Dan Chaon’s latest novel isn’t a prototypical member of the “serial thriller” subgenre, a form made famous by Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter books (and the critically acclaimed movies and television show they spawned). Far more adventurous in spirit, Ill Will combines elegant prose, manifold points of view, and contemporary family drama with the life-or-death tension, mystery, and suspense essential to serial thrillers. The result is a hybrid that succeeds not only as entertainment, but serious fiction.

Satanism and sexual abuse, an unexplained killing in the past and an active serial killer (or killers) in the present: All these elements are at play, making Ill Will’s ground situation textbook in its topicality. Once engaged, though, the story flows more loosely than genre conventions normally demand, its movements guided by the thoughts of its narrators, main character Dustin Tillman and the people whose lives orbit his own. A poor man’s version of the brilliant criminologist archetype, Tillman is an idiosyncratic middle class character with a dark past, a historic debt (or, perhaps, debts) for which payment seems about to come due.

Looking past Chaon’s brilliant sense of story and the narrative fragmentation he uses to bring it to fruition, the most important questions asked by this narrative are philosophical, born of its title. Is there a sense, perhaps even a force, of malice ordering our world, robbing us of agency? Or do we reap the effects of our intentions, subconscious and inscrutable as they may be? These questions aren’t easy to answer nor are they mutually exclusive within the confines of the book, but they will determine whether readers see Ill Will as simply good or, in fact, transcendent. More than that, they will determine whether Chaon’s latest can reach beyond commercial and even mainstream literary success to contend for prizes with names such as Booker and Pulitzer.

One of those books that left me riveted but ultimately unimpressed. how is that possible? the premise and plot were compelling, but the execution was nothing special. I was really expecting something special! But what can I say, it kept me entertained.

Initial Thoughts
I am still trying to figure out what I think about this book. There were things that I really liked about the story and I was very eager to find out who was really behind the murders, both in the past and the present. The story ended rather abruptly leaving me without the answers that I had been hoping to find. I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrators did a great job with this story.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Full review to be posted soon.

This book was a bit frustrating, at times I loved it for being very smart and inventive but it just didn't work for me overall.

An interesting read.

Two sets of parents are murdered while their children are asleep nearby. and Rusty, the adopted son of one couple, is convicted of the murders. Years later he is cleared of the crime, impacting the life of the surviving children including his brother Dustin, now a psychologist, Rusty was convicted in part because of Dustin’s testimony against him.. What really happened all those years ago?

The main characters are well-developed, and I found it an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Ill Will by Don Chaon has a captivating premise and a frustrating, chaotic delivery. Dustin Tillman is now a psychologist, but in the 80s he was a you child whose were murdered. The culprit? Dustin's adopted older brother Rusty. And Dustin just learned that Rusty is being released from prison after serving his 30 year sentence. What does each person know about that night? And what is going on in Dustin's present day life? It's convoluted, frightening, and I might have liked it.. I'm not quite sure.

Unfortunately had a hard time reading this. The time line jumped around so much that I was left more confused than interested in reading it. I ended up throwing in the towel with this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine bokks for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! murder murder everywhere. As bizarre and morbid as this book was I really enjoyed it! A bit of horror mixed in with mystery all wound up with a psychological thriller. I am way behind on reading this one and am pleasantly surprised at how good this was.

Overall this a murder mystery. The first murder being our MC's . Dustin's parents and Aunt and Uncle . His foster brother is arrested and jailed for the murders but by the end of the book you are questioning who done it! The other murders weaved throughout the book are the serial murders which occur on unique dates. Again our MC and a friend are intrigued by these murders which they are connecting together.

This murder mystery is a story told in past and present leading up to the exciting and nail biting ending. I was sucked in and am glad to have gotten around to this one. I will check out more books by Dan Chaon for sure.

This is weird and I can't get into it. It jumps back and forth in time. Characters that have normal, orderly lives in one time are messed up and unrecognizable in the future, or vice versa. The contemporary college-boy murders seem interesting, but that storyline is a footnote to the maybe-satanic maybe-murder of a family-- which is pretty full of abuse and quasi-incest. It's certainly distasteful and reading feels like a chore. Not recommended.

This was a good thriller, with unexpected turns. Atmospheric with good character development, a book which will make me search out the author's other works.

This was a middle-of-the-road read for me. While I liked a lot of aspects, there were some things I disliked, and overall, I just didn't feel strongly enough about the book to really warrant adding an in-depth review to the blog.

I didn't love this book. I felt like it was all over the place and wasn't very interesting. I was hoping it'd get better, but it didn't.

This book sounded, by the synopsis, like my kind of novel. But the style clashed with what I was expecting, more modern/college required reading style than an actual thriller. The back and forth of the perspective got too confusing after a while and by the time I finished I didn’t know what it was I read or why.

***Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
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Ill Will by Dan Chaon is a book that has me wondering just what other reviewers of this story got out of it that totally passed me by. I had almost put it down and walked away from it about four times, but when I read the other reviews on Goodreads, I was convinced it must get better.

It didn't.

This one was a huge time vacuum that could have been better spent on other tales.

It is a pass.

This was a thrilling read indeed. Chain always manages to catch the attention of his readers immediately. This story was so full of twists and turns—the perfect noir thriller.

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

Honestly, I did not finish this novel. I was super excited for this novel because it sounded like a good story line and then just from the beginning I was skeptical. I did not like the writing style with the very short chapters and just stopping as that story is getting going in the chapter and then it would just stop...and the next chapter would move onto a different bit of the story that does NOT compliment the chapter you were just reading. So that was the issue to begin with that I was annoyed with. The book seemed to start to getting more interesting as the chapters began getting more detailed and then (SPOILER ALERT!!!) the novel began describing child sexual abuse between the main character and an older sibling and I was just kind of done. I have no interest in continuing this novel after I hit that bit. I am sure it could be good and interesting, however, I feel like that was a bit too much for me and certainly way to close to my real job as a social worker and dealing with people with trauma.

It wasn't a bad book per say but I don't quite know how to review this book honestly. It was at places and moments very well written and at others incredibly choppy. Put me off to be fair with you.

Not my favorite from Dan Chaon. I felt it was very poorly written. I think the author was trying to be creative but many of the chapters ended in the middle of the sentence. I didn't think it made the text at all suspenseful. Would not recommend.

This book wasn’t for me. I decided not to review it on my site or any of the major retailers/Goodreads.

I have enjoyed everything this author has brought out. Super talented and this story was another edge of your seat tale that I greatly enjoyed.