2014 Reading: The Killing Club

Third book of the year is The Killing Club by Marcie Walsh with Michael Malone.  This book was something that I picked up at a library sale not too long ago because I liked the title and the cover was all red and black (I know you're not supposed to, but I put a lot of stock in the cover of books I buy).  I failed, however, to notice the giant sticker on the cover that emphasizes "As Seen On 'One Life To Live' ABC Daytime"... THAT above anything else might have been a deciding factor in my purchase of the book had I seen it first. Because, let me tell you, I am just thrilled that I'm reading something featured on a soap opera... </sarcasm>

The book seems like the plot to one of the bad soap operas that little old ladies watch after they retire. What is it about retirement that makes most women want to collect cats, read shitty romance novels, and watch "her stories" before having the early bird special and then going to bed at 6pm? If I ever get like that, shoot me. But then again, my perfect day now, at 27, is rolling out of bed at noon, reading fanfiction (the higher the age rating the better, thank you very much), watching movies about serial killers while sitting amongst my Star Trek memorabilia collection eating Chef Boyardee out of the can before curling up in bed to watch Twilight Zone until 3am...

But I digress...

I don't quite know what I was expecting. The concept of the book is very familiar: group of high school kids have a game where they imagine scenarios of getting away with murdering people, then, years later, people start dying the way they described them when they were kids. 

One of my first thoughts was: "Holy shit! My friends and I used to do that..." But we never wrote them down, so no incriminating evidence for us. HA!

The next thing I thought of is how much this book reminded me of Valentine by Tom Savage (which was turned into a movie as well in 2001).  It may not be exactly the same, but the plot is similar and I just couldn't stop comparing the two.

The writing style is not my favorite. It's not bad, per se, but this writer has a tendency to repeat themselves A LOT. Full names, physical features, relationships to other characters are said over and over and over again, not only when the characters are actually interacting, but also in the mind of the narrator, the main character of the book.  There's only so many time you can read that 'So-and-so, a tall, well-built, brunette with blue eyes and chiseled jaw who was married to my late sister, who died of cancer four years ago, had a beer' before you just want to shout "ALRIGHT I GET IT, MOVE ON!!!" at the unresponsive pages in your hands.

That having been said, despite many books/movies that are similar to this that I have read/watched over the years and have gotten to the point where figuring out how it's going to end within the first ten pages/minutes is down to a science, the ending of this book managed to surprise me even if it wasn't exactly the way I would have LIKED it to end.

If you like short mystery novels with lots of description (necessary or otherwise), then I can recommend this book to you. If you're into serious mystery, I could maybe find something else for you. Meh.

On to the next book.