Book Snails Book Group discussion

With 23.3% of the votes, our MAY 2017 group read will be:

The Kind Worth Killing (or TKWK,) by Peter Swanson

Runner-ups were Stephenie Meyer's The Host, and The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas, each with 16.6% of the votes. If your choice didn't win, you can nominate it again for a future BOTM poll.

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TKWK TAGLINE: You should never talk to strangers

BLURB: "A sublimely plotted novel of trust and betrayal, The Kind Worth Killing will keep you gripped and guessing late into the night."



E-book version available at Amazon or B&N for around $4.99.
Hardcover or softcover currently $3.50 and up (with shipping) @ AbeBooks.com.

Shameless plug: I've read this book. I think most thriller-lovers will enjoy the characters and twists. But it's always fun when someone hates a book as much as I liked it!

Got my copy ready to go! Might even start it before May arrives :-P

Erin wrote: "Got my copy ready to go! Might even start it before May arrives :-P"

You go, Erin!

I forgot to mention: here's the Overdrive.com link (free ebooks & digital audiobooks, if your library or school participates):

TKWK: https://www.overdrive.com/search?q=sw...

StarMan, have you read Strangers on a Train? It's been on my TBR list for a little while and I'm wondering if maybe I should tackle it before TKWK...

Erin wrote: "StarMan, have you read Strangers on a Train? It's been on my TBR list for a little while and I'm wondering if maybe I should tackle it before TKWK..."

Not yet, Erin. I have the .epub version, maybe I'll tackle it soon. Also, the 1951 Hitchcock-directed film adaptation (with screenplay by Raymond Chandler) looks good: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044079/

Amazon video trailer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003EAVQ1A

PS: I got TKWK as a GR giveaway, and was surprised at how good it was, esp. since I didn't much like another book by the same author, The Girl with a Clock for a Heart (2 stars).

This has been on my TBR for a long time, so I'm excited we're reading it! I requested it from the library, but out of the libraries in our system, only three have the book available. Hopefully I'll get it soon!

StarMan wrote: "Not yet, Erin. I have the .epub version, maybe I'll tackle it soon. Also, the 1951 Hitchcock-directed film adaptation (with screenplay by Raymond Chandler) looks good: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044079/"

I actually own the movie! I totally forgot until you mentioned it. But it's been several years since I've watched it. Perhaps I'll watch it one night this week and read the book at a later time. (I tried to get an ebook from one of my libraries yesterday but couldn't, so I just went ahead with TKWK. Now I'm invested...)

Kelsey wrote: "This has been on my TBR for a long time, so I'm excited we're reading it! I requested it from the library, but out of the libraries in our system, only three have the book available. Hopefully I'll..."

Is there a wait list? My library system has 4 copies, and all 4 were available when I decided to pick it up from my local branch. It was actually one of the rare times my branch had a book I wanted, so I didn't have to wait for a copy to be transferred from another location!

Hope you get a copy for May!

Made it to 33%... it's not bad, but I'm still waiting for it to get good. Kinda bored with it so far...

Erin wrote: "Made it to 33%... it's not bad, but I'm still waiting for it to get good. Kinda bored with it so far..."

*snickers* wait for it...

Erin wrote: "Kelsey wrote: "This has been on my TBR for a long time, so I'm excited we're reading it! I requested it from the library, but out of the libraries in our system, only three have the book available...."

There were holds on the three books, but they must have been dropped by those holding it, because I'm getting the book tomorrow!

Kelsey wrote: "There were holds on the three books, but they must have been dropped by those holding it, because I'm getting the book tomorrow!"

That's weird! But good for you! :-)

I just finished watching the Strangers on a Train movie. Aside from the absurd carousel scene near the end, I really enjoyed it. I have a hold placed on the book, and I'm waiting for it to be transferred to my local branch. I think I'll read it after I finish TKWK and then I can compare all 3 :-P

I'm now at 46% in TKWK and I'm not really seeing much similarity between it and the movie version of Strangers...

Hope y'all will like TKWK...

I don't know if I liked it because it was actually GOOD... or because I'd read so many bad books lately that it seemed so much better by comparison! I saw some of the twists coming, but not all.

I look forward to Erin's comparisons.

I started reading it tonight. I don't like Ted, and I don't like the way Swanson writes female characters, as far as introductions, because it's all just descriptions on how sexy or not they and their body parts are which... But I do like reading Lily's parts. She's obviously a psychopath, but her story is interesting.

I don't know whether or not it's because I religiously watch Hitchcock and other noir films and tv shows, or if it's because I'm just good at picking up little clues and piecing them together, but I think I might have already figured out the ending? If I'm right, it'll definitely get a higher rating from me. Right now, it's around 2 or 3 stars, but I am only 70 pages into it. Hopefully it starts picking up soon.

I just reread my comment and I hope I didn't sound too conceited! What I think the ending is, is what I HOPED would happen as soon as Ted started talking to Lily. I think it's leading down that path given the clues we're getting, so I'm excited because it's how I want it to turn out, but we'll see, of course!

I'm 59% done and I'm just not getting into it... I'm pretty certain that the highest rating I'll give this will be 3 stars because a book that bores me for over 50% of it doesn't deserve higher. I'm hoping something eventually happens to shock/surprise me...

Annoying error on page 229 - "Ted doused the lights on his truck..." Nope! That would be Brad!

Sorry to hear that you're not getting into, Erin! I admit that I went into this book thinking I wouldn't like it, because I hated The Girl on the Train and The Woman in Cabin 10, and I thought that this was going to be exactly like them, but I do have to say, I actually like it more than I thought I would.

I agree that the story is a little boring, and I don't like Ted at all. I'm actually only interested in Lily, but hopefully the twists make up for the rest of the story.

81% now and it has finally picked up some, though I haven't been too surprised by anything that's happened. Hoping to finish it tonight... Should get Strangers on a Train sometime this week, though I'll probably wait to start that until I finish When All The Girls Have Gone which I have lined up as my next read. I actually realized last night that most of the books I've put in my lineup for May are murder/mystery/suspense type books. Gonna make jumping back and forth between books difficult :-P

I've gotten through the first 2 chapters in Strangers on a Train. So far, it follows the movie pretty closely. The only 2 glaring differences are:
1. Guy's profession (he's an architect in the book but a professional tennis player in the movie) and
2. Instead of leaving (view spoiler)[his monogrammed lighter in Bruno's possession (movie), he leaves his copy of a book by Plato (book). (hide spoiler)]
I think both of these difference are fairly insignificant, though I suppose I shall see how it affects the story overall.

Just finished the book today! I didn't really know how I felt about it until I read the last page, but, damn. That really solidified it for me! Here's my review for it, if anyone is interested in it! I'll also post my review under our actual review section. It's very very spoiler light. I actually don't think there are any in there at all? But just a forewarning :) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Kelsey wrote: "Just finished the book today! I didn't really know how I felt about it until I read the last page, but, damn. That really solidified it for me! ..."

Glad you liked it, Kelsey. It's nice to find a book where the gushing cover blurbs are true, or close enough. Your review was very good, and you pointed out some things I hadn't thought much about till you mentioned them.

In my no-big-spoilers review of the book, I said this:

"...A deliciously twisted read that manages to entertain without being either too light or too convoluted. Furthermore, it's only slightly over-advertised."

I really liked TKWK (3.85 stars, rounded to 4), but was very disappointed by another Swanson "thriller":   The Girl with a Clock for a Heart. It's hard to believe the same guy wrote both these books.

StarMan wrote: "Kelsey wrote: "Just finished the book today! I didn't really know how I felt about it until I read the last page, but, damn. That really solidified it for me! ..."

Glad you liked it, Kelsey. It's ..."

I really enjoyed your review, too! It seems that we mostly had the same thoughts on it, also, which is interesting! I've heard that The Girl with a Clock for a Heart was very bad, and that Her Every Fear wasn't much better. If he decides to publish any more books, and people like it enough and it's comparable to TKWK, I would check it out, but I won't be reading those two books.

Kelsey wrote: "...I've heard that The Girl with a Clock for a Heart was very bad, and that Her Every Fear wasn't much better. ..."

Kelsey, I would only recommend The Girl with a Clock for a Heart for readers who really enjoy characters who are TSTL*. But there is plenty of mayhem in it, as well as a devious femme fatale -- which are the only positives I saw. I did appreciate receiving the book as a giveaway from Swanson/GR, though!

* Too STUPID to Live

StarMan wrote: "Kelsey wrote: "...I've heard that The Girl with a Clock for a Heart was very bad, and that Her Every Fear wasn't much better. ..."

Kelsey, I would only recommend [book:The Girl with a Clock for a ..."

I do love femme fatale's.. but I can't stand TSTL characters, which I feel is what makes up most modern mysteries now a days, so I'll pass :P

(Also love the TSTL acronym)

I'm slowly working my way through Strangers on a Train. I'm not a big fan of the writing style. Plus, I've come across a pretty large handful of errors. I'm pretty much skimming at this point and even so, I can only handle small amounts at a time. I laid out a reading plan for myself so that I will finish on Friday and be able to move on :-P

Anyway... most of the first half of the book followed along fairly closely with the movie. But then I came upon a major difference. In the movie, Guy (view spoiler)[does not kill Bruno's father. (hide spoiler)] In the book, Guy (view spoiler)[ does kill Bruno's father. And since that happened, the book basically focuses on Guy's torment over having committed the act of murder. (hide spoiler)]

I am very interested to see how the book ends since the big difference I mentioned above changes the course of the story. I just wish it weren't so difficult to get through!

Regarding the comparison of The Kind Worth Killing to Strangers on a Train... "an accidental counter that leads to murder" pretty much sums up the extent of it. I mean, the whole premise of Strangers is "trading" murders, which does not occur in TKWK.

Any final thoughts on this book? The month is almost over... but feel free to keep commenting here if you don't get around to finishing TKWK until after May.

Was TKWK a like, love, or just "meh" for you?

Who was your favorite character?

Did you see the twist(s) coming?

Would you recommend the book to friends, family, or enemies?

Thanks to those of you who've already commented and/or done a review of it !

I really liked TKWK, which is rare for me, as I don't really go for modern murder mysteries. I didn't love it, but I did really enjoy it.

I wouldn't say I had a favorite character, but if I had to narrow it down, I suppose it would be Lily, or the female cop/detective! (Her name has slipped my mind). She was cool, too.

I hated Ted. Hated him. He was so annoying, and seemed, to me, self-entitled. I know I already wrote about this, but I also detested the way he would immediately forget a woman's name, but then tell the reader how long her legs were, and how big her chest was. I don't care.

I also liked Miranda, almost specifically because Swanson tried so hard to get the reader to hate her. To me, though, it was the thing that stood out the most. Her character was very in her head, and would think things like, "I just use men. I'll sleep with him, and then move on, because why not? Who cares?" and I know that was supposed to make you hate her, but, to me, I agreed. Who cares? Personally, I'm not like that, but if some woman is, we shouldn't shame them for doing it, and we especially shouldn't kill them, when men do it all the time.

I did see some of the twists coming, but there were two that shocked me. One was on the very last page, which actually bumped it up to a 4 star rating for me! The other was when we found out who Miranda was. I didn't see that coming at all.

Minor spoiler: Actually, in the beginning, I thought Lily was going to kill Ted, and I was excited for it. Unfortunately, she falls for him instead, which I thought was the boring route to take. Oh well.

I actually did recommend it to my dad, and he's reading it right now. He likes it, and just told me the other day that he didn't see the Miranda twist coming at all either! I'm excited to find out how he feels about the ending. To me, it's the best part of the book.

Just finished tkwk and had a good time reading it. It isn't an extremely great book, I thought, but it kept my attention and I did enjoy the way the writer described the 'scenes' that were happening.
During the book I kept asking myself which person I liked best, but still can't really say I liked any of them. Perhaps cop James but she had only a small role.
I liked the ending because it hints to an ending I would have liked most.
If I would tip this book to someone, it would be to someone who's taking a vacation, because it's an easy, comfortable read.
But at the end of the day, to me, it's just a thriller.

Erin wrote: "I'm slowly working my way through Strangers on a Train. I'm not a big fan of the writing style. Plus, I've come across a pretty large handful of errors. I'm pretty much skimming at thi..."

Perhaps y'all might be interested in this film, due out in November 2017:

Murder on the Orient Express

Yep, an Agatha Christie remake! Cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr. and Olivia Coleman.

StarMan wrote: "Erin wrote: "I'm slowly working my way through Strangers on a Train. I'm not a big fan of the writing style. Plus, I've come across a pretty large handful of errors. I'm pretty much sk..."

That cast sounds awesome, might be a good one!

Just saw the trailer for it a few days ago, and I definitely want to see it! I'm also in love with Leslie Odom Jr, so that's a plus!