Review By Gabrielle
Haven’t Killed in Years is a fresh take on the serial killer thriller.
Favourite Quote:
There was no way it was a coincidence. Of all the days for a severed limb to show up on my doorstep, it had to be the same day my mother was released from prison. Hi, Marin. That was the real kicker. Someone knew the truth of who I was, and that person was keen on letting me know.
Book Synopsis:
Marin Haggerty, the daughter of a notorious serial killer, was only a child when they arrested her father. Ripped from her home and given a new identity, Marin disappeared.
Twenty years later, Gwen Tanner keeps everyone at a distance, preferring to satirize the world around her than participate in it. It’s for her safety—and theirs. But when someone starts sending body parts to her front door, the message is I Know Who You Are.
To preserve her secrets, Gwen must hunt down the killer, a journey which immerses her in the twisted world of true crime fandom and makes her confront her past once and for all. Maybe she is capable of deep, human connections, but she’s not the only one keeping secrets. Will opening herself up to others help her find the killer, or remind her why it was necessary she hide her true self in the first place?
The apple never falls too far, after all.
Review:
This one is unique, friends. I’ve been putting off writing this review because after the first read, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book. A second read-through helped.
I was immediately drawn to the premise. I love me a good serial killer tale, and this one sounded interesting. I’m attracted to the discussion on the impacts on the folks around the serial killer, in this book, his daughter. From clues in the synopsis, I was also guessing we might get some moral deliberation from Gwen – is she also bad by proximity?
Haven’t Killed in Years drew me in quickly, right from the very first page; I was hooked. The pacing is pretty fast, action happens quickly and frequently, and I found I couldn’t put it down. There is a delicious tension that builds and builds alongside Gwen’s growing paranoia. Who is targeting her? What do they want? What will she do about it if she finds out? Those in search of a cozy mystery should keep looking elsewhere. This one is, at times, graphic, but I will say I didn’t find it overly so. That is to say, it isn’t graphic for shock value. It’s an appropriate amount of graphic, if that makes sense.
The premise didn’t let me down; readers get to see firsthand the damage that growing up with a serial-killer father has had on Gwen. It actually impacts everything she does, everything she thinks, her whole worldview, really.
Gwen is a surprisingly likable character. Even as she dispassionately describes some of the horrors she witnessed or calmly disposes severed body parts, you can’t help but like her. She’s smart and resilient ,and I found myself cheering her on through her investigation. It’s Gwen’s voice that makes this book so unique. As I had hoped, we do watch Gwen struggle with morality, and it’s fascinating to watch. How do you even navigate the world when your moral compass was broken early on?
In addition to Gwen, we meet a wide variety of secondary characters that are reasonably well-developed. There are lots of possible suspects. It’s hard to write more without giving anything away. This book is cleverly plotted. Amy sure knows how to add lots of twists and turns to the storyline that kept me guessing. I honestly had no idea where the story would lead.
If serial killers are your thing, you must read Haven’t Killed in Years.
Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
