Book review: The Kind Worth Killing

by Peter Swanson

THIS dark thriller opens with the chance meeting in an aeroplane lounge between a mysterious redhead and a cuckolded millionaire — and explores the murderous events that follow.

With scheming and sex that span from American condos to British pubs and with each chapter told from a different character’s point of view, The Kind Worth Killing is well-thought-out and thankfully free of the plot holes that can ruin even the most exciting of thrillers.

Fast-paced scenes unroll in a script-like fashion; it’s no surprise that the film rights were sold ahead of publication. However, it falls short of being a truly spine-chilling page-turner.

The novel’s various twists and turns become predictable, and it is difficult to know whether Swanson wishes his readers to empathise with, or fear, his sinister protagonist, the redheaded Lily, making her an inconvenient heroine.

Although an enjoyable read, I can’t say that the ending left me wanting anything more than my own condo by the seaside.