The Killing Club

by Marcie Walsh, Michael Malone

"Over a decade ago in the small town of Gloria, New Jersey, feisty, red-headed outcast Jamie Ferrara and eleven friends from Gloria Hart High School started a club. They would come up with ingenious ways to kill people they didn't like - pretty much everybody they knew - and write down these "pretend" murders in a Death Book. Calling themselves the Killing Club, the group of misfits voted on who was most likely to get away with their imaginary murders. It was harmless fun, or so they thought.

Now, more than a decade later, Detective Sergeant Jamie Ferrara of the Gloria Police Department, has a homicide investigation on her hands. The victim is Ben Tymosz, one of her fellow Killing Club members. And worse, Ben's death is an exact replica of a "murder" once dreamed up in the club. Jamie's boss (her fiance, Rod) is sure the death is just a ghoulish accident. But when the club reunites for Ben's funeral, the unimaginable happens: another murder, another Killing Club member dead, another crime copied from the Death Book.

Soon, Jamie is getting death threats - anonymous notes with details only those in the club would know. Someone is targeting the Killing Club, and all signs point to one of their own. Jamie's oldest friends turn into suspects. In a race against time, Jamie must separate her teenage memories from her hardened cop's instincts and find the killer - by learning dark secrets at the heart of the Killing Club - before everyone in the group is dead, including Jamie.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Reeter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here's an idea: When you write a murder mystery, the first murder should always happen somewhere in the first chapter. I don't mind some character backstory, but you should never dedicate an ENTIRE chapter to your character talking about information that isn't relevant to the story. The mystery itself doesn't even begin until Chapter 3! Yeah no, not wasting anymore time.

Thankfully, I bought this at Goodwill for $1, but even then I'm pissed, because that dollar could've been used to buy a better book. Don't waste your money on this one.

[sam.vvitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I DIDNT FINISH THIS BOOK




I had to DNF this book because I was just so bored. I honestly didn’t care about the characters (besides Pudge). I would read 20 pages, and it would go by so slowly. I felt like the scenes just dragged on forever and half the time I didn’t even feel that they were revenant. The “romance” between Jamie and the one guy that wasn’t her husband was so weird and just unbelievable.

[Amanda Kranick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the show One Life To Live, so it was nice to read a book based off a part of the show. The Killing Club is something I think most people can relate to, making up scenarios to hurt those who've wronged us. It's an interesting way to murder someone, as you wouldn't think many people would remember silly murders teenagers wrote down a decade ago. The killer isn't someone who you expect, though everyone (for the most part) was guilty of something. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries.

[Cait · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldnt finish this book, poorly written. Don't waste your time.

[Ashley Mann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a lot of good qualities but overall it was a very difficult read. The world building was solid and it made the cast of characters easy to manage and keep track of, that's basically where the good things about this book end. Dialogue was not natural, the first person narration was poorly done and difficult to follow mixing thoughts and conversation. Perhaps that last part was an editing issue but regardless it was still an issue. The red harring was obvious making the "mystery" of it all very lame and not so mysterious. Jamie, the main character and narrator, wasn't likeable either. Actually the only likeable character is killed towards the end. I read this when I was a teenager and I honestly should have kept the memory because as an adult this is very disappointing and poorly written.

[Courtney Ganzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. Right from the beginning it was very interesting and every chapter following had some twist or turn that wouldn’t let me put the book down. The mystery dragged me in and the unpredictability kept me reading. 5/5 would recommend!

[Trinity Buckley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title and premise made this novel sound like it could be a good read, but I was left disappointed. The characters were not developed anywhere near enough which made it difficult to follow.
I persevered until the end because there was just enough to keep me wanting to find out who the murderer was, but when that information was revealed it didn't make sense and I had to flick back over earlier chapters to find out why it was this person. The ending was very weak and there were some unanswered questions. Three stars is probably generous but I did finish it.

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book grabbed my attention from the get-go. I enjoyed the suspense throughout. The plot twist at the end was surprising, but I think the author could have played it out a little longer; it seemed anticlimactic which was a bit disappointing.

[Zach Schulting · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picture this, you and your friends are enraged at your teachers for your own individual reasons. So instead of making the right decision to talk it out with them, you get together in a group to fantasize ways that you will kill them and how to get away with it, but that’s not it, you also write down all of your ideas so you don’t forget your horrifically awesome ideas. Seems like the right thing to do right? In The Killing Club, this is exactly what they chose to do.
The main idea of this book is how this group of kids made a book about killing all the people they had a problem with in High School. They completely forgot about it for all of the members lives until one member got killed many years later. What originally starts off as a bad house fire that the man couldn’t escape quickly escalated into a murder case. The main character, Jamie Ferrara who is a detective and was apart of the group in High School, connected the way the man died to a murder decribed in the book they wrote in High School. Later she found out that another member of the club died another way that was described in the book. This fueled her to go and search for who was killing the members of her old club, and to find out why.
I really like how this book keeps you attached to the storyline. Even though there are a few slow parts in the book with not a whole lot going on, you stay into it because so much information is being given to you that will help later in the book.
Another piece I like about this book is how it makes you think and doesn’t give you the answers right away, so by the end of the book you can have an idea of who was actually killing these people. It can make the ending feel like, “oh my god I didn’t expect that” or even, “I knew it!” which adds a good suspense throughout the whole book.
All in all, this was a decent book with positives and negatives. If you are able to stay on a book and keep reading through non-action parts, this will be a book for you because the action parts are very good. I would recommend this book to people who are thrill seeking or love anything involved in murder mystery.

[Kimberly Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very much small town drama but it was short and entertaining and I needed something less than 300 pages so I think it did what I needed it to do. I will say that I struggled with figuring out who the murderer was as there were a lot of avenues and directions the story was pulling us so in that aspect I was impressed.

The narrator of our story was my least favorite part of the this story. Not committing to a guy who treats you right and PINING over your crush from high school who is an absolute TOOL and everyone even his sister tells you to stay away from is crazy. She was NOT a good cop as she had the WORST tunnel vision of any character I have ever read in my life about who she believed the suspect was. Illegal collection of evidence, telling citizens information about the case, cheating on a good man, and being an absolute DICK to your nephew who literally just needs some stability in his life are just a few examples. 🙄

I did enjoy the side characters. I thought the deaths were entertaining (it’s a murder mystery it’s what we are here for), and I think the author did a great job a planting subtle hints without making it too obvious. So pick it up or don’t. It won’t change your life but it was entertaining, like a CSI filler episode.

[Della · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of this book sounded like something I would enjoy but I was sadly disappointed, I'm afraid. I found the writing style to be disjointed and sometimes I had to read sentences over once or twice to make any sense of them. One weird statement on page 207 said, "Garth took my face in his hands and shook it.". I think this was supposed to be a romantic part but it was anything but... I found the characters to be bizarre as well. Jamie does not act like a cop/detective at all. She is not very discreet about information learned in the progress of the case and tells everyone everything, possibly putting herself and others in danger. I was surprised she wasn't fired. Also, you would never know that Jamie and Rod are supposed to be engaged because they don't seem to spend much time together. I'm not seeing the love. In fact, considering Jamie's behaviour around Garth, I would have second thoughts about marrying her.

[Carol Aselton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me suggest that Marcie Walsh not give up for daytime acting job for writing. The book read like some young women's diary. It starts with a group of high school misfits who form a "Killing Club" and propose way to kill different people who have offended them. The main character is Jamie, a homicide detective at age 29......in a small New Jersey town near Atlantic City.....also a member of this "Killing Club" in high school. Unreal, unreal, unreal. Moving on to Lee Child and a Jack Reacher book.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this book. The key things to remember going into this book are 1) this is a mystery, it’s not a crime novel and 2) this was written by a soap actress and published by the Disney owned publishing company. The story read just like a soap opera. The characters were interesting and I like where it went with the murderer. The “mild love affair” I felt was unnecessary but that was my biggest issue with the story. I recommend you give it a try with an open mind.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a few problems with this book. The general plotline was a good one, and I think this could have been a really good book with better writing. The protagonist, Jamie, was not a great detective by any means. This book was easy for me to put down (not what you want in a mystery), but I was interested enough to finish it to find out who the killer was. Things were wrapped up nicely with the ending.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good. There were a few moments where I rolled my eyes hard enough to cause minor injuries, but... it was a solid 4 out of 5. It won't deepen or improve you as a person, but it was good entertainment in my opinion.

Based on the overall rating of the book being 3.26, I'm guessing I won't be able to sit with the cool kids in the goodreads lunchroom now. I'll have to read something worth congratulating myself for next. LOL.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book, it is a fast, quick read. Over a decade ago 12 students from the small town of Gloria, New Jersey started a club. They called it the killing club where they all came up with ingenious plots to kill people they didn't like. Now a decade later some of the members of the club are dying. Its up to the police to find out who is doing it.

[Jocelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this a 2.5, but the writing was good even if the plot was too unbelievable and the detecting too scant. I liked the detective and the characters in her life, and the authors did a decent job of connecting the dots. But it made the unforgivable mistake of not putting the killer sufficiently in the frame until the very end.

[Rebecca Burmesch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished the book because I wanted to know who the killer was but I was yanked out of the story often due to the clunky writing style. I felt I was being told the story instead of being immersed in the story. The pacing was problematic, too. There are other issues but I'll keep this review short.

[Lauren Riva · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m all for describing the scene, but why do we need 3 chapters of it? Specifically the first 3 chapters? The characters were pretty easy to follow along, however why is everyone cheating on everyone with everyone? Weird vibes for sure. It felt choppy and kinda rushed towards the end with a lot thrown at you to attempt to tie up all the loose ends. Would not recommend unfortunately.

[TD 😈🖤 · Rating 3 out of 5]

First and foremost, I just wanna say this book has some great things about it that I liked. I liked the plot and being able to remember the characters because of the vast differences. However, I feel like the wording and point of view had some issues. It was a struggle to comprehend some of the things that happened in the book. Overall, it wasn’t that bad of a read.

[A.C. Whitt · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'D!! I could tell almost immediately starting this book that I wouldn't finish it. The flow of the words are terrible and it makes the plot confusing. The idea behind this book sounds amazing. I could not stand to read anymore.

[Krystal Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book probably 5 times over the last several years. The way it is written is super easy to read, the twists and turns are captivating and following through the detectives life as she attempts to solve murders that the club created is extremely interesting. A must read!

[Shayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a good book

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I DNF’d this book.

[Megan Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great idea for a book but poorly executed. I had to reread a lot to understand some of the sentences. I was truly excited to read this book. Very disappointed in it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just a fun book; not to heavy, a decent mystery, some small town flavor of community and relationships. Just fun.

[Amy Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual read, but I was intrigued enough to stay up past my bedtime to figure out "whodunnit!"

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely needs some editing, but I wanted something quick, fun and light to read and it was that, a nice distraction nothing profound

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read!!! Has you thinking of who could be the murderer(s). This is a must read. To bad it isn't a series of books.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, I’m glad Jamie didn’t end up with Garth but I’m mad she cheated