📖 Overview
Two strangers meet at an airport bar - Ted Severson and Lily Kintner. Over drinks, Ted reveals his wife's infidelity and jokingly suggests having her killed. Lily takes his proposition seriously and offers to help.
What begins as a chance encounter evolves into a complex murder plot, with both Ted and Lily harboring their own motives and secrets. The story shifts between multiple perspectives, revealing new layers of deception and moral ambiguity with each chapter.
The narrative moves between past and present, uncovering the events that shaped each character while pushing the plot forward. Hidden connections between the characters emerge as their plans take unexpected turns.
At its core, the novel examines the nature of truth, justice, and the human capacity for both love and violence. The story challenges conventional notions of right and wrong, presenting a world where morality exists in shades of gray.
👀 Reviews
Readers call this a fast-paced thriller with numerous plot twists that kept them guessing. Many compare it to Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train and Gone Girl, noting the dark characters and moral ambiguity.
Readers appreciated:
- Unpredictable plot turns
- Complex, morally gray characters
- Quick pacing and short chapters
- Multiple character perspectives
- Clean, straightforward writing style
Common criticisms:
- Too many coincidences in the plot
- Some found the ending unsatisfying
- Characters lack depth beyond their scheming
- Second half moves slower than the first
Ratings:
Goodreads: 4.0/5 (192,000+ ratings)
Amazon: 4.4/5 (15,000+ ratings)
LibraryThing: 4.0/5 (1,100+ ratings)
Review quotes:
"Could not put it down - finished in one sitting" - common sentiment on Goodreads
"Like watching a chess match between two skilled players" - Amazon reviewer
"The twists work but require suspension of disbelief" - LibraryThing review
📚 Similar books
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
A wife's disappearance leads to revelations of psychological manipulation between spouses who match each other in cunning and deceit.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides A criminal psychotherapist works to uncover the truth behind a woman's murder of her husband and subsequent silence.
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen Multiple perspectives and shifting identities create a maze of deception surrounding a marriage and its aftermath.
Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney A woman in a coma pieces together the events leading to her condition through unreliable memories and conflicting truths.
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris A marriage that appears perfect from the outside conceals a web of control, secrets, and calculated revenge.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides A criminal psychotherapist works to uncover the truth behind a woman's murder of her husband and subsequent silence.
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen Multiple perspectives and shifting identities create a maze of deception surrounding a marriage and its aftermath.
Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney A woman in a coma pieces together the events leading to her condition through unreliable memories and conflicting truths.
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris A marriage that appears perfect from the outside conceals a web of control, secrets, and calculated revenge.
🤔 Interesting facts
🔹 Peter Swanson took inspiration from Patricia Highsmith's "Strangers on a Train," reimagining the classic story with modern characters and a female antagonist.
🔹 The book's opening scene on a flight from London to Boston was inspired by Swanson's own frequent travels between these two cities while working on his MFA.
🔹 The novel has been optioned for a film adaptation by Universal Pictures, with Rosamund Pike initially attached to star.
🔹 The author wrote much of the book in public spaces, particularly coffee shops around Boston, which coincidentally mirrors where several scenes in the novel take place.
🔹 The novel's original working title was "The Lonely Passenger" before being changed to "The Kind Worth Killing," which comes from a line in Patricia Highsmith's "Strangers on a Train."