If you are a fan of thrillers with ambiguous endings, this one is for you.

I loved the switching perspectives between Gia's manuscript and Abby's narration. They both had such unique voices, and it was easy to get drawn into Gia's world in Greece and Abby's apprehension in Sweden. The descriptions made me want to go to Greece immediately, with the characters fresh. I'm also an avid romance reader, so I found the spice to be tasteful and foreboding, just as spice in a thriller should be. You can truly feel the whirlwind emotions of Gia, the remorse in Abby, the way that sex can cloud judgment and the way desperation for love can lead to desperate actions.

Yet with such clear voices that are delightfully unreliable, I expected an actual reveal and a clear-cut ending. A bold title like "Ladykiller," begs for a true reveal of the titular character. It was pretty misleading - this is not a story of gore, but a story of deception. The synopsis was misleading too, since Gia's manuscript wasn't discovered until the third act.

I also found there to be a couple of glaring plot holes. With Gia and Benny's mother locked in a sanitarium, why was it not ever mentioned that Gia could potentially have psychosis? Except for the beginning at the funeral, why wasn't there more of a mention of half-siblings and step-mothers? Some things sort of just disappeared when they were no longer convenient.

Readers on vacation will certainly devour this, but prepare to be dissatisfied. Honestly, I think I would have enjoyed this being two different books - one of Gia's manuscript and one of a best friend and brother searching for a missing sister. Either way, this book would have benefitted from having a true conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. This was just a wonderful book to read and it was just easy to lose yourself in the story. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Thank you to Random House for the opportunity to read this advance copy. I really enjoyed the mystery that was woven through out this book. The imagery in this story I feel was really amazing. I could picture myself in the hotel in Sweden, and by the pool in Greece, at the restaurant where they went for dinner. I felt like I just didn’t bond with the characters through the book as much as I had hoped to.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a good beach read that will lead you on a trip to some amazing locations, with a good mystery woven throughout.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader copy of this book.
I don't know what it was, but this book took a second for me to really get into, but after I was into it, I couldn't put it down. I loved the setting and the characters, and I always love multiple POVs. Overall, an interesting book.

Abby receives an invitation to her childhood best friend Gia’s birthday in Sweden, but when she arrives her friend is mysteriously absent. Switching between Abby’s present day POV searching for her, and pages from the manuscript Gia has written about the events in her life over the past several months, this book kept me hooked.

This book is a domestic thriller. The writing is done well and the characters make realistic decisions, which I find is rare in this genre and this makes me happy. The story is interesting and fast paced and kept me up reading late.

It looks like this is a debut book for this author and I’m excited to see what she writes next.

☆Summary:
Childhood best friends Abby and Gia were born of polar opposite circumstances–Gia, a rich heiress, and Abby, the daughter of the family’s chef. As Gia’s father had grown fond of Abby, he generously paid for her schooling, bringing the two girls closer together.

Twelve years after a tragedy at Gia’s family’s summer estate in Greece (detailed in Gia’s memoir), the girls and Gia’s brother Benny are reuniting in Sweden for Gia’s birthday. When Gia doesn’t show, suspicions grow, causing Abby and Benny to race back to Greece for answers. What they find at the house is chilling: an unfinished manuscript in which Gia unveils the ominous summer events leading up to her disappearance, involving her husband and two additional guests. But where is Gia now? Is what she wrote in her manuscript true? And the threatening emails Abby has been receiving–could someone out there know her secret? The truth will out, whether these characters like it or not.

☆The Pace and Writing:
The first 70% or so of this book toggles between the present day in Abby’s POV and chapters of Gia’s unfinished manuscript. After reading the blurb, I didn’t expect to be immediately hit with Gia’s manuscript. It ended up taking up a larger portion of this book than I expected and tbh, I felt it took too long for Gia’s story to get to the point. Conversely, I wanted Abby’s storyline to catch up. All of these aspects made this a slower pace than I would have liked. At the 50% mark however, the mystery and suspense *finally* picked up and I flew through a handful of chapters!

Personally, I preferred Abby’s POV over Gia’s, as Abby felt much more personable. Gia’s POV didn’t read as naturally for me, as she lacked dimensionality, but this did aid in further reinforcing her character’s demeanor.

☆My Thoughts:
I was SO EXCITED for Ladykiller!! The title, the cover, the synopsis, like come on!! I saw “Greece” and immediately needed to read this, like plz take me away on a Greek vacation asap (preferably where there might be some attractive Greek men, never hurts lmao)!! It sounded so interesting and unique, exactly the kind of thriller I’ve been craving.

Overall, this did and didn’t deliver. The setting? 10/10, take me there now! Gia’s POV had me wishing I was a rich heiress having the time of my life, soaking up all the sun in Greece without a care in the world.

The mystery? While suspenseful, I was hoping for more. I think the plot had so many opportunities to take readers down the twistiest of roads, however most of them I was able to guess. When looking at the title, I was expecting something gruesome, but this gave off a weird what-if vibe instead. For that reason, though very catchy, I’m not sure the title is fitting.

Gia is the definition of a clueless rich person. Stuck in her ways, in her ego–she has all the blinders on and can’t tell when she’s making a stupid decision (which was all the time!!). She falls too hard and is extremely apathetic towards others. I despised this character more as the book progressed.

Abby is the realist of the bunch–understandably as she was not brought up the same and has a better grasp on the world. She was much more relatable, being the practical one, the voice of reason. I also liked how most of her chapters were quick and to the point!

Would I recommend this?

ONLY if you like ambiguous endings. I felt like I was left with so many questions at the end, so if that’s your jam, have at it!

I stopped after the first section, 5% in. The writing wasn’t for me. It was slow and a little all over the place, leaning more literary. I can see this being a popular book club book, three stars for the target with four to five for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book for an honest review..
The story is based on Gia, Abby and Benny. There are lots of twists and turns. It’s set on a beautiful Greek Isle which gives you a really good visual.
I do want to alert readers there is racy sex and drugs so if you can’t look past that I am giving fair warning. I did enjoy the book.

The story centers around two women best friends. Gia grew up wealthy but after the death of her father, is rapidly losing her money. Her sketchy new husband is also not helping matters. Her best friend Abby grew up in her shadow, benefiting from her friends’ wealth and generosity. She is more level headed and logical but still cares deeply for her friend.
Gia goes missing, along with her sketchy husband. We learn about past incidents that were covered up by the police and the threatening notes that Abby has recently received.
Hm. Difficult to write a review for this one! I’m wavering between 3 and 4 ⭐️. It certainly kept my attention and I stayed up way too late reading it, but I was annoyed that by the end of the story, we still did not know what was truth and what was lies.

Oh lord ok there was a lot to unpack with this one. I loved how fast paced this was. There was a lot of plot lines that it got kind of confusing at that point. I loved The cover of the book it’s gorgeous

This was a surprise ARC from the publisher.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It kept me gripped the whole time and was a nice change of pace from the other books I've been reading (mostly fantasy). The settings described sounded beautiful and luxurious. It takes place in the Greek Islands and Sweden for the most part. The locations were very easy to picture while reading.

From the beginning, we get some back story about Abby and Gia's friendship. Then we begin to get Gia's Manuscript (journal?) entries sprinkled in. The manuscript chapters are full of drama and it is a messy mess in the best way a la reality TV / lifestyles of the rich and famous. There was a bit of graphic spice in those flashbacks, but they were less descriptive and more 'this happened'.

The mystery kept me reading and the twists were great. I docked it a star only because the ending is left ambiguous. If you're someone who needs solid answers (like me), the ending may disappoint. I kept waiting for another big twist/reveal and it never came. It didn't bother me as much as that does at times, especially because I had a pretty clear decision made early on in the book so I'm going with my gut.

I'm now adding seeing the Northern Lights from a glass igloo to my bucket list.

Thank you to Random House and Katherine Wood! I'm excited to read more by this author!

Who doesn't love a Ripley-esque story? This psychological thriller set mostly in the Greek Isles has rich people behaving badly, unreliable characters, complicated friendships, conmen, duplicity--what more could you ask for? I get the impression that this will have a big release, simply based upon their wide reach for early reviews and the fact that this book has already garnered TV interest. It's a fun read, and I largely enjoyed it. I did struggle, however, to buy the connection between Benny and Abby. I'm sure the author added this relationship to provide some heart for a story otherwise laden with unlikeable characters, but I just didn't feel it. But mostly, what left me wanting for more, was the ambiguous ending. I get why the author left things this way (can you ever really know the truth with some people?), but the book was wild and splashy all the way up to the 95% mark, and then it just...petered out. It felt like a promise was broken with the reader. Like a romcom without the happy ending. Four stars. A strong debut. I'll read more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this one! I’ve never read anything from this author before, so this was a great introduction of her work. It is filled with suspense and is a must-read for all suspense lovers out there.

Ladykiller is a mesmerizing novel of secrets and mysteries that unfold
With every page read but as each page is read the mystery becomes more complicated . You think you know exactly what's going to happen and then the opposite becomes true or maybe not. It is just maybe one more lie. I loved the ARC Katherine Wood wrote even if secrets are still pending.

The email from Kathleen Quinlan at Random House said, " I devoured Ladykiller in an afternoon about two months ago, and I haven’t been able to stop talking about it." I just finished and I can see why, my heartrate is up and I'm still recovering from the tension. It was one of those books where you think you know what's coming, but then no you did not. A mystery with steamy romantic scenes weaved in, this one will keep you looking over your shoulders.

The story written by Katherine Wood is told in two ways, Abby's straight perspective, and clips from her best friend Gia's manuscript. Gia and her brother Benny are the children of the late Hugo Torres, who notoriously left his billion dollar fortune to charity, leaving his ex-wives and children to fend for themselves. Abby met Gia when her mother was the Torres' family cook when they were children. Abby and Gia instantly became friends and Hugo was so impressed with Abby, he sent her to the same boarding school as Gia, and paid for her education at Georgetown. Abby and Gia summered at Gia's family home in Greece. They were thick as thieves. After one particularly scandalous and traumatizing summer, Abby went back to the states to finish law school and begin her career, and Gia wrote a bestseller monetizing her experience. Their friendship was never the same. Abby warns Gia about the man she is about to marry, but Gia disregards her childhood bestie's warning and follows her heart and marries him anyway. When Abby thinks Gia is in trouble, she rushes to Greece before it's too late.
What unfolds in this story is how the truth of that summer comes back to haunt them both, and how Gia's mistakes in trusting the wrong men become a problem for the whole family, including Abby. The book is filled with unsavory characters, the writing is so good you can feel the fear and apprehension as the story progresses. Betrayal, romance, friendship, intrigue- this one is coming out just in time to be one of your favorite summer reads of 2024.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House and Ballantine Books for this ARC. Can't wait to share with friends next summer!

This book was so good! Absolutely 💯 loved it. Thanks NetGalley and to the publisher for this. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I've enjoyed Katherine's other books (written under Katherine St. John) so I was excited for this one. The premise is great, and the writing drew me in right away. Some readers won't appreciate the format, but I thought it worked very well to have the manuscript for what's essentially the past storyline. This is an entertaining and suspenseful novel. At times I grew tired of the "rich behaving badly" aspect, but the author kept me turning the pages. While the ending is a bit unsettling, I understand why the author made this choice.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance electronic ARC; all opinions in this review are my own.

Ladykiller is the perfect summer vacation, beach read. It's a fast-paced mystery/thriller set in Greece. Abby and Gia have been best friends since childhood, but grow apart after Gia marries a man she barely knows. In the hopes of repairing the relationship, Gia invites her brother, Benny, and Abby to meet in Sweden. When Benny and Abby arrive, Gia is nowhere to be found. There is so much that happens in the book. I thought I knew what was going on, but by the end I wasn't so sure. The author does a phenomenal job of keeping the reader in suspense. Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the ARC.

Steamy, exotic, intriguing, confusing. Set mostly on a Greek island, the description of the food, sea, and geography are awesome. An abundance of pleasures of the flesh. The clues in the book are clever and the premise is interesting, though not unique. The POVs from two main characters move between a manuscript written in the past and a current view. These crisscross in ways that are intriguing but initially confusing. The ending is odd - maybe deliberately with the theme of the book - dropping the reader in an unsettling place.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I see a few reviews mentioning they weren’t a fan of how this story was told- but I disagree. It kept me hooked and needing more. I read this in one sitting because I was enthralled by the manuscript and then because I NEEDED answers. That being said, I STILL NEED MORE ANSWERS. My opinions on every character wavered back and forth constantly, which is something I enjoy when it’s intentional (as it is in Ladykiller)

I will say, I don’t get the title choice. Also, all of the Greek mythology mentioned flew right over my head.