An aimless young woman starts writing to an accused serial killer while he awaits trial and then, once he’s acquitted, decides to move in with him and take the investigation into her own hands in this dark and irresistibly compelling debut thriller. Recently ghosted and sick of watching her friends fade into the suburbs, thirty-something Hannah finds community in a true-crime forum that’s on a mission to solve the murders of four women in Atlanta. After William, a handsome lawyer, is arrested for the killings, Hannah begins writing him letters. It’s the perfect outlet for her pent-up frustration and rage. The exercise empowers her, and even feels healthy at first. Until William writes back. Hannah’s interest in the case goes from curiosity to obsession, leaving space for nothing else as her life implodes around her. After she loses her job, she heads to Georgia to attend the trial and befriends …
An aimless young woman starts writing to an accused serial killer while he awaits trial and then, once he’s acquitted, decides to move in with him and take the investigation into her own hands in this dark and irresistibly compelling debut thriller. Recently ghosted and sick of watching her friends fade into the suburbs, thirty-something Hannah finds community in a true-crime forum that’s on a mission to solve the murders of four women in Atlanta. After William, a handsome lawyer, is arrested for the killings, Hannah begins writing him letters. It’s the perfect outlet for her pent-up frustration and rage. The exercise empowers her, and even feels healthy at first. Until William writes back. Hannah’s interest in the case goes from curiosity to obsession, leaving space for nothing else as her life implodes around her. After she loses her job, she heads to Georgia to attend the trial and befriends other true-crime junkies like herself. When a fifth woman is discovered murdered, the jury has no choice but to find William not guilty, and Hannah is the first person he calls upon his release. The two of them quickly fall into a routine of domestic bliss. Well, as blissful as one can feel while secretly investigating their partner for serial murder…
A weak thriller that felt more like a premise than a novel-length story
2 stars
I'll admit to being disappointed. Despite having low expectations from the go, I was left with the nagging sense that I wasted my time. I wanted something compelling, interesting, or shocking to happen. I didn't get that, and 80% of the book is summed up in the back cover blurb. Hannah was obnoxious and narcissistic, William was bland, and the true killer is so obvious that it was difficult to care about anything that happened. All in all, it's a book best avoided.
Review of 'Love Letters to a Serial Killer' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
What do they call it again? The words of death for a book? "I don't care what happens to any of these people."
I was actually impressed — in a book that features a serial killer, a hybristophiliac, and the serial killer's screwed up wealthy family— how boring every single character managed to be and how little interest I had in any of them the entire time.
Hannah, the narrator, is peak girlfailure in a way I usually enjoy but she lacks any of the traits that can make unlikeable protagonists compelling. She was pathetic but not in a "sad wet cat" way. She was self-centered, but not in a delicious, audacious "love to hate" way. She just sucked in a really boring, mediocre way. My favorite thing about unlikeable narrators is when the author is able to trick me into rooting for them despite their clear awfulness, but I …
What do they call it again? The words of death for a book? "I don't care what happens to any of these people."
I was actually impressed — in a book that features a serial killer, a hybristophiliac, and the serial killer's screwed up wealthy family— how boring every single character managed to be and how little interest I had in any of them the entire time.
Hannah, the narrator, is peak girlfailure in a way I usually enjoy but she lacks any of the traits that can make unlikeable protagonists compelling. She was pathetic but not in a "sad wet cat" way. She was self-centered, but not in a delicious, audacious "love to hate" way. She just sucked in a really boring, mediocre way. My favorite thing about unlikeable narrators is when the author is able to trick me into rooting for them despite their clear awfulness, but I honestly spent most of the book hoping Hannah would end up in the ravine.
The writing was okay and got a few laughs out of me, but it really wasn't nearly incisive or funny enough to make for a good satire/deconstruction, which is what it felt like the author was going for. (If not, I'm not sure what the point of this book was.)
Also it was fucking obvious who the real serial killer was the minute a character with the name "Bentley" showed up. I doubt there is anyone in the world named "Bentley" who isn't a serial killer. On that note, I was hoping Bentley, fiction's dullest serial killer, would end up at the bottom of the ravine right along with Hannah and his equally dull brother.
What do they call it again? The words of death for a book? "I don't care what happens to any of these people."
I was actually impressed — in a book that features a serial killer, a hybristophiliac, and the serial killer's screwed up wealthy family— how boring every single character managed to be and how little interest I had in any of them the entire time.
Hannah, the narrator, is peak girlfailure in a way I usually enjoy but she lacks any of the traits that can make unlikeable protagonists compelling. She was pathetic but not in a "sad wet cat" way. She was self-centered, but not in a delicious, audacious "love to hate" way. She just sucked in a really boring, mediocre way. My favorite thing about unlikeable narrators is when the author is able to trick me into rooting for them despite their clear awfulness, but I …
What do they call it again? The words of death for a book? "I don't care what happens to any of these people."
I was actually impressed — in a book that features a serial killer, a hybristophiliac, and the serial killer's screwed up wealthy family— how boring every single character managed to be and how little interest I had in any of them the entire time.
Hannah, the narrator, is peak girlfailure in a way I usually enjoy but she lacks any of the traits that can make unlikeable protagonists compelling. She was pathetic but not in a "sad wet cat" way. She was self-centered, but not in a delicious, audacious "love to hate" way. She just sucked in a really boring, mediocre way. My favorite thing about unlikeable narrators is when the author is able to trick me into rooting for them despite their clear awfulness, but I honestly spent most of the book hoping Hannah would end up in the ravine.
The writing was okay and got a few laughs out of me, but it really wasn't nearly incisive or funny enough to make for a good satire/deconstruction, which is what it felt like the author was going for. (If not, I'm not sure what the point of this book was.)
Also it was fucking obvious who the real serial killer was the minute a character with the name "Bentley" showed up. I doubt there is anyone in the world named "Bentley" who isn't a serial killer. On that note, I was hoping Bentley, fiction's dullest serial killer, would end up at the bottom of the ravine right along with Hannah and his equally dull brother.
