Usually, I post my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. You can find them easy enough by clicking on the tab at the top of this page. However, once in a while a book comes along that deserves a stand-out review.

 Kill Someone by Luke Smitherd, is one of those books. Although, typically not her genre, my sister, Jean Cogdell @ Jeanswriting.com, recommended and shared her copy. “You have to read this book,” she said.

It wasn’t a hard sell, for those of you who’ve read many of my stories, the title grabbed me immediately.

This book captured my attention from the first page. I couldn’t put it down. I often said rhetoric is easy, “I’d never….” You fill in the blank. The truth is no one knows what they would do in any given circumstance. When the rubber meets the road, things take on a whole new meaning. Now, imagine being presented with two options, one horrifying and the other worse. What would you do if you, plain, old ordinary you had to kill a random stranger in order to save the lives of five others? Of course, the choice is never that simple. There are always caveats.

This is the predicament the protagonist, Chris Summer faces when two strangers show up on his doorstep in the wee hours of the morning. The minute he opened the door, his life changed. You’ve heard the old saying, “nothing is free.” Well, nothing means nothing, including our decisions.Chris discovers this the hard way.

The author takes us on the journey with Chris and, I gotta tell you, I felt the struggle Chris felt. You cannot read this book without asking every other page, “What would I do? Could I?”

The characters are extremely well-developed. The sinister man in white, the scary, silent man in black, and Chris. With each sentence, you feel his breathless sense of hopelessness, panic, the sweat on his brow and the sleepless nights. You feel his struggles in every one of his decisions, and you don’t know which way you want him to go – either option sends a chill down your spine.

I didn’t see the ending coming As the author tied up loose ends, I found myself, once again, saying – “Well, damn.”

If you like psychological thrillers, Kill Someone is the book that will stay with you for a long time. It’s worth noting, this story has gotten the author noticed. Huffington Post said, “Luke Smitherd: A Writer To Look Out For In 2017.”

I give this book five stars.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Join the conversation. Talk to me or tell me your story. I’m all ears.