Evie Gordon is a SAT tutor and is currently tutoring pretty wealthy families so these students can get admitted into prestigious schools. This is a pretty great life until Evie stumbles upon a murder. Not just one murder, but two. Evie finds the mother and father of Serena, the student she's tutoring, with pretty significant injuries. The mother, Dinah, has been brutally beaten, and the father, Peter, is floating in the koi pond. Evie is attempting to get out unseen until she hears a plea for help. Now she's found a prisoner in the walls of the house. After getting this prisioner out, nothing else could go wrong, right?! WRONG. Serena has now made an appearance and has tried to hurt Evie by launching a lamp at her, which in turn Evie picks up a vase to hit Serena out of self-defense. She thinks she's dead, but now Serenas boyfriend has shown. What else can she do but run?

This book quickly becomes a thelma and Louise moment, on the run from the FBI, dodging, ducking and staying in abandoned places to stay away from jail. This book started off very quickly, I was hooked initially and then things slowed way down in the middle. I kept reading because I needed to know who really killed Dinah and Peter. After the reveal the ending seemed to drag on and I got a little bored. Overall, a decent read, but I wouldn't necessarily rave about this one. Not bad for a debut novel though!

I LOVED this book! I thought it was so intelligent and mindful. It was existential to it's core and I found myself highlighting numerous quotes that resonated with me. I thought Evie was such a well-written character, her tendency for self-preservation and then surprising herself when she put Jae first. I think the reveal of Jae being the murderer was pretty obvious, but I really enjoyed the addition of her living in the walls. It added an extra layer that really intrigued me. I would absolutely recommend this to others.

Thank you to William Marrow and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review!

The premise for Killer Potential had a lot of potential, no pun intended. Alas it just didn't work for me. I honestly would have DNF'd it, but I wanted to know who the killer was. Once I found out it was hard to finish it, but I managed. Evie and her companion just felt extremely immature to me and it came across in the writing. It isn't one that I'd be recommending to others.

Thank you to William Morrow and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

This book was amazing, thank you! As a lesbian, I find it difficult that there aren't too many talked about thrillers/mystery novels that are sapphic. I have to read so many hetero relationships centered in books, so this was such a great breath of fresh air to get a nice sapphic story!!! My heart ached finishing the book that Evie and Jae didn't get their moment. This will definitely be a recommendation I pass along to others!

Reasons for 4 and not 5 stars: would have preferred a little more spice between the two women, and I feel like some of the big moments felt rushed and I would have liked a bit more suspense. But overall solid book!

Killer Potential - Hannah Deitch

⭐️⭐️.5

“But people are not funhouse mirrors: we can't stand in front of them and search only for ourselves or our absence.”

Evie accidentally walks into a murder scene showing up to her SAT tutoring job. After rescuing a woman from a closet in the home, the two take off on the run from the police. In a goose chase all over North America, Evie is forced to live off the land with a complete stranger.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC of this book. This was a classic “Thelma and Louise” type story that was pretty predicable the whole way through. The whole book was based off a ridiculous choice to run from a crime instead of reporting it. Overall, I can’t tell if this book sucked or if it just wasn’t for me. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop for Evie and it was still a let down even when it did happen.

I want to thank the publisher, William Morrow, and the author for the opportunity to read and ARC of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Evie Gordon wishes she was special, but she knows she is just another human being on this planet.
She's a scholarship kid. She went to ivy league college. Now she owes a lot of money in student loans. Which is how she finds herself in an unbearable amount of debt, and working as an SAT Tutor for the LA rich.

She arrives at the home of the Victor's for their daughter's weekly SAT tutoring session, only to discover the front door open, and both of the Victors very dead, in the backyard. The decisions she makes from that point forward make her look like a murderer. She, and the woman she rescued from under the stairs in the Victor home, run.

THIS BOOK IS a wild ride. It is non-stop, so put on your seatbelt and keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times. This is exactly my kind of book! It is action. It is real life and the burden of insurmountable student loan debt, combined with a tough job market. We travel all over the US as we try to decide the best thing to do, and run into obstacles along the way. Because, well, you know, she and her passenger are wanted for murder. And people are, of course, looking for them.

My only hang up with this book was the spice/romance element. I expected a thriller and I realize there is romance is lots of thrillers, but I didn't realize this from the blurb on this book and it detracted from the book for me.

Evie Gordon has always been a straight-A student, which earned her a degree from a good university despite her modest background. After graduation, however, she wasn't able to put her liberal arts degree to good use and translate it into economic prosperity. Instead, she led the precarious life of an SAT tutor, visiting several expensive homes each week and coaching the rich kids to do well on the test. Until one day, when she arrived for her session, she found the parents of her student dead in a pool of blood. And as if that were not enough, a bound, unwashed woman in the closet. Obviously, whoever the real killer was, the police wouldn't bother looking too hard, since they had two convenient suspects. So Evie and the woman are now on the run for their lives and freedom.

This was quite a page-turner of a read. I liked how the formulaic elements of the "hunted (wo)man" adventure/detective genre were combined with the commentary on class and privilege. I'm not a big fan of this type of crime fiction narratives, and I realize that some of the elements I didn't like about this book (like the love-hate drama between the protagonists) are more a necessity of the genre formula than a feature of this particular book.

4 stars.

Publication date March 18, 2025.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an eARC through NetGalley. The review above is my own opinion.

I enjoyed this one even though it was fairly predictable. I love a Thelma and Louise type adventure and I think it was a great debut. It’s a quick read and if you just enjoy the ride you won’t be mad you finished!

Killer Potential is a thrilling novel about Evie Gordon stumbling upon a crime scene and fleeing with a woman held hostage when her student thinks she killed her parents. This was a wild ride from start to finish. It was slow in some parts, a little repetitive but overall I was enthralled and couldn't wait to read more. I know the original title for this book was "Be Gay Do Crimes" and that fits so well. 3.5/5.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

My thanks to Net Galley and William Morrow for this arc. Unfortunately i did not finish and gave up at 60% I was dragging thru this but in fell flat.

I had high hopes. Evie an SAT tutor finds the family murdered of the student she was going to teach and goes on the run with a woman tied up in the house. I was expecting more of a whodunit but got Thelma abd Louise.

I had really high hopes for this. The premise was really interesting to me and was giving queer Bonnie and Clyde. But the reality of the story was not it. I think from the very beginning it was very obvious and didn't even really seem like a twist. The story quickly gets derailed and turned into a romance with very little emphasis and seems to completely forget about the murders.

Second issue was that for a girl who is sooooo Gifted and Talented that she cannot just let it go even thought she's pushing 30 and admits that she feels like she's accomplished nothing..... she is not very smart. Why would the police just assume that she had committed murder if she had initially called the police. She does not make smart kid decisions she makes the worst possible choice in every single scenario which made reading this kind of painful.

Evie is a tutor whose dream life and career after her expensive college education, has just provided her with staggering debt. When she arrives at the Victor home, no one answers the open door. She walks in sure that Serena, the girl she is supposed to tutor must be inside. Instead, she finds Serena’s dead parents and a woman tied up in the closet.
Circumstances make Evie look guilty and soon she is on the run with this woman who won’t or can’t utter a single word. They manage to stay one step ahead of the law(barely at times). A relationship forms between Evie and Jae, then bam, the rug was pulled out from under me and I was certain that I could see how this would end. Nope. The author had other ideas. While I didn’t love the ending, I was a fan of the journey.

A gay Bonnie & Clyde story? Ok, sounds interesting! Except, I really couldn't get past the premise of the story enough to enjoy reading any of it. No innocent, educated person pushing 30 runs from that situation. Side note, such a person should *seriously* have gotten over the fact that they were labeled Talented and Gifted in school by now! So you peaked in high school? Move on. Why carry that around for over a decade? Anyway, this book had--dare I say--potential to be an intriguing story (seriously, tell me more about living in the walls!), but in today's world of Ring doorbells, video surveillance, and traffic cams, none of this story is plausible. Rounded up to 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for early access.

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

I had high hopes for *Killer Potential*, and while it delivered in some areas, it fell flat in others. As a thriller, it starts strong—gripping, intense, and full of promise. The plot and characters were well-developed, and there were moments of genuine suspense that had me hooked.

But then came the middle. Things got… weird. The pacing slowed, and the story took a few turns that felt more confusing than compelling. The writing, while atmospheric, sometimes became *too* atmospheric—so heavy on the mood that it distracted from the plot. And the ending? A bit of a letdown. After all the buildup, I was hoping for something more satisfying.

Overall, *Killer Potential* had its moments, but it didn’t fully deliver on its promise. A decent read, but not a standout in the genre.

Would I recommend it? Maybe—if you don’t mind an uneven journey to get to the finish line.

The premise of this book is what hooked me but found myself easily predicting the next turn and the next twist to the point where I felt bored. I feel bad giving this a low rating (2.5, rounding up here) because I really did enjoy the start and the premise but it just felt poorly executed. The pacing could use some work and perhaps more creative prose and sentence structure? Some parts felt overly repetitive. One thing I loved about this its queerness. That’s another thing that kept me reading - I did enjoy the dynamic between the main girlies but overall not something I would excitedly recommend. I really appreciate the arc and the opportunity to review this book.

Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch is a so-so female fugitives on the run story.

Evie Gordon is a 29-year-old SAT tutor who arrives for her weekly lesson with Serena Victor at the family's Beverly Hills estate and finds her parents murdered. She also frees a woman tied up in a secret closet. Then Serena returns home, mistakes the two for the killers and while she is swinging a lamp at Evie, Evie hits her with a vase, possibly killing her. Then Serena's boyfriend comes in and spots the two so they flee. Evie drives to a distant Walmart, buys supplies for their life on the run, and then empties her bank accounts. For all of this the woman she rescues refuses to speak. What follows is a tale of their life on the run across the country.

Often I can set disbelief aside for a good story but not in this case. It was simply too unbelievable right from the start. Evie is 29-years old. If you arrive for your scheduled weekly lesson, find the door open and two people murdered you exit the house and call 911. Period. You can't go on ad nauseam about how smart you are while making one bad decision after another. The only thing that kept me reading was to see what manner of bad choices would follow but I could have easily set it aside at any point.

This is for those who enjoy a life on the lam novel full of bad choices. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

meh. It was fine. I'm sure it will be polished up for a tv series and maybe that's the audience it needs.

Was this unhinged? Yes. Did I still have a great time? Absolutely. Parts of it felt a little prescriptive for the genre, but again, who am I to complain because I was having a ball! Is any of this believable as a real life story? Absolutely not. But damn, it was fun and funny and even heartfelt at times. Exactly what I needed to bust a reading slump. I was looking forward to bedtime every day just so I could figure out what else these crazy ladies were getting up to!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Author and Publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A murder mystery thriller. LGBT friendly. This was interesting book, Jae was my favorite character. Great concept for thriller reads.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. For a debut, this work is extremely impressive to me. I have been waiting for a book that I need to tear through while the rest of the world falls away. This had a Thelma and Louise feel to it, sans the terrible Susan S.

Evie Gordon is an SAT tutor with a Masters degree who hasn't found the right footing in her career. She shows up for her regular Sunday afternoon tutoring session for Serena Victor, and something is amiss. She discovers Serena's parents, dead in a double murder, and is about to leave and call 911 when she hears a voice pleading for help. It belongs to a young woman who appears to have been tied up in a secret passageway of the mansion.

Evie panics when someone sees her and the other person in a compromising position and fears she will be accused of the Murders. She gets in her car with the unidentified woman and chucks her phone.

From then on out, they're on the run. Evie manages to coax some information from the young woman who eventually says her name is Jae. They run into a lot of obstacles, people who threaten their freedom. Until a key piece of information Jae left out leaves Evie questioning everything. Will she be convicted for Murders she didn't commit? Is she responsible for the crimes done on the run?

This book is beautifully written and paced. For most of the book, we only get Evie's point of view until the twist is revealed, and we get alternating chapters between Jae and Evie. My only issue is that it's tricky that the author doesn't identify the narrator. You just have to figure it out as a reader by the context. Both women have some tragedy in their past and the feeling of aimless direction and failure, despite being smart.

5/5☆ release 3/18/25.