I have read more or less all of Simon kernick’s books and they are all fantastic. This one certainly didn’t disappoint! It was fast paced and full of twists and turns. It kept me hooked from start to finish and I loved the ending which I certainly didn’t expect. I definitely recommend this book

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC of this book!
Have been a massive fan of Simon Kernick books for many years after being recommended Severed!
All his books start straight into the nitty gritty and throw you right in from the beginning and this one was exactly the same!!
First few pages and BAM tou are already sucked into the story!
I must admit part of my felt sorry for Matt in this story and no one can deny the love he has for Kate (who I didnt like!)
I love how fast paced and action packed this book is and asks you the killer question...
Would you kill a stranger to save the person you love?
As much as I really enjoyed reading this and the twists and turns I felt the ending was a bit rushed and after everything all the characters had been through it was a bit of a letdown ending but otherwise a gripping read!

I have no shame in saying that I am a huge fan of Simon Kernick's work so was absolutely chomping at the bit to read this latest outing and I wasn't disappointed.

What we have here is a gripping and twisty plot of secrets and lies which is full of twists and turns that keep you guessing to the very end. Written at a strong pace, this book will have you turning the pages and your head spinning trying to work out just what the heck is going on ... in the way good thrillers do!

The cast of characters aren't particularly likeable, to the point where you don't really care what happens to any of them and actually look forward to them getting their comeuppance, but they are interesting and well developed and perfect for the story line.

Highly recommended for Simon Kernick fans and lovers of action packed thrillers that make you use your brain.
Thanks must go to Headline and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

Matt comes home to find his fiancee apparently kidnapped and he has to kill someone to get her back.
This story is told by the three main characters from their point of view and as the story unfolds the reader wonders who is telling the truth and who is the kidnapper.
I quite enjoyed this story, even though it was a bit far fetched at times.

Matt returns home from work to find his wife dead in his bed..except it isn't his wife at all, Matt has never seen this woman before in his life. He then starts to receive calls and finds out his wife has been kidnapped and in order to get her back he must get rid of the body, but this is only the start, what lengths will Matt go to get his wife back? And just how well does he really know her?

This is super fast paced and will definitely keep you turning the pages. It feels like there's a plot twist at the end of every chapter that really keeps you guessing where there is going. I couldn't fault the writing and this definitely was thrilling.

However, this does follow multiple perspectives as the story unfolds which provides lots of information so can be a bit confusing at times. You definitely to need to be concentrating not to miss any details.

Thank you to Netgalley and Headline for providing me a copy to read.

As usual a fast paced exciting thriller from Simon Kernick. Nothing is as it seems and
I couldn’t put it down

Wow! I found this really fast paced and exciting. I enjoyed the style of this book and the writing and would highly recommend.

My thanks to Headline for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Kill A Stranger’ by Simon Kernick in exchange for an honest review.

“I’ve got three murder suspects in this police station, and a trail of dead bodies. ... I want to let them tell it their way, with as little interruption as possible. Give them the rope to hang themselves.” - DI Cameron Doyle, Prologue.

Former actor, Matt, and his fiancée, Kate, have recently returned to Britain from Sri Lanka, where they run a boutique hotel together. He arrives home late one evening to discover that someone has taken Kate and left a dead body for him to find.

Matt is quickly contacted by the kidnappers and is given one chance to save Kate and clear his name. He must kill someone. He is given their name and location, a weapon, and a 24 hour deadline. He knows that he can trust no one. No further details in order to avoid spoilers.

It’s been some while since I have read a Kernick thriller though I am aware that his reputation has continued to grow. This proved a fast paced crime thriller with plenty of twists. It moved between four narrative points of view including DI Doyle, who is determined to find answers and solve this complex case. We also hear from his three suspects and discover their testimony as well as private thoughts.

The plot was a bit bonkers in places in terms of credibility with the action notched up high throughout its short, punchy chapters that often ended on a cliffhanger. Yet I expected this as it’s very much Kernick’s signature style.

I was grateful to my fellow pigeons in helping me to keep track of its various threads and having the fun of sharing theories during The Pigeonhole group read. Pretty much every character is the kind you love to hate. The exception being good ole DI Doyle, who clearly is honourable and determined to seek the truth.

Overall, ‘Kill A Stranger’ provided me with a few hours of high octane entertainment without having to consider weighty social issues alongside the thrills.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I really enjoyed it, fast paced and extremely twisted, it was one of these books where you really didn't have a clue where it was headed. I would certainly read another of this author's books.

Non-stop action, moral dilemmas and well drawn characters make this 'Who is telling yje truth' situation a page turning read.

Matt returns to his rented home expecting to find his fiancée asleep in bed. Instead he finds a corpse and a voice at the end of a phone giving instructions which will change his life forever.

I enjoyed the way the story fitted together, but found that it did not hold my attention as other books by this author have done in the past.

This is a really engrossing and clever thriller set at a breakneck pace

Everything is going right for Matt Walters, a beautiful fiancée and a baby on the way. Everything’s fine until he finds a dead woman in his bed, and his fiancée Kate is kidnapped. From that point on the novel becomes a breathtaking rollercoaster of a read as layers of secrets are peeled back and the truth becomes the main casualty.

Many of the short sharp chapters flip back and forth between Matt and Kate, alternatively narrating their own desperate plight before culminating in a harrowing cliffhanger by chapter end.

The clever plotting means that you wait in eager anticipation for the story to flip back for a resolution only to find it is setting up another cliffhanger. The pace and tension never flags

Intermingling with this are chapters featuring Kate’s estranged father the “respectable” Sir Hugh Roper , who it seems has a very chequered past. In the background there is also DCI Cameron Doyle trying to fathom out who is guilty and who the real victim is in all this.
Both of these characters provide different perspectives from the main characters adding depth to the story . They also serve to increase the sense of unease that neither Matt or Kate is as innocent as you are first led to believe. A great read.

My thanks to Tracy Fenton for the tour invitation and to the publisher for the Netgalley copy to review.

I’ve read so many of Simon Kernick’s books over the years, being particularly fond of his Tina Boyd character. This however is a standalone and one of those fast paced, mess with your head thrillers that he is so well known for.

Matt is a struggling actor and not a terribly successful one, however whilst on his travels he has met and fallen in love with Kate, the part owner of a hotel in Sri Lanka. When they find out that that Kate is pregnant they return to the UK and this is where the action begins.

Imagine coming home late one night and instead of finding your fiancee sleeping in the bed, there is a the dead body of a strange woman – brutally murdered. This is the nightmare scenario that Matt is faced with and his world is turned upside down. Who is this woman and where is Kate?

There are just so many twists and double twists in this story that I actually gave up trying to work anything out and just went with it. Matt is put in an impossible situation and has no idea who he can really trust but has to rely on his instincts to try and get through it and rescue Kate.

Blackmail, murder, abduction, corruption, and with dodgy people at every turn, there is never a dull moment in this thriller. I felt quite sorry for Matt, he wasn’t perfect by any means but he wasn’t a natural at the murder game and to find himself thrust into this nightmare tested him beyond the limit. Of course when dead bodies keep popping up, the police get involved and in the middle of all this mess, there is a detective also trying to work out what the heck is going on.

To Kill a Stranger was a thrilling, entertaining and an exciting read told from three perspectives. Too many people were keeping secrets from each other and there were one or two characters that I was never sure quite sure of and whether they were as innocent in all the shenanigans as they seemed to be. As the story progresses, past deeds and backstory are revealed which add more questions.

I really enjoyed this – its one of those addictive reads that I didn’t want to put down.

This started off interesting enough. But I'm unsure if it was me or the book but I soon felt lost. Like the story became too messy to keep up.
I just struggled to keep up with everything and who was doing what.
The characters were flat and more annoying than anything. I just didn't care about them or the who done it story.
In the end I just skim read it just to get it finished.

There are books that keep you engaged throughout the story and there are books that keep you so focused and engrossed in the action that you just forget what time is it or what happens around you.
And one of that book is Kill a stranger for me.
It's a first book by the author for me but after reading this one i will go hunting everything he ever wrote because it's so addictive and gripping that i couldn't stop reading even if my kids were asking for food.
Fast paced action, told in multiple pov, a story that kept me so invested in the twisted moments and always waiting for another turn of the plot, for what will happen now, how all of this will resolve because the way i see it, it's not going to be a happy ending.
But the resolution it's more than satisfying and i highly recommend this book.

There is often a lot of talk among book reviews about unlikeable characters. None of the characters in Kill A Stranger are especially likeable and yet this fact didn't stop me from enjoying this fast-paced, fabulously twisty thriller. When Matt and Kate return to the UK from running Kate's boutique hotel in Sri Lanka they have blissfully settled into a rental. Kate is pregnant and their arrival in the UK is to have their child on home turf. But after a night out Matt returns home to find a murdered woman in his bed and Kate missing. He has 24 hours to dispose of the body and kill someone else. A video of Kate with a noose around her neck is all the motivation he needs to do so. But who is the man Matt is ordered to kill and just why has Kate been taken? Who is also following Matt? And, after a one year relationship, do the couple really know each other as well as they should? No, they really don't. I loved this race against time as we discovered that neither Kate or Matt's backgrounds are whiter than white. The ending is utterly superb.

2.5 Stars

When Matt comes home to a dead body in his bed, his fiancee missing, and a mobile phone that seems to be deliberately setting him up, his nightmare is just beginning.

Told as interchanging PoVs as we follow 3 characters' accounts of the events that lead them to being interviewed at a police station as well as a 4th PoV of a police officer to provide exposition. I enjoyed this slow-burn build-up, especially as it became increasingly apparent that these characters weren't completely reliable narrators. The negative of this storytelling method is that it substantially reduced the stakes as the reader knows that the characters survive and are interviewed by the police.

I found Kernick's writing to be questionable in places, especially how he dealt with women's desire for children and the handling of a miscarriage, it felt disingenuous. There was also a character who had chosen a topless photo of their girlfriend as their contact photo on their phone which felt incredibly far-fetched.

The ending was not something that I guessed but it was also not so out there that it didn't feel believable given everything that was learnt over the course of the book. It was definitely not satisfying.

This was a such good read. It is fast paced, and it got me hooked from page one. This was first book I read from this author, and now I am a big fan.
This is just a actioned packed thriller. Thia book will you question how far would you go and what would you do for the one you love?!
4.5 stars for me.

A very unusual book,narrative by four different people. Not sure it works because the story is so far-fetched and unbelievable. Lots of twists and surprises.

This is my first book by this author which, considering how impressive his back catalogue looks, is a bit incredible and also something that I intend to remedy in the (hopefully) not too distant future.
So Matt comes back home to find a dead woman in his bed and his pregnant fiancée Kate is missing. Matt is then contacted by person unknown and given quite explicit instructions which he must follow to the letter if he ever wants to see Kate again. But just how far is Matt willing to go to save the one he loves, and is the one he loves really who she says she is, or is there so much more going on behind the scenes?
Oh my! This book hit the ground running and didn't let up until the very end. It had me, along with Matt, running around, chasing my tail as I tried to figure out what in the heck was going on. My sympathies waxed and waned between the characters as I got to know them better which only added to the way it just kept me on my toes. It is so well and very cleverly plotted - all interconnected and containing so many secrets, lies and more that its share of duplicitous behaviour. Pacing matches the narrative and ebbs and flow as the story unfolds. Characterisation is well done - no mean feat as - well - shall we just say that not everything is always what it seems!
With all the twists and turns along the way, by the time I got to the end I was pretty all spun out and a bit dizzy. But, and I haste to say this, also thoroughly satisfied.
As already mentioned I took a peek at the author's back catalogue and have already added a couple to my tbr - just need the time to crack on with them. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Well this was as twisty a book as you will ever read. There was so much going on, very clever writing and plot, and a really good pace to the book, just the sort of book I really enjoy. I liked the main character and felt as if I was there with him, even when it became obvious that it was hard to trust anyone. I can't say too much about the plot as I don't want to spoil it for other readers .All I can say is if you enjoy this book as much as I did you may want to put a chunk of time to one side to read it, I was tapping my kindle like a woman possessed to read it as fast as I could .Brilliant book. I loved it.