Wow. This was ridiculously good. We have more of the supernatural elements I like. I have to say though this book is hard to get through if you don’t like spiders.

“The Killing Kind” has Charlie taking up a case from an ex Senator. A daughter of a long ago friend ended up dead, but though the police think it’s suicide, no one believes it. When Charlie goes digging he finds a connection between the woman’s death and a Baptist sect that went missing in the 60s. Charlie also meets one of the most relentless killers he has ever gone toe to toe with.

I like how Connolly doesn’t ever let you know if what Charlie sees or feels is real or what. I like to think it is though. Charlie though in this one is pressing his luck. I loved having Rachel, Louis, and Angel in this one. All of the parties above are forever changed by the end of this one though.

The writing was lyrical and top notch. I also now hate spiders even more than I thought possible. Some of the descriptions definitely made me reach up and brush imaginary webs off of me. I liked how Connolly went from different POVs to excerpts from the thesis of the missing woman about the Baptists that went missing.

The book ends on a hopeful note but one wonders what is next for Charlie.

A chance meeting at an airport between Ted  and Lily allows Ted's darkest secrets to be revealed and a murder pact is set up the recipient of the violence being Ted's wife Miranda. Sounds good? Well it was for one chapter and naturally many will find similarities between the book Strangers on a train by Patricia Highsmith and the equally brilliant movie noir adoption by Alfred Hitchcock. But be warned this is no classic in the making rather it is a story of nonsense that is best suited as a " trashy" read on a far flung beach where little can be expected and  nothing received in return............zzzzzzzzzz

The four main characters; Ted, Miranda, Lily, and Brad spend the entire book trying to outflank and kill each other..and that is the essence and intelligence of this very quick soon to be forgotten piece of fiction. Even the inclusion of an unexpected ending did little to raise The Kind Worth Killing above a one star! So the golden rule is never believe all the hype that accompanies a book before, during and after its release as in this case the result is nothing short of dire......

Immediately after finishing the second book in the Charlie Parker series, I had to pick up book number three. And I never read one book after another in a series. But Connolly´s books are so compelling, I just have to know what happens next.

This time around Charlie Parker gets hired to investigate the alleged suicide of Grace Peltier and there is a lot of hinting at bad things to come. In the prologue there has already been a creepy death caused by spiders *shudder*.

I’ve had this book on my to-read list for the longest time and yet again booklikes-opoly swooped in and did its job, knocking it off my ever-growing TBR.

The Kind Worth Killing plays homage to Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train. I’ve read Highsmith, but not that one, something which I hope to rectify soon.

So, Ted and Lily meet on a night flight from London to Boston. They both have a few drinks and Ted ends up pouring his heart out to Lily and telling her how his wife, Miranda, is cheating on him with the guy who’s overseeing the renovation of his new home. He's ludicrously rich, which usually puts me off a novel, but I decided to stick with it. Anyway, Lily suggests that Ted take his revenge on Miranda by killing her and, of course, she will help out. Sounds a little out there, but I was able to suspend my disbelief and take it at face value.

Throughout the novel we learn about Lily and why she is the way she is. While I enjoyed learning about her past, I didn’t find the reason that she became a murderer very compelling. It helped explain things, yes, but I felt it could have been done a bit better. There was just enough to sustain the narrative for both the characters in their alternative chapters, though.

Usually I find it hard to enjoy a book if I don’t connect with one or more characters, but in this case I was in just the right sort of mood that it didn’t matter that everyone was unlikeable. The narrative was so consuming that I didn’t get too distracted by it.

The story was great, but there was one thing that bothered me. How does a person who’s been murdered narrate in past tense? I was mystified at that one and surprised I didn’t see it mentioned anywhere else. If someone can give me their thoughts I’d be very grateful.

People have mentioned their problem with the ending. While I did find it flat, I didn’t have too much of a problem with it. I was hoping for something a little more explosive, but it was okay. Not great, but okay.

A short and consuming read that I thought was one of the better psychological thrillers I’ve read.

I read this for: