Book Notices | Kill Someone by Luke Smitherd

Luke Smitherd, Kill Someone

Amazon   The premise of this book appealed to me a lot. The doorbell rings, and our protagonist—21-year-old Chris Summers—is woken from a dead sleep into a nightmare. A pair of enigmatic villains at the front door introduce him to his new reality: Chris has to kill someone or five kidnapped girls will be dismembered and killed. There are a lot of intricate rules attached to the task they've assigned him, failure to follow which will have catastrophic consequences for the kidnapped girls. And the whole enterprise is so carefully planned out that Chris, from the moment he opens his front door that morning, really has no choice but to cooperate. We follow him as he tries to carry out the thugs' demands while coping with his conscience and fears. It's an interesting read, because it will surely get you thinking about the choices you would make in Chris's position—whom you would kill and how you'd do it. I liked pretty much everything about this book except for how the story ultimately played out. The mystery behind the enigmatic villains is ultimately cleared up, and, eh, that part really strains credibility for me and makes the book less satisfying. Nonetheless, this Luke Smitherd fellow seems to have an unusual sensibility. I think he's an author to watch.