Meh.

The story is split with 1) Gia's manuscript, 2) Abby in the present, and 3) Abby in the past. There wasn't enough of a voice difference between Gia and Abby, and I sometimes had to go back to see who was narrating this chapter.

11 (?) years ago, Gia saved Abby from a rapist and murdered him. Gia then published a book that went through what happened. Abby said that her memory was substantially different than Gia's book, but Abby kept quiet. Fast forward to the present, Gia is supposed to meet Abby and Gia's brother Benny in Norway, but she Gia never shows. Abby and Benny go to Greece, where Gia last was, and find another manuscript (though we've been reading it throughout the book). I kept waiting for some big twist with the manuscript but it never really came. Some parts may not have been true, I guess, but it wasn't anything that made me go "WOW!"

The ending was ambiguous which did not work for me. We're left to wonder what really happened and I wanted a reveal. I have so many questions and I dislike when a book leaves me with this many questions.

The setting was beautiful and made me want to go to Norway and Greece. The author did a great job of describing that.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for the advanced copy!

This was a fun summer thriller. I loved the setting in Greece and found it to be a fast and twisty read - while there are a few parts that are ultimately unresolved (some intentionally, others seemingly not), I still found it to be entertaining and it was a great plane read on my most recent trip!

When an heiress goes missing, her best friend races to unravel the secrets behind her disappearance using clues left behind in an explosive manuscript…

Great mystery! Wonderfully written characters and intriguing plot twists.

This was a book about two friends Abby and Gia. When they were 18 years old a terrible thing happened to them. This book had a lot of potential, and I was looking forward to reading it. Thankfully the plot and story kept me so engrossed in what was happening that I lost track of time.
The author did a magnificent job of keeping me on the edge of my seat.
Thank you NetGalley and Katherine Wood for the ARC of Ladykiller. This is my personal review.

A perfect mystery for fans of Gone Girl and Silent Patient. Can you ever really trust the narrator? The story unfolds in two timelines from two different narrators and as people disappear and bodies start dropping, you never quite know who to trust.

📜Ladykiller
✍️Katherine Wood
📠Penguin Random House/ Ballantine
📚Mystery/Thriller, Fiction
🗓️Pub date: July 9, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @penguinrandomhouse for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨As long-term friends, Abby and Gia, struggle to put differences between them aside, they decide to try and mend their friendship by enjoying a trip to Sweden together.

✨Abby is to meet Gia and her brother, Benny, in Sweden, and when only Benny arrives, they have a sinking feeling something isn’t right. Hoping there’s been some miscommunication, they board a flight to a small island in Greece where Gia has been living a posh lifestyle with her new husband.

✨As Abby starts receiving threatening messages, exposing a disturbing past, she quickly realizes all is not as it seems to be.

✨Gia, a writer and the heiress of a small fortune, was working on a manuscript at the time of her disappearance. Once Abby starts to read it, she sees a darkness that unfolds and promises danger.

✨A provocative marriage, money problems, anger issues, and a mysterious couple staying with Gia and her husband hint to a recipe for a perfect disaster.

✨Sun-soaked sand and crystal clear waters brought me back to my time in the Greek Islands and I couldn’t get enough. Darting back and forth between Abby’s POV and Gia’s manuscript, Ladykiller is beautifully written and everything I could hope for in a vacation-themed thriller. It was a little long at times, but overall I loved this book!!

✨QOTD: Have you ever been to the Greek Islands? 🛥️🗺️🌴🌞🧿

#netgalley #ladykiller #katherinewood #ballantine #penguinrandomhouse #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #ivegotbooks #killmewithwords #idratherbereading #qotd #thrillersandkillersofig #thiscovertho #greekislands #readthisnow #amazingbook #thrillersofgreece

This was a pretty fast and engaging read once I got into the meat of it.

The writing really made you feel like you were in Greece, and I had to go make hummus in the middle of reading the book because the characters were eating some. The story had good pacing, fun and distinct characters, and was an overall enjoyable read.

Several things peeved me enough to take me out of it though. First, the hedgehogs are always mentioned as out and about in the heat of the day, but hedgehogs are nocturnal? Second, the “twist” wasn’t all that twisty - you can see what’s happening pretty early on. I also wish there had been more to Abby’s story. Third, the ending fell especially flat for me. I was having a good time up until the last chapter or two.

Even with the above peeves, this was a breezy, summery read. Definitely worth it if you’re along for the ride more than the destination.

All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

My favorite part of Ladykiller by Katherine Wood is the opening. I love the omniscient, slightly wry writing of the first chapter. I mean how can you go wrong beginning a novel of friendship and secrets and betrayal with a cheetah devouring a warthog? Plus, the opening of Ladykiller really reminded me of the opening of The Group by Mary McCarthy that I loved in my youth–both novels presenting gatherings (a funeral and a wedding, respectively) to launch the dramatic events that follow.

Following the funeral in Ladykiller, the novel shifts to back-to-back chapters from Gia, an impetuous heiress, and Abby, her childhood friend. (Abby is supposed to meet Gia in Greece to celebrate Gia's birthday, but Gia mysteriously disappears.) Gia's chapters are in the form of a salacious manuscript that offers clues to her whereabouts. Abby's chapters focus on Abby's search for her missing friend. The author does a good job of juxtaposing the viewpoints, ratcheting up the tension in both Gia's manuscript and Abby's attempts to find and rescue her friend, accompanied by Gia's brother-cum-Abby's secret crush.

Another strength of this book is the depiction of setting. Ladykiller is filled with lush descriptions of the sand, sky, and water of Greece as well as the interior of the opulent family home. It's not too big a leap to insert yourself into this idyllic locale: hors d'oeuvres and afternoon cocktails on the veranda overlooking the ocean outfitted in your favorite stylin' sundress. Where do I sign up?

However, I eventually grew weary of Gia's decadent lifestyle. She does little besides sunbathing nude; swilling alcohol; and engaging in provocative, sexualized behavior. She is, in essence, a caricature of pampered, self-absorbed rich girl. I found Abby a much more sympathetic character, as I'm sure I was meant to–classic poor but worthy housekeeper's child (okay, another stereotype) given a leg up by wealthy tycoon.

But to counteract predictability, Abby has her dark side, Gia has her enigmatic persona, and Ladykiller ultimately ends on an ambiguous note.

Ladykiller is an engaging read set amongst the backdrop of a Greek Island. Gia is an heiress who is used to the finer things in life, but since her father died and left his money to the family foundation, she is now fixing up their family Villa on a Greek isle in order to sell so she can keep up her lavish lifestyle. She is newly married to the charming Garrett even though she has only known him for a short while. Her brother Benny and best friend Abby were not happy about this and discouraged her from marrying him too soon.

To keep the peace, Gia arranges to meet Benny and Abby in Sweden to see the Northern Lights. But when they arrive, she isn't there. They are suspicious of her communication and immediately travel to Greece. Once there, they find the villa abandoned. Abby stumbles upon a remnant of a past summer when tragedy struck as well as a manuscript written by Gia. Once they read the manuscript they begin to panic as they realize that Garrett may not be who they think he is and Gia may be in trouble.

The story is told in the alternating viewpoints of Abby in the present and Gia's voice via her manuscript. We find out what happened in their teen years and how it is connected to now. Overall, a solid, but predictable read. Gia is insufferable and naive. Very slow burn with an ambiguous ending for me since I wasn't really sure what was true or not, so that took away from the story,

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was really impressed by this book and how the author kept the characters interesting the whole way through. Lots of suspense and drama throughout this novel. I thought the ending was interesting but overall great read!

Amazing book! A pair of unreliable narrators and a murder plot(s) - I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! 5/5 stars

I really enjoy a thriller set in Greece! Glad to have read this ARC. I just wish the ending wasn’t as rushed! Still a quality read and definitely kept me guessing throughout.

The premise of this book sounded really interesting. However, when I started reading, I didn't care for any of the characters and that is a red flag for me. I did read a bit more, but I didn't find it interesting enough to finish. It might be a good book for some, but it was not for me.

I loved the first 75% of this book! I really enjoyed all of the characters and could really visualize myself in Greece.
I thought the beginning was a little slow, but then it picked up and I couldn't put it down. Then....it ended. I did not like the ending and felt that there were too many questions that were left unanswered. As a reader I like the ending to have an end or at least questions answered, but this book did neither of those.

Ladykiller was an unexpected fun read.

In this story, Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were eighteen. Now thirty, heiress Gia is back in Greece with her shiny new husband, entertaining glamorous guests with champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun, while bookish Abby is working fourteen-hour days as an attorney. When Gia invites Abby on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden to celebrate her birthday, Abby’s thrilled to reconnect.

But on the day of her flight, Abby receives an ominous email that threatens to unearth the skeletons of her past, and when she and Gia’s brother, Benny, arrive in Sweden, Gia isn’t there.

A must read!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance readers copy of this book. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
Ladykiller is quite the ride. Murder, or was it? Blackmail, cheating spouses, a husband that can’t be trusted, decadence and excess. This story will keep you guessing; never quite sure who is telling the truth. It will leave one pondering how one person’s truth can often be someone else’s lie, and vice versa.

really fun thriller with interesting idea. tysm for the arc, would rec, was fun. lmao short review ik but yeah fun

Thank you to Netgalley and Bantam Books for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

First off this cover is really pretty. That's what made me interested in the first place. Now that we have that out of the way, I am sad to say that I have decided to DNF this book. For some reason, even though this book is multi-POV, I am not interested in ANY of these characters. I am very bored every time I go and pick up this book and I don't read many pages when I do read.

I don't read as many thrillers as I want to and I was excited for the prospect of diving into a new thriller. You win some and you lose some. The writing was pretty decent from what I did read. The characters and the plot were sadly the problem.

Ladykiller is a well-written book that is told from the perspectives of two friends- Abby, and her friend Gia’s manuscript. A key question in this book is who is really telling the truth, if anyone? There are quite a few adult scenes in this one, so I would only recommend it to adult readers.

3.0 stars
LUKEWARM recommend

I received a complimentary Kindle e-book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Katherine Wood, Bantam Dell, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is supposed to be a mystery-thriller, but normally you will find out what really happened at the end of the book. This book left me with more questions than answers which just didn't work for me.