An enjoyable read, I liked the twists and turns but felt the book went on for too long. Similar to when you're watching a film and feel like it could have done with being 30 mins shorter. A good read nonetheless.

Sorry, but I found this book a very hard read.

The subject is a well thought out but the actual descriptions of abuse were just too near the knuckle for me.

I applaud Freedland for taking the 'Me Too' movement and disguising some real life examples in there, but I would rather read a non-fictuon book on the topic.

Thank you, but not for me.

This book is really difficult to get through, and it’s not because of the writing style or the characters, it’s because of the subject matter.

Since the #metoo movement began, many stories have come out about the vileness of rape culture and the ‘rich old white boys club’ that excuses and perpetuates sexual assault. They point the finger at what the victim was wearing, doing, saying, drinking, rather than what the perpetrator did to them without their consent. While sad and horrific, none of those other books I've read hold a candle to this one.

Peppered with real-life statistics and very graphic scenes, this book offers accounts of sexual assault with no fanfare, equally awful accounts of vigilante justice, and the futility of pursuing attackers due to the ‘evidence gap.’ And it’s a tough pill to swallow.

It should also come with a trigger warning.

Survivors of sexual assault (like myself) and those with sensitivities to graphic violence, be warned, this book is disturbing. Had I known that beforehand, I’m not sure I would have accepted the invitation to read this one. But I’m glad I did, it offered a unique and new perspective to the movement albeit producing chills down my spine and making me a little queasy.

Thank you to Sam Bourne, Quercus Books, and NetGalley for the invitation to read an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all I would like to say that if this novel isn’t a movie in a few years I will be completely surprised. It has all the elements for a blockbuster.

This wouldn’t normally be my choice of book but somehow I must have requested it. What a read, it was stupendous in the quality of the writing. I am a political animal and the references to Imperial Analytical did not pass unnoticed.

The characters came to life and the story rang abundantly true. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this excellent novel.

To kill a man by Sam Bourne is a fast-paced political thriller with a twist as sinister as it can get!

Natasha Winthorp is a high-class lawyer who aspires to become the President of America. One unsuspecting night, she was attacked in her house. The intruder tried to sexually assault her. While defending herself, she kills the man. But police don’t believe her story and arrests her.

Maggie Costello, an ex-White House official, is hired. She is also known as the “Troubleshooter”. As Maggie digs deeper, things aren’t like as they are told by Natasha. They are more dubious and sinister than she thought.

The story starts with murders of the unknown intruder attacking Natasha.

The chapters shuttle between Maggie & Natasha’s narratives. There’s a sharp contrast between both the characters.

There are multiple incidents keep happening in the background. While you are reading, it keeps you intrigued how it played out at the end. The author tied up these backstories at the end like a perfect bow.

Maggie and Natasha are the chief characters. And I admired Maggie. She has unwavering patience and survives the toughest places. She doesn’t bend rules, stands firm on her decision, no matter what’s the consequences. Liz, her sister and Jake are her support.

The central theme is sexual assault and rape. There are subtexts on fake news, and rumours used to manipulate political campaigns. The author has done full-on constructive research on both themes. The author has also inserted subtle thoughts on how society is looking into crimes against women. There is a dialogue between Natasha and Maggie that is deep and thought-provoking, bound make you ponder on the topic.

If society essentially shrugs its shoulders at a certain act, then it is signalling it has made a decision……… a man is permitted to force a woman to have sex with him. It is tolerated……… like hitting eighty on the interstate. Technically a crime, but not really.

This is my first book in the Maggie Costello series (I didn’t know this until I finished) and by the author. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, just a usual political thriller. But it was thrilling and filled with suspense.

The ending is befitting the book and comes as a surprise and sinister. There couldn’t have been a better ending.

To kill a man by Sam Bourne is a thought-provoking thriller with punches of suspense and mystery that will keep you hooked until the very end.

My rating 3.5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Being in the political thriller genre, I probably wouldn’t have picked up this book - but I’m so glad I did. Absolutely brilliant story, very dark subject matter but told powerfully and sensitively. Recommend.

Another excellent book in the Maggie Costello series. Sam Bourne gives a page turner that delivers page after page. In this current Me Too climate, a timely novel that explores the victims view point and their quest for justice. Hugely enjoyable.

This is a page turning tale about power. Power on many levels. It is a political thriller which delves into the #metoomovement and the dark web as it twists and turns over a very short timeline. This is part of a series of books featuring Maggie Costello, a fixer and a troubleshooter to the political elite. This time she is engaged by human rights lawyer and potential presidential candidate Natasha Winthrop, when she is arrested for the murder of an intruder and potential rapist. Natasha’s past is gradually unravelled by Maggie in her quest to help, but the apparently equal relationship between the two women is seriously tested.
It works well as a stand alone novel - I haven’t read any of the other books nor was I aware of them until finishing this one...and now I’m excited to read them!

An intriguing tale with the web of deceit at every step. Some brilliant writing by author Sam Bourne.

Natasha was attacked at her home, whom she ended up killing. On investigation by the cops, her inconsistencies came to the forefront. Then came Maggie who investigated her past.

A twisty book which had my adrenaline soaring high. I was gripped by the winding road of the thriller. Swift paced and disturbing, this book kept my attention fixed to it in these tough times.

Detailed descriptions, the topic resonated with some disturbing truths. Quite an interesting read.

A political thriller set in the US.
I liked the characters and the storyline was very fast paced.
Enjoyable

This was my first Sam Bourne novel, and boy it did not disappoint! I was a bit worried that I had not read the preceding books featuring super fixer Maggie Costello but there was plenty of back story to catch up on.

The main character is lawyer Natasha Winthrop, who has a bright future ahead of her until she is attacked in her own home. The attack escalates and Natasha kills the attacker, seemingly in self-defence - but was it? The story unfolds at pace and you just can't put it down from there.

The book doesn't hold back from some very sensitive and emotive topics, and the reader is faced with plenty of moral dilemmas. It's so well written that it doesn't feel uncomfortable, although some scenes will stay with you long after.

I'm very pleased to have found an exciting new series to read.

Wow, Wow, Wow and then some as this is one of the very, very few books that I have read in the last year that deserves more than 5 Stars. This novel is a super intelligent look at a worldwide problem. Whilst a work of fiction it has been written on a foundation of the shocking fact that there are almost zero convictions across the world for genuine sexual assaults and rape and seemingly little interest in changing the status quo. For sure, very recently, there have been a few high profile cases brought but the literal number of prosecuted cases is too small to even be called the tip of the iceberg.

If you like fast paced novels that are based more than a little on the too real and faulty behaviour of the people with whom we share this world - please read this book and be prepared to be shocked by the underlying truth that it reveals.

A fast-paced, political thriller about rape culture in the US (and really throughout the world). This is hard to read at times - given the subject matter - but it is a smart and compelling narrative, as well as as being an interesting political think piece.

I enjoyed the cuts to 3rd party narration, such as radio and news broadcasts. I'm not sure I am completely onboard with all of the plot twists, but there certainly weren't any that I for sure saw coming, so that's always a good sign.

Not my usual genre, but a gripping read.

Thank you from the publisher of this book for bringing this to my attention. It was superb. Slightly different to my usual but I'm so glad you I read this. Enjoyable apart from the gruesome description of the Male rape scenes but all part and parcel of telling the story.

Surprisingly fast paced for a political thriller so hold on to your book!!

This book is part of a series by Sam Bourne and I have jumped right in with the latest. I am guessing that it's ok to read a one off but I will, at some point, start from the beginning of the series. Maybe there is a background story of Maggie going through them.

However, don't miss this one as it certainly covers a topic that isn't normally covered. Go on, try it

In To Kill A Man, Sam Bourne introduces us to Natasha Winthrop, a classy Washington lawyer and potential Presidential candidate who is subjected to a violent attempted rape in her apartment and who, claiming self-defence, deals her attacker a fatal blow. Seemingly a cut and dried case, but it transpires that Natasha knew her attacker. Is this case destined to become just another appalling statistic which sees successful rape prosecutions totalling just point seven per cent in the US? Enter Maggie Costello, a high profile trouble shooter, to whom Natasha turns for help. Factor in Senator Tom Harrison, presumed frontrunner for his party’s nomination for the White House who’s desperate for Natasha to be discredited and you’ve got a political thriller with very dark undertones. There’s lots of human interest here too resulting in a first rate page turner. Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC.

Exciting, fast paced storyline although not for the squeamish. Very few sexual assault or rape cases come before the courts and even fewer result in a conviction.
Natalie kills her attacker but was it self defence or was it planned? I really liked both Natalie and Maggie and was with them all the way.

"To Kill a Man" delivers a lot more than I was expecting!!

It is of course a tense political drama that delves beneath the surface to expose the odious spin tactics, including voter data manipulation (among other things) but it also offers an exposé on the difficulties facing the legal profession when prosecuting rapists, let alone get justice for those women who have been abused by nasty sexual predators. There are lots of mysteries for the lead character Maggie Costello to solve in her role supporting the potential new presidential candidate, a few difficult situations for her to escape from and a very neat final twist in keeping with the political drama theme.

Very clever book; I loved it, you will too!

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for this advanced reader's copy in return for my honest review. This is the first Sam Bourne book that I have read and it will not be my last!! I'm a big fan of the TV series Scandal and I found this political thriller to be very similar.

A story of sexual assault ,corruption and rape, sexual harassment and assault. Certainly poignant in this current # me too age. No gratuitous sex just the right amount that gets the points across.
Maggie Costello is called in to help Natasha Winthrop. Natasha is a prominent lawyer. However, following a break in at her home her rapist is killed by a blow to the head. Is Natasha a victim or a perpetrator. Maggie is called in to help decide.
This book is an eye opener but a great read.

I love the Maggie Costello series from Sam Bourne, aka Jonathan Freedland, and To Kill A Man is a terrific read that works perfectly as a stand-alone. Bourne takes real life contemporary events and weaves them into politically charged thrillers that are perfect for keeping the reader hooked and which are intelligent and utterly compulsive.

Maggie Costello, our protagonist, is a foreign policy expert, but these days her skills are far more in demand as a fixer; a skilled PR expert who can anticipate and defuse crises before they happen.

Maggie is being courted by the front runner for President of the United States of America, but though he is a popular candidate, Maggie doesn’t take to him. He is slightly too familiar and yet he won’t pin down his offer to Maggie and all that is combining to make her feel uneasy.

Natasha Winthrop is a human rights lawyer who has recently been quoted as a potential Presidential candidate. A high-flyer, her recent performances in front of a Senate committee have led to her being widely tipped as a candidate for the Presidential race. It doesn’t hurt that she is both young and attractive.

Then Natasha is violently attacked in her own home by a masked intruder. In the process of defending herself she kills her attacker. In this age of #MeToo it does not take long before she is being hailed as something of a heroine which only ramps up when it is revealed that her would-be rapist was wanted for multiple rapes and murder. Then leaks start appearing all over the media that can only have come from inside the investigation and none of them reflect well on Natasha. She drafts Maggie in to help her manage the process and her profile. The unspoken aim is to make sure she is still able to run for President if she chooses to do so.

With a narrative that is both tense and fast paced, this is a brilliant thriller that goes inside the murky world of political campaigning, data mining and fake news all wrapped up in the horrifying truth that is the real statistical evidence of rape in the Unites States.

This is one of Bourne’s real strengths. He builds on a base of actuality to extrapolate a thesis that becomes all too plausible and that makes his novels all the more thrilling and not a little frightening. The reader will recognise similarities to real life events when reading this explosive thriller.

As Maggie investigates Natasha’s life and background, she finds a lot to trouble her and make her re-evaluate her first impressions. What she finds out leads her to a fascinating moral dilemma and will certainly keep the reader poised on tenterhooks.

Sometimes the book will take a slightly fantastical turn, but that just makes it the more exciting and I’m more than happy to let it carry me away, because as we have recently learned, today’s fantasy is tomorrow’s horrible reality.

Verdict: This book carried me with it all the way. I love this series and Maggie Costello is a brilliant character and this book is one of the best political thrillers I have read. Intelligent, plausible and thought provoking, it’s a must read for me.