Very Bonnie & Clyde/Thelma & Louise vibes but I had a good time. I am a little torn here because there were definitely some things that I couldn't suspend belief on but there were parts that I loved. I knew from the get-go that the "twist" wasn't going to be a twist at all but I was still interested in the story and how everything turned out. I was not really a fan of the romance aspect here not because there was a romance, but because I didn't feel the intimate connection between these two characters. Both Evie and Jae grapple with their own emotions, experiences and memories in this book so I see the connection on that level but the intimacy seemed a bit abrupt.

The synopsis for this book states "Darkly funny and cuttingly hilarious " which I 100% disagree with. I didn't find this book funny or hilarious, dark or otherwise so that was a bit of a let down for me. On the surface this book appears to be a fun thriller/mystery but what we get is a little deeper than that which I appreciated and it kept me reading. I think this book is more of a character study than anything else, it just happens to be mysterious and suspenseful as well.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Killer Potential tells the story of a girl in her mid-twenties, who is living in LA as a SAT tutor. Her clients are usually high profile rich kids. One day she walks into a tutoring session to discover two dead bodies. The story picks up from there and tells her tale of her on the run.

I will start off by saying, I love how this book got right into the meat and potatoes. I enjoyed how the author did not waste any time with back story. We got enough as the reader to understand our FMC and the family, but it wasn't over explained. The book had me locked in the first few chapters. I also enjoyed the authors cadence. I found that I really enjoyed their writing. With all that to say... here are the things I did not particularly enjoy. I found that the romance in this book was out of nowhere. We did not see any build up to achieve the romance. Although the romance is not the main plot of the book, it is still a huge part of it. It was very abrupt, especially what we see in the ending. I was waiting for a big reveal at the end, to which there was none. I felt that the 'plot twist' was thrown in there. Once again, not really any context in the length of the book to help us achieve the plot twist. Although I said that I liked how the book jumped into the action right away, this book was easy to put down. It did have short chapters, which was nice, but it didn't have me sucked in. For me, I know a book is brilliant when it consumes my thoughts while I am away from it, and I find myself completely sucked in telling myself "just one more chapter...". Unfortunately for me this book did not have that aspect and as I said was very easy for me to put down.

Overall, I would say if you are someone who wants a little romance and sort of a thriller vibe, this book is for you. For me, I felt the story lacked and have given it a 2 star rating.

Best wishes!

I applaud Hannah Deitch for her debut. Fantastic concept with middle of the road execution. It felt a bit like she wasn't sure what genre she wanted for the book and so she tried to go for more than she should have. It felt a little messy and like it was missing some common sense. I am NOT a fan of books with characters who seem to have lost all common sense. It just feels lazy.

After multiple failed attempts at reading Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch, I will be marking this book as DNF. The writing style was just not for me, and I wasn’t invested in the storyline enough to push through to the end. Though the premise sounded interesting enough, I don’t think this is for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy.

This is both a look at our culture, what it values and what constitutes love as well as, after a slower start, a fast moving thriller Evie walks into a double murder and goes on the run with an unknown woman. The tension bulds as they are chased by the nation and as the feelings between them bulld. Once I got into it, I couldn't stop reading. Original and thought provoking and absorbing. 4.5 rounded up

This is the best debut I’ve ever read. It strikes the perfect balance between a thriller and something literary. My only criticism is the title— it’s much lamer compared to the actual book, which is AMAZING.

This Thelma and Louise style plot had potential, but the narrator was long winded and became boring in the end, telling us in stream of consciousness style so many things about her past that were not necessary to the plot or to the advancement of the plot. You would have to skip ahead to find the threads of the current situation, and it became cumbersome.

I was not expecting ‘Killer Instinct’ by Hannah Deitch to go where it went, which is mainly a good thing for a thriller. Part of that was not understanding why the two fugitives didn’t go searching for the real killer to prove their innocence even after one mentioned that’s what they should do. I kind of guessed the ending, but was never quite sure so that was smart on the author’s part. This is more of a character study, which tended to go on a bit long, but once the ending started up there was nice change of pace and a satisfying ending.

As many times as people say they don’t judge a book by its cover… yes we totally do. This book cover caught my eye and so did it my attention. While I do love a great thriller/mystery to unravel one also loves a good heroine come back story.
Evie was someone you could connect with on many levels of her life and you were truly hoping her good heart wouldn’t come back to bite her in the end. But as this story unfolded the truth was revealed as some bumps in the road made you wonder how long Evie could sustain or survive without cracking under the pressure or what more could she get herself into.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the gifted e-copy of this book.

A runaway story that starts off with a bang. I was super intrigued how things were going to settle out as the plot continued to thicken and get complicated. Until close to the end I felt like the plot needed a bit more to keep it moving with not a lot happening, but there was enough to keep me engaged. BUT, I did quite like how it ended, and I'll leave it at that.

This has been compared the My Sister the Serial Killer and I can see it. I enjoyed that book as well. There were a few times that I questioned the plot and how if the truth was simply told that then the issue would go away, but I dismissed this and allowed myself to just enjoy the storyline.

SUCH a fun book! Killer Potential follows two women as they roadtrip across the country, trying to avoid a wrongful murder accusation. Full of twists and turns and unexpected happenings, you won't be able to put it down. I highly recommend, and can't wait for the next book by this author!

I enjoyed a few things from this book: the flashbacks, the writing, the story line, the relationship between the main characters. I struggled with the pacing of the story but overall I enjoyed figuring out who was responsible for the deaths!

Easy read that I didn’t want to put down. Some of it was predictable but there were still parts that surprised me. I understand there needed to be a setup for the whole Thelma and Louise road-trip, but Evie fleeing the crime scene made zero sense to me. She only looked like a suspect because she made herself appear as one. This made it hard for me to empathize with Evie. Despite this, I still wanted to know what was going to happen next. And even though I didn’t care for Evie, I appreciate that she had a backstory. Characters in thrillers are usually one-note. At least here we know what Evie’s life was before.

I really wanted to love this book but it was a bit of a trainwreck, meaning that it started off interesting but then kind of fell off. I don't know, I was expecting something else.

4.5/5 ⭐️
“This thrill ride follows two unlikely fugitives-an SAT tutor who finds her rich employers brutally murdered and the bound woman she frees from their mansion.”

Killer Potential follow Evie and Jae on their escape from LA and to solve a mystery of who killed Evies employers. This book was entertaining and had more emotion to it than a typical thriller/mystery. I might be one of the few but i didn’t predict the twist 😅 Overall a good fast paced book where i wanted to know the ending - which was kind of disappointing but makes sense.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was truly unlike anything else I’ve ever read. A thriller with heart and strangely enough, strong philosophical moments.

I really wanted to like this book, I really really did! BUT I am unable to finish it because oh my god I am so annoyed. HOW is this second character NOT SPEAKING for DAYS?? Like I'm getting so frustrated that Evie is just going along with this, and really annoyed at the writer for writing a character like this. I can't keep reading and had to put the book down. I'm not sure why the woman not speaking is so frustrating to me but it's just not a book I want to spend my time reading.

A Deviously Twisted Take on Murder and the Fine Art of Escape

Evie Gordon is skating through life using the massive reservoir of brainpower she was born with. “Ingenious”, “problem-solving”, and even “mongoose-like cunning” describe the smarts now being used to teach students how to crush the SAT. While in college she had higher expectations than being a tutor, earning a paycheck isn’t half-bad—not even when a fair amount of her students possess the intellectual prowess of a cicada. But it’s nothing Evie can’t handle, or so she believes, and it’s that erroneous faith in the goodness of life that allows disaster to sneak up on cloven hooves and steal her innocence away. Thus she has no idea what awaits when she arrives at the home of her last student of the day, and the sight of the slaughtered family leaves its indelible mark. But there’s another surprise, and it’s the discovery of a tortured, half-starved woman held prisoner in a closet. What to do? What to do? Panic ensues when Evie realizes that she’s traipsed blood all over the crime scene in the manner of a drunken baby deer. That evidence alone will get her arrested but maybe … just maybe … the chained prisoner can fill in the gaps as to who really committed the murders. It’s her only hope … as is crossing the Canadian border without anyone noticing.

This is the premise of KILLER POTENTIAL, a wickedly entertaining, chiller-diller of a murder mystery. The story artfully arranged between freshly-cut slices of commentary on the mores of individuals as they relate to society, it’s here that the beautifully cynical eye of author Hannah Deitch shines. Skewering hypocrite and non-hypocrite alike, she even includes a how-to manual on how the media creates celebrity villains for villagers with lighted torches to hunt down.

The pacing of the novel is variable depending on whether Evie is thinking again … and getting herself and her fellow fugitive into a deeper mess than they’re already in. And it’s no joke that, each and every time the pair do encounter trouble, the repercussions worsen. I should add here that these episodes of barroom brawl type heroics really make for good reading. No doubt Ms. Deitch goes the extra mile in describing each blow, its impact, and the price of living through the aftermath of what I would call a “fistfest”. This author doesn’t so much write about what occurs as perform an MRI to ensure every nuance is captured. It’s a clever touch that adds immensely to the atmosphere and understanding the predicament. Personally, I loved sinking into the feral nature of two women fighting for their lives.

The set-up of the novel works beautifully. The chapters are interspersed and divided into two basic themes. The first falls under the heading of “the Driving Evie”. It includes everything that takes place in the tutor’s inner world while driving cross-country. For example, concentrating on the mental gymnastics needed to elude capture is one such topic. Trying like hell to figure out the enigmatic traveling companion who doesn’t speak much is another. But Evie’s not complaining about her better half. Seems the woman is a world champion at hotwiring a car, and jumpstarting a car is way more priceless in this situation than someone flapping their gums—which brings us to the second heading. It’s the one that documents and records what’s going on in the outside world. Aptly called “Reality,” this is when the alleged murderess’ hands are off the steering wheel and Evie’s fertile brain is attempting to explain just how far her butt is up the river—and without a paddle.

All-in-all it’s a seamless work that deals with the world we know—and the one we don’t. The enviably-written character studies amp up the tension and give the novel its own unique personality, while the underlying mystery that never fails to trigger unforeseen events is solid and works exceptionally well. Both are used to the highest advantage in solidifying and fleshing out the two lead characters that are both full of secrets and enigmas due to their anathema of confessing all. Note to self: Never accept “piecemeal”.

So if you’re into well-written mysteries that leave plenty of room for surprises and suspense, but also leave a unique fingerprint, then KILLER POTENTIAL is for you. Hannah Deitch has done an outstanding job in offering a one-of-a-kind, knuckle-clenching tale with intrigue used as its supersauce. I highly recommend and am interested in where this author is going in the years ahead. I would also like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins for giving me the opportunity to receive an ARC copy.

A woman is on the run with a stranger after discovering the wealthy family of the teenager she tutors is dead in their backyard. This is definitely a book that is rooted in reality, but also feels like you have to suspend your disbelief for plot twists and turns and character development pretty frequently. If that frustrates you in your reads, this will not be the novel for you. If you’re fine with it, this is a fun time. I really liked the author’s writing style - I was surprised to see this was her debut, because the writing feels so assured. I also felt like the ending was predictable, but I don’t consider that a negative, because this doesn’t feel like a mystery that’s trying to shock you. Or, possibly, I read way too many mysteries. I’m glad I read this; it was a page-turner with depth to it.

As many times as I guessed where this story would go, I was always wrong. Evie and Jae were completely enthralling main characters. I liked how the author approached the differing POV chapters. Even though they weren’t labeled, each character had such a distinct voice they were easy to decipher.

The ending was great. The audience gets just enough answers yet there is a sense of mystery still lingering, as there still is with our characters.

I was highly impressed by this story!