I had trouble getting into this book. I usually enjoy reading the subjects it contains, including cults, mysteries, "true crime" styles, serial killers. But I felt that it went in too many directions at once and maybe bit off more than it could chew. I found my interest fading after the first 1/4 of the book, it was hard to really relate to the characters. I can see how it is similar to Gillian Flynn's Dark Places but the pacing of the mystery wasn't anywhere near as strong.

Every character in this novel is flawed, and perhaps that is why I found myself caring deeply about each one. Dan Chaon has woven an intricate story around a murder committed in the past that continues to haunt Dustin Tillman, whose parents were among the victims, and whose adopted older brother Rusty was (possibly wrongly) convicted of the crime. Dustin is now a self-deluded psychologist who allows one of his own patients to draw him into chasing down a conspiracy theory around the contemporary deaths of a series of young college students. Besides breaking the rules of therapist/patient relationship, Dustin becomes obsessed with trying to prove the deaths are not accidental, but a string of serial murders. The pursuit of the possible murderer takes its toll on Dustin and his practice, and eventually endangers Dustin’s own son. I couldn’t put it down. Yes, I guessed the ending, but it was fun getting there.

This is the first book I've read by Dan Chaon so was not familiar with his writing style. I didn't like all the going back and forth in time. It was quite confusing at times for me. But I was curious enough to keep on reading. I wanted to know what the truth was from what happened in the past. It also lead to what was happening in the now. Lots of dysfunctional relationships between sisters, cousins, and a foster brother. I would have rated this 3 and 1/2 stars.

This book starts off really well. It is very engaging and the characters are nicely drawn. As the story progressed it did get pretty dark for my tastes. I would recommend it to my patrons who enjoy dark psychological suspense.

3.5 stars, if half-stars were legal. This is a creepy, dark, mesmerizing story of a psychologist with a troubled past who seems to have difficulty distinguishing between things that really happened and things he imagined happening. The past isn't quite through with him and the present is developing its own complications. Determining who the villains and the victims are is not an easy job in this psychological thriller.

While this book could use some editing and at one point had me regretting starting it because it was getting a little too icky/creepy for me (fortunately it didn't go any further in that direction), I think it would make an excellent movie. But probably not one I would go see, because it would be too dark and foreboding! Though the book is a bit jumbled and the characters are not very sympathetic, there are unexpected turns and it was never boring. However, if you like everything all neatly wrapped up at the end, you will be disappointed!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a free e-ARC of this book.

The book had a lot of promise and I had high hopes for it but I was left frustrated by the writing style of the author. It was not due to the flashig back and forth between two murder storylines, it just seems so chatoic. There were also so many unanswered questions left for me by the end of the book, and too many loose ends going around all over the place. The characters were amazing and had a lot of depth but the story just did not pull through for me.

This book did not do it for me. I was interested enough in the story to keep reading but disliked the experience. It's hard to put my fingers on the reason why.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC Kindle version of this book.
I'm sorry to say it wasn't a good one for me.
This was a very dark and strange novel for me, creepy.
If you enjoy reading about murders and death on the dark side, you might like this one.
I don't, so I didn't like it at all.

Good, but not what the hype had initially prepared us for.

What a fascinating novel … two unsolved crimes – one from today and one from the past – converge in unusual and interesting ways. First, Dan Chaon is such an interesting writer. His skills are amazing! This book is so much more than it appears to be at first glance. The choices that Chaon makes during the writing of the novel – rambling passages, paragraphs/chapters ending abruptly in the middle, transitions between time that don’t flow well, etc. – are interesting and make the reading experience all the more unsettling. And I think that’s one of the things I ultimately appreciated most about this one. It was a bit discombobulating but it also infused the novel with darkness and an atmosphere of haze … which was ultimately perfection given the themes and the story. The interplay of time and space, the exploration of memory and rootedness. It’s all so fantastically done in this novel. The story is told from multiple perspectives which I also think added to the overall feeling of fogginess that embeds the prose. I’m not always a fan of writing that plays with structure but I think this was done so effectively that I can’t find anything negative to say about that aspect of the novel. I don’t think the structure is for everyone – you may not appreciate this one if you don’t like books that play with structure but if you go with this one, I think it’s worth the read. The sense of chaos that takes such a central role in the prose makes the reading experience pretty frustrating and ultimately rewarding (for me). I loved what this piece of fiction said about memory and how to be sure that what we ‘know’ is in fact real and factual. I definitely think this is worth the read and hope that you will take the time to give it a shot!

Still taking it all in. Every character in this book had so many different sides.

The parts that quite frankly have me checking over my shoulder did not involve any direct violence but a number of references to different mental afflictions. The psychological drama/trauma that trickles down is damaging and vengeful and full-on creepy. But creepy because it can be true.

There is so much going on within this sad family: Dustin, Kate and Wave's decisions all intermingling and now affecting their offspring as well. Enter Aqil ... helpful? terrifying? good? bad? And as with the family members what really does good and bad mean when there are mental health issues.

The writing is perfectly crafted. The story - past and present - is shown through the eyes of many different characters. With each. another side of the story seems to be revealed. And then the complexity of these layers and the effect on all the different players is astonishing. As is the complexity of the intertwined relationships of the characters. Astonishing but not unbelievable.

Justice is not actually the object; although you would think it would be. That being said, I did not expect the book to end where it did. I feel as if I need more in the way of closure after investing the emotions I did in these characters and their stories.

Told from multiple perspectives, this is the story of a crime from the past that occurred during the Satanic Panic, as well as crimes occurring in the present that may be committed by a serial killer known by the moniker "Jack Daniels".

Chaon does a really great job of exploring what exactly truth means for each character. Is it okay to lie on the witness stand if you still really think the accused did it? How do we lie to ourselves? To our friends and family? Do we rewrite our own pasts to make us feel more comfortable with our choices?

The mysteries are definitely intriguing and kept me interested. And the twist to the present mystery caught me completely by surprise, which I absolutely loved.

Sometimes it seems like Chaon gets too experimental, almost as if he is doing experimental for experimental's sake. Some pages have three different perspectives running in three different columns all on the same page, which was used too frequently and got confusing towards the end, taking me out of the book. There are also sentences that just end, with words missing. I'm not sure if these are typos or if this is what Chaon intended, but there are a lot of them and it is distracting.

While I like my mysteries completely resolved, I still enjoyed this book, It's definitely different and interesting, and the mysteries will keep you guessing and keep you invested.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. With that said, it was very intense. As being someone that has experienced a traumatic loss, I could identify with a lot of the feelings. The book skipped back and forth between different points in time in the beginning. I would say towards the middle, it started following a single time line. Not completely but for the most part. This story is based on similar accounts of the "Smiley Face Killer". Descriptions were very similar to the victims that lost their lives in real life. The story itself is centered around a psychologist that gets caught up with a mystery that one of his patients lays in his lap. The good doctor is trying to be calm but maintain boundaries with his unusual client all the while his home life is deteriorating. With his wife dying, both sons off doing their own thing (one in college, one pretending he is in college), he slowly starts to build an informal relationship with his client. As the story progresses, the doctor's background unfolds and the reader learns how his childhood shaped him. Both his parents were killed, his adopted brother the accused and then imprisoned for the crime. This was very thrilling to read. It does get somewhat graphic in parts regarding abuse. Since I do not want to give any spoilers, the ending of the book was very surprising. Through the whole story, I wondered as to who the killer may be but then was steered in another direction so when I reached the end, it was a shock to find out who it was and how he did it. The ending also left things at a slight cliff hangar. **This book may be a trigger for anyone that has experienced abuse, sexual assault, drug dependency.**

In the present, Dustin is psychologist in Cleveland, Ohio who has recently lost his wife to cancer. He has 2 grown sons, one in college and another struggling with drug addiction. Some 30 years earlier Dustin's parents, aunt and uncle were brutally murdered. The individual convicted of the crime was his adopted foster brother Rusty who has spent decades in prison until DNA evidence later proved his innocence. So who was the real killer? In addition to this crime, there is also a present day serial killer thread that runs through the story. Ill Will is a gripping thriller that hooked me from the very beginning but, it's not a quick or easy read. The story is told by a series of narrators, some in the first person and others in the third. A lot of the story relies on memories, some events having occurred some 30 years earlier, while the story jumps back and forth in time. Despite this it's a well written novel that kept me on the edge of my seat. Worth reading (4/5 stars)

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My Review

Ill Will by Dan Chaon is about a string of murders of young college-aged men and another murder that occurred in 1983. The 1983 murder is when the main character, Dustin Tillman’s parents and aunt/uncle die. Dustin’s adopted brother, Rusty, was accused of the murders and spent about 30 years in prison. Rusty was eventually released from prison through the help of the Innocence Project. Dustin and his cousin, Kate, had testified against Rusty and now that he is out they are worried. Dustin is now an adult with a family of his own…a wife and two grown boys. Dustin works as a psychologist and he has a strange ex-cop/patient/friend who wants Dustin to help him investigate the local murders of college-aged men.

Questions raised throughout the book that the reader try to figure out are who murdered Dustin’s parents if it wasn’t Rusty? What is Rusty going to do to those that testified against him now that he is out of prison? Who is responsible for the murders that are occurring present day?

The story is told in point of view of Dustin, the main character, Dustin’s son, Aaron, and Dustin’s adopted brother, Rusty. The setting alternates from 1983 and 2012-2014 in Nebraska, Ohio, and Illinois. The characters are well developed. Although I can’t say I particularly like any of them, I guess I feel sorry for Dustin’s boys, Aaron and Dennis.

The reason that this wasn’t a five star rating for me, was the fact the story kind of left me hanging at the end. There wasn’t a neat and tidy tie-up to the ending. The reader has to assume certain things have happened…or did they? I like to know exactly what happened to everyone and why. Overall the writing is great, the story is great. I just had too many unanswered questions at the end.

Thank you Dan Chaon, Random House Publishing Group Bellantine Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed about the first two thirds of the book. Then it seemed to fall off the cliff without an ending at all. I will not be using it on my blog since I only write about books I can fully recommend to my readers.

Dan Chaon is a well established author. He is the author of "Await Your Reply" and "Among The Missing." This book is about Dustin a psychologist who has a traumatic past. His family was murdered, and his older brother got convicted to life in prison for this crime. Years later it turns out that Rusty his brother got released from prison and his sentence overturned because DNA evidence proved him innocent. With Rusty getting out of prison and a new set of crimes of a possible serial killer comes present Dustin's life gets turned upside down.
Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was a well written story. The reason this book worked out so well was because the author was successful in writing about unlikable characters and still making this book an exciting, interesting story. I usually do have trouble reading and finishing books where the characters are unlikable. The author did a really good job in writing a story that covers a large time span because this book flowed and fit together well. The suspense in this book was thrilling, and once you get to the end you are in for a surprise. I have to say I usually do not choose books of this nature, it is not something I would pick first off a shelf. But I am so glad I read this because overall it was an excellent must read book.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Dan Chaon, and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

In Dan Chaon's disturbing Ill Will (Ballantine, digital galley), horrific crimes -- the possibly ritual slaughter of a family and a series of drownings of young men -- are separated by years but linked in the life of a middle-aged therapist. His wife dies of cancer and his younger son slips into heroin addiction after the death of a high school buddy. At the same time, his older brother, wrongly imprisoned for the long-ago murder, is freed, and one of his patients, an ex-cop, becomes obsessed by a phantom serial killer. So many bad things happen in Chaon's beautifully written story that I thought at one point, "No one is getting out of here alive.'' Here's horror.

from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever

I struggled through this book. The storyline had promise, but I didn’t enjoy the writing. At times it seemed to just ramble, other times it was confusing, and there were a few times I was just frustrated with it – especially with the dialog. This was quite a surprise to me because I had heard good things about this author so was excited to finally read one of his books.

This novel is centered on a family massacre in the past as well as a series of murders in the present day. There are various potential scenarios regarding the past murders that I don’t feel are ever fully proven but then you are provided with an answer to the present day murders, and truly it wasn’t a surprise. I feel like the book just didn’t live up to its potential regarding the story itself. It was a good idea, but lacked the writing to make it work well and the ending just left too many questions unanswered.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for an advanced copy of the book in return for an honest review. I’m sure it’s not what you wanted to hear, but the agreement is for me to be honest so I’ve had to do just that