The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

Thrillers are not my go-to reading genre, but I do like them when traveling. The tedious airplane trips especially call for a good page-turner. My only thriller requirement is that it has to be well written with good reviews.

I chose the The Kind Worth Killing because the Washington Post said “it should be a contender for crime fiction’s best first novel of 2014.” It has also been compared to Gone Girl, a thriller which I really admired (the film, not so much). This is a modern re-imagining of Patricia Highsmith’s 1950 classic thriller, Strangers on a Train, but trust me, with many different and unique twists.

The flight from London to Boston is delayed and Lily, a young beautiful woman sits down next to Ted and as alcohol loosens his tongue, he tells her about his cheating wife. It turns out they are on the same flight and arrange to sit next to each other. By the end of the flight and more discussion, Lily says:

Truthfully, I don’t think murder is necessarily as bad as people make it out to be. Everyone dies. What difference does it make if a few bad apples get pushed along a little sooner than God intended? And your wife, for example, seems like the kind worth killing.

At first, it is very, very similar to “Strangers on a Train” but about a third of the way through The Kind Worth Killing takes some jaw-dropping twists and turns, and things get more and more complicated. (turns out murder is really hard, you guys.)

The novel uses alternating narratives of the main characters, and it switches between past and current timelines. Mr. Swanson does this masterfully, using the past narratives to provide details, previous connections and clues. At the same time, he manages to hold back enough specifics to keep you guessing on how everything is going to end.

The writing never feels gimmicky or contrived. Every time I thought I knew where it was going, more twists would happen but the writing kept it natural and soberly real. What I found most enjoyable, was when the layers were peeled back to reveal more information about each character, and new ones were introduced.

It’s a game of cat and mouse…but just who is the cat and who is the mouse? My head was spinning – who is the killer? Who is the victim? Is there anyone you can trust?

I was shocked at the ending, and read it twice. I did not see it coming and the story ends a far cry from what I expected…hmmmm.

And I think I will stop here, and not reveal anything further so I don’t spoil it for you. Because if you like thrillers, or need a good vacation read – you must read A Kind Worth Killing.

And because I will never learn…

There is a second in this series, which I hope picks up where this left off.

And another to add to my list — Mr. Swanson also wrote The Girl with a Clock for a Heart—which the Washington Post raves, “should be a contender for crime fiction’s best first novel of 2014.”