After a tragedy in Greece, Gia and Abby are bonded for life. After the event, Abby went deep into her studies, while Gia wrote a tell-all memoir.

12 years later, Gia has returned to Greece with her new husband and a crew of glamorous people doing glamorous things. She is there to sell her father's estate after his death. Abby receives an invite to celebrate Gia's upcoming birthday by seeing the Northern Lights in Sweden. After landing in Sweden and connecting with Gia's brother, Gia is missing. Messages are cryptic and Gia's phone is not being answered. Abby and Benny (the brother) fly back to Greece in hopes of connecting with Gia there.

The truth starts to unravel when they read a new manuscript of current events. They learn about her marriage and all about the glamorous friends. Gia is missing and this might be the only clue they have.

This is a great thriller, but does move a smidge slower than I like. Still, with the beautiful setting of Greece - how can any of this be wrong?

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

I truly wanted to love this book but it was not my cup of tea. I DNF around 40% it was not grabbing my attention and I felt I could not connect to the characters in the book.

I would definitely recommend trying it yourself as my opinion may be different than someone else’s. The writing was good just could not connect to the story.

Thank you Netgally, Katherine Wood and bellintine books for the ARC. I received this ARC of Ladykiller for my honest opinion.

Ladykiller by Katherine Wood is a captivating blend of setting, atmosphere, and tension. The novel delves into past indiscretions, a mysterious couple, a sun-drenched setting, unrequited love, and lust, all intertwining to create a spellbinding story. With a warning to trust no one, this book is a must-read for those seeking a thrilling and suspenseful tale.

Gia and Abbey were best friends who shared all secrets. When Gia goes missing Abbey digging into Gias manuscript looking for clues that might explain what happened to her.

I found this book painfully slow and it was hard for me to keep reading as I felt it was boring and at times predictable. The ending however did surprise with a good twist.

I want to thank the Publisher and Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Gia and Abby were best friends as children and until a tragedy occurred when they were 18 years old. Twelve years later, Abby receives and invitation to Gia’s 30th birthday celebration at a chalet in Sweden. When Abby arrives at the chalet, Abby isn’t there. She is missing and a manuscript of a book she has been writing is found which tells of her life up until her disappearance. Abby is worried for Gia and makes it her duty to find her.
This is a novel that you need to stick with reading. There are twists that will keep you guessing.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing—Ballantine

Interesting take on The Talented Mr. Ripley,. This book should definitely get thrown in your beach bag this summer!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Very interesting plot in this novel.

Gia and Abby have been friends for a long time, despite being from very different backgrounds, and being very different personalities. Abby and Gia’s brother Benny have also had a few moments in their past, but remain very good friends.

When the girls were in their teens, there was a tragedy that pulled the girls together, and set Abby off on a path as a lawyer, and left Gia enjoying life as an heiress with an adventurous spirit.

Now, Gia is newly married, shortly after the death of her father. She’s getting her house in Greece ready for sale, and asks Abby and Benny to join her for a birthday celebration in Sweden. But Gia never arrives…

Abby and Benny travel to Greece to find out what has happened to Gia, and the more they uncover, the more disturbed they are.

I like the way this novel unfolded, told as it is in several timelines and plotlines, and yet they were never confusing. We follow Abby as she travels to Sweden and then to Greece, but also we have a few flashbacks to the teenage years when the girls were involved in a dreadful experience. Meanwhile, the story is alternately told from the pages of a manuscript of a novel that Gia has written while in Greece. But is the manuscript reliable? Can Abby and Benny use it to find Gia?

Ms Wood did a lovely job of making the characters very intriguing, as we slowly realize that everyone has secrets, behaves suspiciously and we try and figure out what is really going on. I enjoyed the pacing as the suspense built, although it was very unusual for the main point of the plot not to happen until 75% of the way through the book. Such a long build up for something we knew was going to happen. I loved the way things were not the way they first seemed, in many different ways and involving several different people.

I was a little disappointed in the ending, as things were not really wrapped up, but I understand the way the author wanted to leave the readers to make some of their own judgement calls. Personally, I kept trying to figure out if I had missed something along the way. So this novel was quite different for the typical ‘formula’. It did keep me interested as I wanted to understand what happened!

This book had a slow start for me between the two different POVs. It then got really really good in the middle to where I was hooked on quickly finishing it. But then the ending felt lackluster to me. It ends on a cliffhanger but it overall felt like it was missing something in the story. I know so many people love this one, but the ending didn’t live up to the hype for me.

Woah! A completely enthralling debut novel about an heiress, her best friend, and the secrets they share. This book is full of twists and turns and will keep you guessing all the way to the end. The story is told from two perspectives: a memoir manuscript and real time until the two stories converge into one. It was a 5 star read for me all the way up until the end but dropped off because I feel like a few loose ends weren't tied up. Can't wait to discuss this one with friends and will be recommending to anyone who will listen. I highly recommend reading whilst on a Greek vacation. *chef's kiss*

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published July 9, 2024.

This was a fun and quick read about two best friends from high school. It got a little convoluted towards the end, but overall a very satisfying thriller.

Part of me really enjoyed this book, and another part feels conflicted (mainly in the way the story was told and the format). The story is told in large part from the POV of a manuscript written by one of the main characters. There are little Easter eggs and pieces of information that could lead to a disappearance. And it sort of felt like reading two completely different stories at once, and I did not really anticipate the manuscript being such a huge chunk of the overall book itself. But I will say this book makes me wanna get up and go to Greece, have some wine, and have a good time!

A beach readable thriller featuring rich people and their scandals, the questions of agreed upon truths and reality, and what happens when. Yu take someone at their word. I enjoyed it, but I think there was a pacing issue overall. The book felt too slow at first, the buildup being too long for what appeared to be an obvious conclusion. Even when we hit the climax it didn't seem to have the payoff needed to justify the amount of time we took building it up.

Gia and Abby are best friends. Gia was the rich one, and Abby's mother worked for her family, and through that relationship, Abby benefited by attending boarding school and receiving a college education. But a tragedy happened when they were eighteen and they haven't been as close as they once were. Gia reached out to invite Abby to join her and her brother, Benny, in Sweden to see the Northern Lights, and Abby takes time off to join her old friend. Gia never shows, and Abby and Benny grow concerned that something horrible happened to her. They head to Greece and find a copy of a manuscript that Gia's written that describes the last month and just might lead them to figure out where she is.

The story alternates between Abby's story and Gia's written manuscript. The chapters with Gia's written manuscript were fantastical and kept me turning the pages. She's newly married to Garrett and working on renovating her Greece house before selling it when they meet up with Timeo and Emelia. Gia's very free spirited and carefree and embraces her new friends and welcomes them into her home. And that's when the story picks up. While the reader can guess where the story will go, I still enjoyed the ride that took me there. I enjoyed the setting of the book and the set up of the story even though it was a little too predictable for me.

Thank you to Random House for the opportunity to read and review.

Childhood friend Gia and Abby have a falling out when Gia decides to marry a man she has known for only a month. Gia is a wealthy young woman whose father recently passed away leaving her only their vacation home on a Greek island. She wants to reconnect with Abby so she invites her and Gia's brother to Sweden for a weekend to celebrate her birthday, only she doesn't show up. Abby and Benny are worried and fly to Greece to try to find out where Gia is.

There are a lot of secrets and who is telling the truth, first person Abby or Gia who we hear from through the manuscript she is writing. There is a whole lot going on including Abby's affection for Benny and her very poor life she led before Gia's father started paying for her schooling. She knows that she owes her career and better life to Gia's family.

I read this so quickly, admittedly we were on a road trip, but I was very absorbed into the story and really wanted to know how it would come together and yes, who was telling the truth. There was some ambiguity in the ending and I know some people have a real problem with that, but I have my theory and I'm sticking to it.

The locations in this novel are incredible and worth the read by themselves; Greece and Sweden both are beautifully described.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I was excited for this summer thriller especially because of the European setting, but quickly found myself bored and decided to DNF at 7%. The main characters were annoying and I didn't care one bit about the woes of rich people. Thanks anyway for the ARC.

This was a first for me by this author and she did not disappoint. It started a little slow as the background and plot were built up, but once it got going, I couldn't read fast enough. The twists and intrigues of the various players in the book kept me guessing to the end and I was left a bit shook!
This book is the ultimate in unreliable narrators, as you never know who or what to believe as Abby and Benny search for Gia after she disappears from her house on a Greek island where she has been staying with her new husband and a couple they met while at dinner one night.
Add to this the buildup of a relationship between Abby, the longtime best friend of Gia and a lawyer, and Gia's younger brother Benny as they search for the Gia and the truth behind her disappearance.
Just when you think you have it figured out there is another twist. Put this at the top of your summer thriller reading list!

This was such a great read! Gia and Abby grew up together, spending their summers in beautiful Greece at Gia’s family vacation home. They are so close that Gia’s father pays for Abby’s expensive college tuition to help her change her life circumstances. Fast forward to modern day and Gia has impulsively married and is preparing the vacation home for selling after her father’s death. She reaches out to Abby and her brother, Benny, to meet her in Sweden to see the Northern Lights and celebrate her birthday. But when she fails to show up and Abby and Benny receive only suspicious text messages from Gia, they set off for Greece to find her. Little do they know the mysteries that will need to be solved and the ghosts from the past will resurface putting their friendship in question.

I loved this one and I love this trope. Much like ‘Before We Were Innocent’, ‘You Can Trust Me’, and very much carrying the vibe of ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’, this is a destination thriller surrounding young rich women doing questionable things that can only lead to murder and mayhem! Pick this one up for an amazing beach read this summer!

Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing Ballantine, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on July 9, 2024

I will read anything that has an heiress attached. They are generally great for entertainment and Ladykiller is no different. The setting itself was alluring, as were the twists and turns. This was suspenseful and a great read.

I've read all of Katherine's novels (known by another name before this book??). This one wasn't my favorite. It was an okay thriller, but nothing super memorable. Great setting though as with all of her other books.

First I’d like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for the ARC of this novel.

I was very intrigued by the cover and title of this book. It sounded like the perfect summer read. Plus it’s set it Greece…sign me up.

It was a decent 4 star read for me. I enjoyed the multiple POV’s but definitely preferred Abby’s over Gia’s.

It was a fun summer read but I would have liked a more concrete ending.

I would definitely recommend it to friends who are looking for a summer thriller/mystery novel.

4/5 stars

#ladykiller #netgalley