Book Review: The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

This review of The Kind Worth Killing gives you the plot and summary for this sinister tale by Peter Swanson, plus some fun lifestyle pairings for the book.

Review of The Kind Worth Killing

Now, THIS was a real thriller. If you liked Gone Girl and/or Girl on the Train but want even more darkness and depravity, The Kind Worth Killing is for you. This is the type where everyone has some "sinister" in them and you aren't sure who can be trusted. There are twists throughout the entire book -- some that may shock you, and some that you may seem coming, and the ending leaves you wanting more.

Ted meets Lily in an airport lounge and mentions that his wife is cheating on him. When she asks him what he plans to do about it, he jokes that he would really like to kill her. To his surprise, Lily responds that he should do so. She believes that some people are "the kind worth killing." She rationalizes,

Everyone dies. What difference does it make if a few bad apples get pushed along a little sooner than God intended?

And she admits,

Any life at all is probably more than any of us deserves.

From there, a murder plot ensues, but the story is not that clear cut -- it moves in different directions like evil often does, which I will leave for you to discover. We also learn about Lily's background and the life events that caused her to believe that some people should be killed. There are two particularly disturbing tales here -- so disturbing I nearly stopped reading this book, but my book club almost unanimously gave the book rave reviews and urged me to continue.

The hidden secrets of the characters in The Kind Worth Killing will make you wonder if you can ever really know a person.

Read more reviews on Amazon.

Book Pairings

For more like The Kind Worth Killing:

Check out my list of favorite thrillers.
Watch some true crime, which I often find to be stranger than fiction. Dateline is usually my go to. The Staircase on Netflix is also fascinating, especially from a legal perspective.
Check out Rotten Tomatoes' list of Top 100 Mystery & Suspense Movies.
Some great fictional tv with thrillers include The Assassination of Gianni Versace (soo good and soo creepy) and Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story (totally 80s and totally bingeable).
Listen to a thrilling podcast. I recommend Dirty John (the original story). You won't be able to turn it off!