A Killer's Game

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of A Killer's Game.

I love mysteries about serial killers, procedurals about serial killers, but a story from the POV of a serial killer, like Dexter? Sign me up!

Sadly, I didn't like this as much as I hoped.

The writing and translation was decent, but it was hard for me to believe Achilles was a prolific serial killer.

For one thing, he worried a lot, especially once he realized there was a copycat. He automatically assumed this person or that person was his adversary with no proof or evidence to back his suppositions.

I understand he's impulsive and prone to erratic behavior; he is a serial killer, but I was hoping he was more level headed.

Just because the main character is a serial killer does not mean I have to dislike him or her.

There are plenty of unlikable characters in novels, but a story means more when an unpleasant character has a quality or two a readers admires and/or respects.

Also, the constant references to Greek mythology (because his first name is Achilles) grew tiresome fast.

Now, that ending...which I guessed. I didn't believe it and I'll tell you why.

There's no exposition on this character, no background or details to help the reader relate or sympathize with this person. Also, the reason behind this individual's actions was so...cliche.

I understand the POV is from Achilles who doesn't care about anyone but himself so we lack certain details but the ending was not so much a big reveal but a big letdown.

I will consider reading another book by this author in the future.

I have to be honest but I gave up after a few pages. The synopsis really intrigued me but unfortunately the person who did the translation did a very poor job.

The translation see-sawed between using over descriptive big word and then very basic words. The writing was very inconsistent and a real turn off. They should've paid more money for someone who translates books.

📚REVIEW+CONFESSION🤐

🎯🔪I picked this one up because the synopsis reminded me of that Korean film where a serial killer discovered that his daughter's boyfriend was also a serial killer, upon which he decided to do away with that boyfriend, so to speak. Now before anybody gets too excited: it was the prospect of two serial killers up against each other. Confession: I'd always be interested in that.

From the 📚:
●"It’s my conception of life that makes me so special. Or immoral. Or cruel. Whatever you want to call it. I’m cynical and I have good foresight."
●"Here’s a tip, in case you ever get the urge yourself to become a halfway decent criminal: to be successful, a killer needs to be a social chameleon."

🎯🔪The book follows a serial killer nicknamed by media as "The Artist" who "artistically" leaves sketches of grand monuments on victims' abdomens. A new murder occurs, and is attributed by police as The Artist's fifth known killing, but The Artist himself is surprised - outraged - because this latest "art display" is not actually his own. So he sets out to discover whether it is a trap, an "accident", or if there is a copycat to be hunted down.

🎯🔪The Artist is Achilles Clazay: a successful sales-person. I enjoyed following him seek out his potential copycat. He dons other personas for sticky situations, such as befriending the police officer in charge. There are snippets of his past, which explain and deepen... And although there isn't much seen of his "normal" life back home as he zigzags France, one thing is that his partner, lovely Claire, does have the traits which he prefers in all his "human canvas" 👀

☑️Writing: The translation was 👍💘.
☑️Plot: I wanted more to be honest, but I still liked how it went. I was invested in who the potential copycat was (or at all?) and if Clazay was right.
☑️Character: Solid. Reasonably paranoid, meticulous, deceptively harmless MC.
☑️A decent amount of killing took place 😶.

4🌟

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ebook version of advance reader copy.

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A Killer's Game by Luca Tahtieazym is a superb read! An engrossing read and page turner well worth the time spent.

The story was good but I think something may have been lost in translation. I love a good serial killer mystery I really looked forward to this book, but it wasn't as good as I had hoped.

A good read but I kept expecting there to be more to the story. There was no suspense and I felt that the story was too short. There are a lot of unlikeable characters which added to the story. I just feel that something was lacking.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I just finished "A Killer's Game", by Luca Tahtieazym, who writes about a serial killer from France. Luca himself is from France and the book was originally written in French. I think they did a wonderful job in the translation.
This book is told from the serial killer Achilles point of view, which I enjoyed very much. I like hearing the thoughts and insights of the killer himself. Achilles is a salesman who travels throughout France for his job, and along the way he leaves his "canvasses", his masterpieces. These masterpieces are women whom he picks to be his canvas, based on his distorted view of beauty and art.
As Achilles is attending to business in one city, in another city a murder occurs that the police attribute to " The Artist", the nickname that has been given to Achilles by the media. This angers and upsets Achilles, propelling him on a journey throughout France to uncover who is behind this other murder. Is it a trap set by the police to catch him, Achilles, the real "Artist"? Or is it a simple copycat ? Someone that admires the Artist and wants to replicate his art? Or is it something even more sinister and someone knows Achilles is the Artist and is set upon destroying him, playing a evil game?
This book is well written and translated,. I enjoyed the references to Greek mythology, Achilles being the main character and the other characters correlating with mythical figures. I feel this brought depth to the story and helped to fill out the character of Achilles himself.
I liked the way the killer spoke directly to his audience, as if we, the reader were right there with him and he was telling us his story, even going as far in some places as to refer to us as a potential "future canvas". This gave a chilling aspect to the story, making me look over my shoulder a bit. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me interested throughout. The only thing I did not like about the book was the ending. I feel it ended too abruptly. Without giving any spoilers I will say that I feel the character it ended with as being the other killer was not developed enough. This character needed more substance to fulfill the role it was made for. Other than that it was a great read, full of everything expected in a thriller..
I give it a 4 star rating, and recommend to all fans of thrillers and mysteries.

This could have been so much more but a lot of the story was lost in translation. I love a good serial murder mystery but in my opinion this is not a good one. I did finish this book but it was real struggle. So disappointed, maybe come back using another translated. Just a thought.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

A killer’s game by Luca Tahieazym.
A good read I did find this slow and I wasn't sure about the main character. Likeable story. 3*.

This review contains spoilers -
The book A killer's game was a innovation perspective based on the killer himself and his notorious intentions as both in first person and third person (from a diary) he discovers he has a copycat and does everything to stop the copy cat stealing his art using the same police force against them to achieve his goal. But does he find the copycat or is he caught by his recklessness?

This book was sent to me as an ARC on NetGalley. However, all opinions are of my own.
This book intrigued me when I started as I really thought the concept was different to any other style thriller I had read - I was right. I think I was optimistic but the book really did end up delivering. It was a strong written book, the story line was unique and the ending was a shock. Really enjoyed this!

I love thrillers, crime stories, almost anything macabre, stories told from the killer's POV and Greek mythology.
This book had all of that.
It's almost perfect, especially for crime-crazy people like me - but it had an issue that's absolutely not the book's fault, but mine. It's set in France and I continue to hear my former French teacher's voice whenever I read something in French. Horribly annoying and in this case, an absolute shame because this book was so amazing.
A serial killer, aka The Artist, aka Achilles, who hears about a copy cat and decides to find the "culprit" on his own? Sign me up! The writing was marvellous. I love it when books address the reader, it pulls you right into the plot - especially in a book like this. Maybe some people will find it odd and disturbing, but personally, I love reading books like this. The narrator isn't your usual "insane" serial killer, he is very well aware of what he is doing - well, most of the time anyways. I was a bit dissapointed that the references to Greek mythology faded during the course of the book, since that was part of what made the book so interesting.

I received a free ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was sent to me as an ARC on NetGalley. However, all opinions are of my own.
This book intrigued me when I started it. I do overall feel the story delivered. It was a strong story line told from the serial killer Achilles point of view. The story line was unique and the ending was a shock. I enjoyed this!

Achilles is a fascinating protagonist. Setting aside the moral dilemma of engaging with a protagonist who is a serial killer, I found the character painted to clearly that I was able to engage with them more than I thought I would. I really enjoyed the references to mythology which were peppered through the book.

Dexter was so popular and influenced a lot of authors and I was really excited about this book. Like other reviewers I DNFed because of the translation and how it felt like it was getting translated by different people throughout he book. THIS COULD BE GOOD