Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh
🔪 Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh — Spoiler-Filled, No-Confusion Review
⭐ 5 out of 5 stars | Revenge thriller | Murder swap madness | Twists galore that’ll fry your brain (in the best way)
🚨 MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD 🚨
💭 My Take
Let me be honest:
👉 I went into this book with sky-high expectations because my book club hyped it like it was the twistiest thing ever.
👉 I started reading... confused. Didn’t feel grabbed at all. Timeline hopping? Presidents’ speeches? What’s happening?!
👉 But THEN... I hit the end. I put down the book. And I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s brilliantly layered, and once the puzzle pieces click? Chef’s kiss.
📝 The Plot — Finally Clear
💔 Amanda’s pain + plan
👉 Amanda White loses everything:
-
Her 6-year-old daughter Jess is murdered.
-
Her husband Luis dies by suicide soon after.
👉 Amanda is convinced Wallace Crone (wealthy family, sketchy history) killed Jess, but Crone walks free thanks to daddy’s money.
👉 Amanda = consumed by grief and a thirst for revenge.
🍸 Enter Naomi (aka Ruth)
👉 Amanda meets Naomi at a grief support group — they bond over their shared loss of a daughter.
👉 Naomi says she’s stalking Frank Quinn, the man who killed her daughter.
👉 After some drunken venting, they agree to swap murders so neither will get caught.
🔪 The murders go sideways
👉 Naomi tells Amanda she’s already killed Crone — now Amanda owes her.
👉 Amanda tries to kill Quinn, but panics. Quinn attacks her, but she escapes — thinking she’s failed.
👉 Next day? Both men are still alive. Naomi has vanished. Amanda = setup.
🕵️ Amanda meets Billy
👉 Amanda sneaks into Quinn’s house for clues, but gets spotted by cops.
👉 Mysterious guy Billy helps her escape.
👉 Billy reveals Naomi tried the same murder swap scheme on him too (under a different name).
👉 Together they uncover Naomi’s real identity: Ruth Gelman.
👁️ Ruth’s twisted motive
👉 Flashback time: years ago, Ruth was attacked in her home by a man with piercing blue eyes.
👉 Her husband Scott took revenge — but on the wrong man.
👉 Scott dies. Ruth ends up in a psychiatric hospital.
👉 When Ruth gets out? She becomes obsessed with hunting her attacker. But here’s the problem:
💥 She starts seeing Mr. Blue Eyes everywhere. Any guy with blue eyes = potential attacker in her mind.
💥 That’s why she manipulates grieving parents into killing random men who remind her of him.
👉 In short: Ruth thinks she’s getting justice — but she’s actually making innocent people killers.
🎭 The final showdown
👉 Ruth spots Mr. Blue Eyes at the Macy’s Parade (or so she thinks).
👉 She tries to kill him and his family.
👉 Billy and Amanda follow — but here’s the twist:
👉 Billy IS Mr. Blue Eyes.
👉 He reveals himself privately to Ruth by taking out his contacts.
👉 Billy is ready to finish what he started 11 years ago and kill Ruth.
👉 Before he can? Cops arrive. Ruth is institutionalized again.
📝 The truth about Billy
👉 Billy sends Amanda a letter confessing:
-
He used her to find Ruth.
-
He killed Crone while she was at that concert he suggested.
👉 Amanda? Burns the letter and moves on, finally at peace.
🌟 Final Thoughts
✅ The timeline makes sense once you realize the presidents’ speeches tell you the year — genius.
✅ Ruth = tragic, terrifying, and twisted.
✅ The book asks: When a victim turns into a predator, can we still feel sorry for them?
✅ A slow-burn puzzle that absolutely rewards your patience.
📌 Grab Kill for Me, Kill for You
📚 Loved this? Try these:
✅ The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
✅ The Chain by Adrian McKinty
✅ The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
Comments
Post a Comment