This is a fast read, at times very involving, at other times, head shaking, how can so many mishaps happen to these three people, all of whom are dealing with secrets and danger of different kinds, and morality issues. The stories overlap a little bit, i kept expecting them to have more contact, impact on each other than they did. two of the stories resolved themselves and one is left hanging in a way. 3.5 rounded up

An interesting read, 3.5 stars rounded up. I love multi-person POVs, and I thought this one was done pretty well.

A gritty, emotionally charged thriller that intertwines the lives of three desperate individuals in a struggling Rust Belt town. Carla, a single mother, faces a moral dilemma to protect her son; Reed, an autistic young man, embarks on a journey to fulfill a dying wish; and Liz, an aspiring musician, confronts a dangerous debt threatening her dreams and life. Jaworowski masterfully weaves their stories into a suspenseful narrative filled with explosive twists and poignant moments, exploring themes of desperation, resilience, and the human capacity for love amidst adversity.

No sophomore slump for Ken Jaworowski! I read Small Town Sinners in a day and absolutely flew through What About the Bodies. I went in blind and was glad I did. I had no clue what I was getting myself into.

The book is told from 3 different POVs and I spent most of the book trying to figure out how it all comes together. It started out as (what most people) would consider a slow burn, but at the end of the first chapter, I was hooked.

The characters were multi-layered and well-developed. The twists were well thought out and honestly, quite shocking. I will say I want a follow-up on Reed’s storyline - I loved him and so badly want him to get a standalone.

I’ve already preordered a copy and can’t wait for September 2nd!

This book follows three characters. Carla is a single mother trying to help her son. Reed is an autistic young man who wants to keep a promise to his dead mother. And Liz is an aspiring musician who has a spectacular run of bad luck.
This was a really great book. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you, Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for the Advanced Readers Copy. (ARC) These thoughts are my own.

What About the Bodies is available now for preorder and releases September 2, 2025.

What About the Bodies is about a few residents of a small town in rural Pennsylvania. A small town where everyone knows everyone and everyone has something to hide. The story revolves around three main characters Carla, Reed, and Liz. Carla wants to make something of herself and provide for her college aged son. Reed wants to fulfill his promise to his mother. Liz, a down on her luck musician trying to make a name for herself in the music industry.

I honestly had to mull over this one. I really wanted to thoroughly enjoy this story, and I found it lacking. The cover of the book gave me I Know What You Did Last Summer vibes and it wasn’t. I did enjoy the moral dilemmas that the characters faced. I just wanted more, a quicker pace, more character development, more development of the individual stories and how they intertwined. Without spoilers, I liked parts of each story but the timeline to get to the points felt like something was missing. It felt like 3 characters just shared the same location of the novel and they were loosely tied together.

Overall, despite my assumptions…I did enjoy reading the advanced copy of What About the Bodies. It did not feel like a waste of time and placed me in a story which had a beginning, middle, and end for all characters. If a reader is looking for a slow burn mystery thriller I would recommend it. You may find my review on What About the Bodies on my website here: https://www.stephaniecreatesblank.com/blog-3-1/what-about-the-bodies-written-by-ken-jaworowski-a-book-review

What About the Bodies follows the stories of three main characters; Carla, Reed and Liz. Carla is a single mom who's life is turned upside down with a confession from her son. Reed is autistic and struggling with his relationship with his brother and others in the town. Liz dreams of being a singer, but struggling financially and caught up in bad situations because of her boyfriend.

I really struggled with this book. The three stories are only slightly tied together. There are weird racial references that felt - off - to me. Carla's story felt most in line with what I expected. It's hard to exactly pinpoint it, but this book was not for me.

What separates this from a slew of other crime fiction is that the crimes (or incidents) occur in a small town, are not criminal in intent, and involve characters far removed from the typical perpetrators/participants. All three of the major characters fell into their current situations and conceal their secrets, as revealing them would most likely find them accused and imprisoned.

WHAT ABOUT THE BODIES is about what happens when unpleasant things occur in a small town in Central Pennsylvania where everybody seems to know almost everybody else. Along with the suspense that crime novels provide, there is an endearing slice-of-life memoir to give this so much flavor. Helped along by rotating first-person narratives from the three main characters, their paths cross before things come to a satisfying conclusion.

Also, unlike many tales of crime fiction that seem to head down a dark path, this one manages to keep its head above water and not descend into despair. The ending is completely satisfactory, although unexpected and not predictable. A very entertaining read. Thanks for Net Galley for providing an advanced digital review copy.

Carla, Reed, and Liz are the focal characters in the entertaining novel What About the Bodies. Author Ken Jaworski takes what is an unusual tale and creates surprising twists along with heartfelt relationships. Well, the bodies might not agree!
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! The book follows three characters who live in the same small town in rural Pennsylvania. All three characters are what you could consider “down on their luck” types. Carla is a single mom raising a college aged son and has just spent all of her money opening a restaurant in town. Reed is an autistic young man who just lost his mother and is living with his older brother. Liz is a musician singing at all the local dive bars who finally gets her big break but soon after finds herself in need of a new car and money to pay off a debt.

The chapters alternate between each character and their predicament they are facing. I really enjoyed seeing where each character was going and was very invested in what was going to happen to them. I was happy with the resolutions to each character. In the end the characters do interact with each other which I found to be interesting but it also seemed forced and a little too convenient that each of the characters has their major climax at the same time and in the same place. Overall this was a great read. I’d give it 4 1/2 stars if I could. I definitely related to this novel as I live in a small town in PA and you can relate to these characters struggles.

I wasn’t sure about this at first, but you know what? It was easy, mindless, and entertaining! The main premise is a mystery thriller, but it felt more like a dark comedy to me, with all three main characters being so flawed and plagued by strings of bad luck. The story was silly in the best way, and exactly what I was looking for in a much needed light thriller!

<i>Thank you NetGalley for making this available on their platform, and to the Grove Atlantic for letting me read this ARC!</i>

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Ken Jaworowski’s What About the Bodies is a tightly woven, emotionally charged thriller that delves into the lives of three individuals in a struggling Rust Belt town. Through the intersecting narratives of Carla, Reed, and Liz, Jaworowski crafts a story that is both gripping and poignant.​

Carla, a single mother struggling to rise above poverty, is faced with a moral dilemma when she and her son have to keep a catastrophic accident a secret. Reed, an autistic man, embarks on a journey to fulfill a deathbed promise, encountering both humanity and danger along the way. Liz, a young musician on the brink of stardom, gets caught up in a life-or-death situation with a brutal ex-con.​

Jaworowski's depiction of the characters is realistic and sympathetic, and their struggles and aspirations are communicated with sensitivity and depth. We can observe in him the influence of his experience as an editor at The New York Times in meticulous attention to detail, and in being able to create a good sense of place. The small town of Locksburg, Pennsylvania, is a fertile setting, recalling the sense of isolation and desperation that pervades the book.

The author's format, which switches the story between the three main characters, provides a dense examination of the action in the story. While this format makes the story more complex, sometimes it also disrupts the narrative flow and requires readers to shift to another point of view. Some readers may also find the plot development to be somewhat predictable, although the emotional resonance of the story makes it an acceptable compromise.

Overall, What About the Bodies is a riveting read that combines suspense elements with a serious examination of emotion and character. Jaworowski has produced a novel that is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating, offering a clever examination of human decision-making under life-or-death circumstances.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for this complimentary review copy.

Slick, engaging writing throughout .. very impressive .. almost like a challenge to reader (and for writer) to connect three voices each with their own hurdle .. different levels of necessity. The writer 'cheats' sometimes by lobbing surprises, sometimes misleading .. like autistic boy's brother telling him he'd killed their mother (who had died of cancer).... just kind of bravura! Very effective drawing us on .. Best read fast probably .. in one 'go' .. I'll look out for new ones ..

I read the ARC from netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Wow, what a book. I started reading it at 8am and finsihed reading it at 3pm. From the starting page I was hooked. Four people's lifes are intertwined and you'd expect that they commit a crime together or something of that sort, but the characters are surprisingly nuanced. These days thrillers are all about fast paced cardboard characters.

Won't go through the details as that's spoil the book

After DEVOURING his debut novel Small Town Sins, I knew I would be reading anything he writes!! Oh I loved this. He really is solidifying his spot as the small-town thriller guru.

This book was different than his first. It wasn’t as wild or as twisty but it was still so damn good. This one was filled with a lot more compassion and heartache. I loved the characters. I loved their emotions as they navigated multiple tragedies. My only complaint is wanting a little bit more of Carla & Billy’s story.

This was amazing which I knew it would be. Auto-buy author for sure.

“What about the Bodies” is a book I won’t soon forget. Following Liz Reed and Carla was a thrilling adventure. The characters left lasting impressions (some better than others if I’m being honest). It’s definitely a book I would recommend to someone looking for a mystery thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

This mystery/thriller follows three main characters; Carla, Reed and Liz. Carl is a single mom who has to help clean up after her son. Reed is an autistic boy who is hated by his town as a result of his mom’s death and Liz is a wannabe singer (songwriter) who is in money trouble because of a lousy boyfriend. In this book we follow these three as they eaxh try to fix the mistake central in their lives.

To start, this stories of the three main characters are not as connected as the synopsis makes it out to be, so be prepared for that. Secondly, the mysteries within the three stories was not that interesting to me and the outcomes were easily predictable, espacially the one from Liz and Carla. Reed his story was the most interesting in that aspect. However, overall I think Carla her part is the most classic thriller/mystery and that’s why her story drew me in the most.

The writing style is easy to follow and the chapters aren’t to long. I think though because we follow 3 characters and the book isn’t that long that we lack a bit of characterization. I think for me this book could have just been Carla her story, but more detailed and with a focus on the reveal and the repercussions. Overall, the book is fine but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone I know.

2.5 stars

thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an eArc for my honest thoughts. I LOVED this book. This is the kind of book that got me into reading thrillers in the first place. We follow Carla, Reed and Liz while they are trying to conceal huge secrets and get themselves out of the mess theyve created or someone close to them has created. From the first page in was completely entranced. Theres dead bodies, short chapters, cliff hangers (only at the end of chapters, the book itself wraps up quite nicely), and small town drama. My heart was beating so hard the whole time, if i didnt have responsibilities this would have been a read in one sitting kind of book. The author doesnt pull any punches while we follow our friends through their misfortunes. My favorite books always have multiple POVs that intertwine by the end and this did that so well. definitely on my 5 star list for the year

I received a free copy of, What About the Bodies, by Ken Jaworowski, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Liz, Reed, and Carla, all have their secrets and reasons for doing things, right or wrong, morally or immorally. I did not care for any of the characters in this book at all. It was a gritty read.

What a crazy ride! I opened the book to page one and had a hard time putting it down until the end! One small town. Three main characters/families: Carla, proud mom of son at MIT and restauranteer, Reed, a young man grieving his mother's death and Liz, following her musical dreams. Fate connects them in circumstances beyond control.

If you want to read this one, keep your schedule clear because you won't want to put it down!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.