twist was fantastic- I was completely shocked and did not see it coming.

I enjoyed the descriptions and seeing Vegas through a less shiny lens. It was also neat seeing Stockton mentioned (near my hometown!). Overall, this was an entertaining and engaging read.

🎰 Book Review 🎰 swipe for synopsis ➡️

Thank you so much @putnambooks and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my review!

This was such a refreshing, entertaining and wild read. It's rare that I enjoy comedy with my thriller/suspense but this book blended it all so well. You are immediately drawn into the chaos as the book opens with Amber, our MC, being kidnapped by a serial killer. She manages to survive and what happens after is a rollercoaster ride. Amber and the full cast of characters are really dynamic and I could picture them as real people. The atmosphere in the book was perfect and so well done. I felt fully immersed in their world. I highly enjoyed this one and it is one of my favorite reads of the year thus far!

This just released on the 16th, so go pick up a copy ASAP!

#KillingMe #putnambooks #netgalley #michellegagnon #LGBTQIA #review #book #newbook #read

This was a delightful read. Loved the Vegas scenes and people. Interludes were fun POV shifts. I had a great time

OK, so I want to see a lot more of these two women. Amber and Grace need to find another reason to work together. There were so many wonderful, strong, and quirky characters in this book that I felt I knew them. These are the kind of people who you need a follow up on.

This was a truly original group. Start off already abducted by a serial killer? And that isn’t even the real story. Who runs after being saved from certain death…from the cops? Someone with something to hide. A crazy serial killer that Criminal Minds wouldn’t even try to pull off barely makes it past the beginning of the book. Amber runs fast and ends up in the seedier side of Las Vegas (which is saying something). She meets the exact right people and plans how she is going to rebuild her life. But her past comes back in a way she wasn’t expecting.

I could not put this one down.

This book reminds me of Finley, Donovan, and I loved it. It was just enough of a thriller to keep me entertained, but it was also really funny and not too scary. The twist at the end also completely had me guessing it was great all the way to the last page. Definitely looking forward to reading more by this author.

You know when you have a book for months, just never get around to reading it, and then finally do read it and wonder what took you so long!? Yeah, that’s me with this book. Killing Me is the perfect blend of humor and suspense and I absolutely LOVE the Vegas motel setting. Our main character Amber “made” the book for me; she is still sassy as ever, even after surviving a serial killer. Amber surrounds herself with a group of truly bad ass women. I love that basically all of the characters in this book are women and they band together in this really bizarre situation. You’ve got the mysterious, vigilante woman who saves Amber’s life; the older, motherly motel owner and her quirky best friend; and the sexy prostitute who has had the worst string of bad luck. Killing Me gave me some strong Nancy Drew, Dexter, and Finlay Donovan vibes. I highly recommend it!

Thanks to Penguin Group/Putnam for the gifted book in exchange for my honest review.

The best words I can use to describe this book are zany and unhinged. None of it makes any sense, but you’re along for the ride. If you like your heroines with a heavy dose of hot mess and a sprinkle of eye rolls, you’ve found the right book.

About to become the next victim of a serial killer who dresses up his victims like Pokémon, our main character is suddenly saved by a mysterious woman who kills her would-be killer. Is it too much to ask her savior’s name? Or why she saved Amber when she couldn’t care less whether Amber lives or dies?

Full of dark humor that sometimes veers toward too dark, it’s unique. Too long and plodding, but interesting enough.

With Killing Me, Michelle Gagnon has crafted a wholly-original take on the vigilante narrative. In her own unique style—which incorporates a blend of both light slapstick and dark humor—Gagnon captures the readers attention from page one and refuses to let go of that chokehold until the final pages are turned. Somehow Michelle Gagnon has managed to write a serial killer novel that will appeal to readers for whom that genre is often too horrific to face.

The action set piece that opens Killing Me is one for the ages. Before the cover is cracked, Amber Jamison has been abducted by The Pikachu Killer—and I’ll leave it to readers to discover the origins of that moniker in the text—and in addition to fearing for her life, she spends plenty of time ruminating on just how the hell she got into this stupid situation. After some time confined in a basement (was it an hour, days?), Amber is rescued when a mysterious—and super sexy—woman bursts into the basement to confront this menace to society. The fact that her safety was an unexpected byproduct of some accidental occurrences doesn’t exactly sit well with Amber, but she won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

What is immediately clear from these first pages of Killing Me is that Amber’s voice is going to be one of those rare points-of-view in crime fiction that is both compelling, enlightened, and entertaining in equal measure. Readers will just feel the unwavering desire to spend time with Amber—this quirky lesbian who seems both confident and confounded simultaneously.

Now, readers wouldn’t be remiss in wondering how the novel will continue since the culprit is captured in the early pages. But rest assured, Michelle Gagnon has only just begun to weave her web. You see, Amber has a past that she’s trying desperately to overcome, forget, and/or escape, and the fact that the FBI are now hot on her trail to question her about The Pikachu Killer is putting a cramp in her style. So much so, that she flees West and finds herself in a seedy motel outside Las Vegas, looking for a new identity. This is when Killing Me really takes off.

Forming her own Scooby Gang with a Vegas prostitute, a hardened hotel manager, and her mysterious (and super sexy) benefactor, Amber must confront yet another serial killer—this one more deadly than even she understands. To say any more would be a spoiler, but Michelle Gagnon has packed the narrative with unforeseeable twists, unexpected humor, and an abundance of heart.

Readers will reach the end of Killing Me shocked by late developments and eagerly hoping this is only the beginning of a new, beloved crime fiction series. Even after the last page is turned, the voice of Amber lingers. Whether you are a fan who discovered Michelle Gagnon back with her excellent debut, The Tunnels, or maybe the YA Don’t Let Go trilogy, or you are a newcomer to her work now, you will finish Killing Me feeling like you’ve made a new friend—in both Amber and Michelle.

Thank you to NetGalley, Michelle Gagnon, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I never laughed so much while reading a thriller/serial killer book. Amber is hysterical. She is one of my favorite FMC ever.

"When I came to, I was bound up like a sushi roll."

"Imagine a surveillance video )not that there were any in this podunk town) of me getting catapulted into a van by a guy's ass."

I loved how fast-paced this was. I kept going back and forth on who to trust. I would say that's who it is, and then I would get suspicious about another person.

This is definitely a book I will reread.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book and how it’s set up. The story follows a college aged girl named Amber who get taken by a serial killer only to discover there’s so much going on that she has no idea about! I really enjoyed the built up suspense and the twists were perfectly timed and really got me thinking. All the characters and locations were well developed, the humor was spot on, and I couldn’t wait to get to the end to see what would happen! If you’re into psychological thrillers and suspenseful mysteries, check this book out!

“Killing Me” by Michelle Gagnon follows Amber, a woman who has reinvented herself to escape her past. Her new identity seemed to be going pretty well, until she gets abducted by a serial killer. Amber thinks she’s going to die, but a woman swoops in and saves her- but this is where things get weird. Her savior is hunting a different serial killer- and now that serial killer is after Amber… A quirky and somehow fun thriller, you won’t want to put this one down!

One of the best things about this book is the pacing. Gagnon hit that perfectly. We never have to sit and wonder for too long what’s coming next, because this book never stops packing punches. Between clues and thrills, we meet a cast of extremely differing and interesting characters that keep the plot engaging.

While this book was entertaining, it wasn’t a huge puzzle to solve. There were moving pieces, but the mystery itself was pretty cut and dry, especially once all the main players were established. BUT that didn’t stop me from enjoying this read. Gagnon’s writing is entertaining throughout, making this a fast read.

In the end, I gave this book a solid 3 stars. I enjoyed it and feel like now I need to check out Gagnon’s backlist of books.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! This book is out now!

This book immediately grabbed my attention and took me for a wild ride. So many twists and turns. I truly did not know what would happen next

4.5 ⭐️
This was not what I expected, but in the best way! It was gripping, funny, witty, and had peak friendship vibes. The only reason it isn’t a full 5 stars is the ridiculousness that is the Pikachu killer at the beginning.

Funny, smart book. Very satirical. I thought it would be a nice slow read, but I read it in a couple of sittings. The writing style just flowed and the characters were amusing. It was a refreshing different read from most books currently available.

#NETGALLEY. #KILLINGME. #MICHELLEGAGNON

A great mix of humor and suspense. I loved the cast of characters and the casual queer representation? We love to see it.