Ladykiller is a gripping, can't-put-down psychological thriller that takes place on a sunny, sexy Greek island and that follows a set of intriguing (and quite selfish) characters. Gia and Abby have been close friends since childhood. After a traumatic event during the summer when they turned 18, their friendship grew apart. However, they have remained in each other's lives and kept contact. After Gia marries Garret, having only known him five months, Abby can't keep her feelings quiet. Words are said and the two go their separate ways. Now, months later, Gia wants to rekindle their friendship over a trip to see the Northern Lights. Abby agrees to go (particularly excited to see Gia's brother Benny). However, when they arrive in Norway, it's without Gia. Gia has essentially disappeared. Benny then mentions that a month ago, a strange and suspect couple had been staying with Gia and Garrett in Greece. What happened to Gia? Who was this couple? And why is Abby receiving threatening emails? Abby and Benny travel to Greece where they find Gia's manuscript detailing the last days before she went missing.

Ladykiller is a gorgeously written thriller filled with twists, secrets, and betrayals. The author does an amazing job with writing unreliable narrators. I had no idea who to believe. The story alternates between Abby in the present and Gia in the past (via her manuscript). The characters are all well-developed with many layers. As much as some of the characters (don't want to give away anything) are unlikable, they're still very interesting. I appreciated the open ending. I'll definitely be reading more by Katherine Wood. Ladykiller is a definite five star read!

I'm new to the psychological thriller world so maybe I am easily fooled but good grief! So may twists and turns!! I loved this book. Great read!

An excellent thriller with multiple twists that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout! Great ending too…This book was excellent!!! Highly recommend to all psychological thriller lovers.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Ladykiller by Katherine Wood was great! The novel follows two childhood best friends as they come together a decade later. They have aa secret in common and also secrets from each other.
The story was fast moving and twisty. I inhaled it! Very good!

I really enjoyed reading this book outdoors on my roofdeck. The fragrant scents of spring added to the setting. I was getting strong White Lotus vibes which is a major compliment. I immediately was distrustful of Garrett & even more so Time and Emelia. There's a lot of thought-provoking food for thought. Gia announces "female octopuses self-destruct after they lay eggs " she also informs the crowd. "Zeus affairs made Hera unhappy" as she fixes her eyes on her hubby Garrett. "So she slaughtered her mistress Then he was unhappy too." There's conversation about the survival of the fittest and how Darwin suggested that organisms best adapted to their environment are the most successful " "Everyone is out for themselves" & "humans are supposed to be more evolved than the g-d." Gia is the ultimate "poor little rich girl" who is overly generous because she feels bad for growing up rich. She reminds me of Tanya from White Lotus. Garrett reminds her bestie, "Gia is going to do what Gia wants to do. We've never been able to influence her. You can't change people." Other telling lines include: "Gia wasn't a person who lived in black & white; she thrived in full color & I knew from experience the truth was hidden between the lines of her book."

The prose is detailed & beautifully written. The plot keeps the reader on its toes, guessing & then reevaluating & second guessing.. The drawback is it could be a bit shorter. I'll definitely read more books by K

While Ladykiller promises intrigue and mystery, it falls short of delivering the pulse-pounding thrills one might expect. The pace of the narrative crawls along, weighed down by excessive detail and slow-building tension that never quite reaches a satisfying climax.

Despite its billing as a thriller, the story reads more like a leisurely-paced mystery, with the focus on unraveling the secrets behind the heiress's disappearance rather than heart-pounding action. The premise of uncovering clues from a manuscript left behind by the missing heiress holds promise, but the execution lacks urgency, leaving the reader feeling detached from the unfolding events.

The characters, while initially intriguing, fail to fully captivate, and their relationships feel underdeveloped. The dynamic between best friends Gia and Abby, central to the plot, lacks depth, and their motivations often feel unclear.

Overall, Ladykiller may appeal to readers seeking a slow-burning mystery with a focus on unraveling secrets, but those expecting a gripping thriller may find themselves disappointed by its lackluster pacing and failure to deliver on its promises of suspense.

This was my first book by Katherine Wood and it did not disappoint. I had no real idea what I was getting into when I started this book but it was a wonderful depiction of the differences in class and viewpoints, friendship and love, all set in a bucket-list place for me! Katherine Wood highlighted secrets, deception and murder in a way that still made me want to be on the Greek island with them! This was a quick, but well done domestic thriller that I would highly recommend.

Childhood friends, Gia, her brother, Benny and Abby, in Sweden to check off a bucket-list item of seeing the Northern Lights and make amends for the way they parted last time. However, things take a harrowing turn when Gia never shows up. Abby and Benny take matters into their own hands and head to the Greek island estate where Gia had been living with her handsome new husband Garrett to get some answers, but they find more than they bargained for with an empty estate.

This one as full of so many twists and turns, and the best part is I didn't guess the whole ending because Katherine Wood kept throwing them in. I feel the story built pretty slowly but I really enjoyed the multiple POV and different timeline aspect of the book. Katherine Wood keeps you enthralled until the end, I finished this one in a day, I didn't want to put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and Katherine Wood for the eARC of Ladykiller, publication date 09 July 2024.

Great book, really enjoyed the twists and turns that this took me on and I would definitely recommend to a friend.

A beautiful setting, a love story, an inter-class friendship, a story within a story and a secret from the past that is threatening to upend everything. Oh, and a missing protagonist. Katherine Wood’s LadyKiller is a domestic thriller with so much to recommend it.

When childhood friends, heiress Gia and working-class Abby, plan to meet at a remote luxury hotel in Sweden to check off a bucket-list item of seeing the Northern Lights, both are looking forward to reconnecting. Things turn harrowing when Abby begins receiving threatening texts right before her flight and Gia never shows up.

Abby, accompanied by Gia’s younger brother Benny, heads to the Greek island estate where Gia had been living with her handsome new husband Garrett to get some answers, but all that they find is the manuscript of a memoir written by Gia.

Full of twists and shocking turns, the story builds slowly with a dual point of view and timeline. Wood keeps you reading until the end.

The setting of this was amazing but unfortunately I was not a fan of the ending. Sometimes open endings are fun but this one fell a little flat for me. Overall, it was pretty solid.

Ladykiller grabs you slowly and keeps you on edge! The twists and turns have you guessing and just as you figure it out, you are mistaken!

After a whirlwind seduction, Gia brings her new husband, Garrett, to her secluded Greek island, where she has vacationed and lived a privileged life, devoid of responsibility, accountability and consequence. A perfect love story, until it isn’t.

Katherine Wood has crafted THE psychological thriller of the summer. This is the one you have been waiting to read. A story within a story, not sure what is real and what is not. It has all the elements: Family, friendship, loyalty, suspense, deception disfunction and drama.

I highly recommend Ladykiller for your enjoyment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was so slow.
It’s painful to get through.
Unreliable narrator for one of the perspectives.

The mystery aspect of who’s sending Abby the emails is good. However, Gia being taken advantage of is so hard to read because it’s so obvious what’s happening. The twist at the end is predicable but still good.

Gia and Abby are childhood best friends with the opposite upbringing. Gia is a well known heiress, whereas Abby is the daughter of Gia's family cook. They were thick as thieves despite their different upbringing and their friendship was cemented after a shared tragedy in Greece when the women were 18. Told in alternative perspectives and through Gia's manuscript, Ladykiller tells the story of how Gia seemingly disappeared on the same Greek island twelve years after the original tragedy occurred. This was a fast-paced read that was very hard to put down. I was drawn-in by the varied cast of characters and the idyllic location in Greece. I know some disliked the ending; however, I was pleased with it and enjoyed some of the ambiguity. It seemed fitting for the characters involved.

Gone Girl meets Verity!

It’s rare to find a debut that weaves its prose and plot so seamlessly. I can easily see Katherine Wood becoming the next big name in thrillers.

This story follows long time best friends Gia Torres and Abby Cormac in dual POVs and timelines.
After a brief falling out following Gia’s rash decision to marry a man she barely knows, Gia invites Abby for a getaway with herself and her brother, Benny. But, when Abby and Benny arrive Gia is no where to be found. When concerning texts come through that lead them to believe something is wrong, they head to Gia’s home in Greece. With the house empty their only clue is a manuscript written by Gia chronicling the events leading to her disappearance.

The wild twists and turns were perfectly paired with the sweet romance between Abby and Benny. You get the perfect dose of love mixed in and I simultaneously loved watching Abby and Benny together and loved seeing Gia in all her unhinged glory.
Katherine Wood wrote such strong characters with a killer plot in Ladykiller and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future!

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

my favorite type of thriller books are girls trips gone wrong (bonus points if they’re set in a tropical location).

Katherine Wood/St. John is an auto-read author for me, so I was ecstatic to get approved for a NetGalley arc for Ladykiller.

This wasn’t my favorite of hers, but it was still good. I was pulled in right from start and I found myself not wanting to stop reading. My only real complaint is the ending; I felt it was lackluster.

Ladykiller is an extravagant, quick-paced, dual perspective psychological thriller that takes place on the Greek islands. When Gia, an heiress who has recently rushed into a hasty marriage, goes missing, her best friend from childhood, Abby, rushes to find her using clues left behind in a salacious manuscript. The two of them are bonded from a tragedy that occurred when they were teenagers. However, it's also an event that has created distance between them. When Gia disappears, though, the present and the past begin to unravel all kinds of secrets, surprises, and questions.

I love a good It Girl thriller, and this one took a different tack in that it forces readers to question the reliability of all the characters involved. Not only do you suspect Gia (who fits the It Girl archetype) of possibly being something more nefarious than she seems, with her cluelessness ringing both true and false, but you also can't help but question how Abby arrives at her reasonable conclusions. The challenge to decide what actually happens falls to the reader rather than to the characters. So, if ambiguous or open endings aren't your cup of tea you might not like this one. Personally, I liked not having a definitive answer. It's one of those endings that has you looking over your shoulder, just in case, you know?

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my review.

A captivating slow-burning mystery set in the Greek Islands..This psychological thriller kept me engaged and guessing until the very end. However I was disappointed in the lack of a definitive resolution. There is a complex web of secrets, hidden agendas, and subterfuge.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was flying through this book trying to piece together the tales being told between Gia and her friend Abby. I enjoy an unreliable narrator, but just as soon as you think all of the truths are about to be uncovered, the book ends. The author leaves it up to the reader to decide which truths they believe are real, and I didn’t love that aspect of the book.

4.5 stars, rounded down to 4.

Ladykiller begins telling Abby’s intriguing story, and then it continues with what initially seems like literary writing from her friend, Gia. This writing quickly turns, though, as it exposes things that really happened. Or did they? And that’s the crux of the book. Is anyone telling the truth? Is everyone against one character? Does the truth even matter?

Although I thought at first about DNF’ing this book, I’m really glad I didn’t. I became increasingly invested as time went on, and I loved the way the author unveiled the truth. One particular bombshell comes toward the end, and I had to stop and sit with it for a minute.

Because truth is all relative, though, this book won’t hand you an easy solution. I know this will bother some people, but it made me like it even more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

In a somewhat predictable tale of lies and money, and the lengths people will go to protect themselves, Abby and Gia are childhood best friends from different backgrounds who are forever tied together by a fateful night 12 years earlier. So when Gia insists that Abby join her for a birthday getaway, along with Gias brother Benny, Abby can’t think of a reason good enough to not go. But what unfolds is a series of events, told through Abby’s perspective and Gias manuscript, that one finds hard to know who is telling the truth. As the story unfolds and the truth becomes muddled, it’s easy to figure out where the book is headed, but a fun read that has the reader dying to explore Greece while solving the mystery put forth by Gia and Abby.