samantha downing – GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Thriller
Length: 373 pages
Author: Samantha Downing
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 20th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Teddy Crutcher has won Teacher of the Year at the esteemed Belmont Academy, home to the best and brightest.

He says his wife couldn’t be more proud—though no one has seen her in a while.

Teddy really can’t be bothered with the death of a school parent that’s looking more and more like murder or the student digging a little too deep into Teddy’s personal life. His main focus is on pushing these kids to their full academic potential.

All he wants is for his colleagues—and the endlessly meddlesome parents—to stay out of his way.

It’s really too bad that sometimes excellence can come at such a high cost.

WELL THAT WAS TWISTED.

What a fantastic audiobook. Really brought the whole story to life and I devoured this easily.

But also, wow, was this a wild read. Every few chapters I was surprised by who was murdered next. I like that I got the POV of many of the characters. Nobody was exactly redeemable or likable in this tale, and yet, that really worked for this story. I didn’t know who was going to do what next and I like that aspect for thrillers.

I’m not sure how I felt about the ending? I guess I thought it was be more of a punch. Instead it turned out to be a little bit of a let down. Things happened that needed to, but not in the way I expected.

Very dark and sinister. Full of dark academia and morally grey and just plain bad souls. It’ll definitely keep you on your toes. Twisted obsessions turned murderous. Leaving many in their wake.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller
Language: a little
Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, poisoning, loss of loved ones, catfishing, extortion, blackmail

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Thriller/Mystery
Length: 384 pages
Author: Samantha Downing
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 21st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven’t all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we’ll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance.

But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone.

It’s even harder when you’re all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won’t stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there’s a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons.

But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.

WELL THAT WAS TRIPPY.

I’ve hit a thriller wave and I’m going to ride it out as long as I can catching up on all of the ones my friends have recommended. This was one of them and I definitely wasn’t disappointed!

I read this as an audio book and LOVED it. Great narration, can easily increase speed and found it really quick to fly through.

Wow, this book was *mind blown emoji*.

Even from the start I felt He Started It was keeping me guessing. The story seemed odd, and clearly, things aren’t how they should be. I loved the tidbits that slowly started to occur and had me needing to know what happens next.

These siblings were something else. Such twisted and dark characters. There back stories came out smoothly and worked into the story perfectly. And each time I learned something new it only added another layer to the mystery being unfolded. I couldn’t fathom some of the things they did to each other?! I’m still flabbergasted by it. It was an interesting thought about how the pursuit of money can overtake your life and decision making.

My only iffy thing was the ending. It was definitely maniacal. Jaw dropping, gasp out loud, freak my spouse out because of my reaction, maniacal. I wish it did last a bit longer though to wrap up a few things, but I know that can be the nature of a thriller (and it’s not my usual genre).

Overall audience notes:

Thriller / Mystery
Language: some strong
Violence: murder, guns, physical, car wreck
Trigger warnings: gas-lighting, accusatory statements that someone may have sexually assaulted another and the same statements for domestic violence