It seemed like fate when Ted Severson accidentally met the beautiful Lily Kintner in an airport pub. Eventually he starts talking about his personal life and how his marriage with Miranda is going down the spiral and soon enough … Lily offers to help.

A deadly game begins there.

The author seems to have got the inspiration from Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train. However, the best thing about this book was that at a certain point when we, the reader, think everything is predictable about this story, it suddenly takes a dangerous turn.

That single factor makes it a much better read than other similar works. I was literally like, “Oh, where did that come from,” at that point.

The story is narrated from a first-person point of view. So the story gets explained by each major character separately. However, the author has not taken any special care to make them “sound” different. The writing style remains a constant throughout the book for all characters.

Out of the lot, Lily Kintner was the most interesting one. You will start rooting for her and supporting a particular “obsession” of hers even if you suspect that she may not be doing the right thing.

It’s hard to write more about this book without spoiling anything. Some of the tactics used in the book to kill have zero logic if you think hard about them, but it doesn’t matter really since it is a thriller. The book is a good read. Yes, perhaps the ending could’ve been slightly different.

But then again, some of them are the kind worth killing!

The Kind Worth Killing
Author: Peter Swanson
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: February 2015

Contributor: Anoop Mukundan is a casual reader and a cyber wanderer.