Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh

Have you seen the movie Strangers On The Train? In this movie, two strangers help each other out by killing someone the other wants dead. It’s a perfect plan because there’s absolutely no connection between the murderer and the victim. Steve Cavanagh’s book Kill For Me Kill For You is based on this idea.

Kill For Me Kill For You

There are two main characters in this book:

• Amanda, whose six-year-old was abducted in broad daylight, murdered, and dumped in a dumpster. Amanda’s husband felt so guilty that he then killed himself.
• Ruth is assaulted in her own home and barely survives the attack. It leaves her traumatized for life and unable to get pregnant.

Amanda’s story

Amanda is filled with murderous rage and wants to kill the man who killed her daughter, and as a reader you can’t really blame her. The murderer got away with it because of his rich daddy who pulled a lot of strings for him. When he files a restraining order against Amanda, she has to go to a counseling group. There, she meets Wendy, another traumatized mother. She and Wendy decide to do the “Strangers on a Train” thing. After Wendy tells Amanda she killed for her, it’s Amanda’s turn to return the favor. But after nearly getting killed herself, she then sees her daughter’s murderer walking in the street. So Wendy lied!

Ruth’s story

After the attack, Ruth is so afraid that she stays inside all the time. When she ventures outside, she keeps seeing the man who attacked her.
Her husband takes her to a hotel in an effort to reboot their life. There, Ruth sees the man who attacked her! Her husband Steve decides to follow him, but things get out of hand and, in a fit of rage, he kills him. Ruth is flooded with relief and feels able to live again. But then they find out this man couldn’t have been her attacker.

What is going on?! Lots of twists and turns

Kill For Me Kill For You has lots of twists and turns and surprises. It’s one of those kinds of books that makes you feel wrong-footed again and again. Unfortunately, even though I do appreciate it when a writer manages to surprise me, I’m not a fan of feeling wrong-footed again and again.

Summing up

I felt Steve Cavanagh’s writing style could use improvement, and while I appreciate the way he weaves this complicated tale, I did not enjoy getting blindsided the whole time.
But if you like books that really surprise you with their twists and turns, then this one could be great for you! On Goodreads it’s rated a whopping 4.19! I’d rated it 3.15.

You can find this book at your local bookstore and Amazon.

The Dutch version

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