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Book Review of How I'll Kill You

How I'll Kill You
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Dollycas's Thoughts

Identical triplets, thrown into the foster system at the age of five and split up, suffering years of abuse have now come back together and have become serial killers. Well, at least Iris and Moody have killed men. Until now Sissy has been the master of cleaning up their messes and getting rid of the bodies.

Now it is time for Sissy's first kill and she has chosen Edison. She has six months to have him fall deeply in love with her and then she will kill him. There's just one problem. She has fallen in love with him and her sisters are not happy. Now she has to choose â her family â or Edison? Betraying her sisters may come at the high cost of her life and the life of the man she has come to love.

I have read a lot of psychological thrillers over the years but as I started reading this book I was a bit uncomfortable, even telling my husband this may be too much for me. But a few chapters in the story started unfolding like a Criminal Minds episode only without the FBI being called in. These sisters had left several dead bodies behind and thanks to their planning, moving from state to state, and Sissy's clean-up efforts they have not been caught.

It is a gory tale with some explicit language and scenes. Full of twists and tension with a chilling romance, once I started reading I couldn't stop. I had to put it down when my eyes failed to cooperate and spent the next day thinking about if it was wise to pick it back up again. But these girls were messed up in so many ways, they drew me into their story. I had to know how their time in Arizona was going to end.

Ms. DeStefano takes her readers on an emotional roller coaster. She plotted out a tight story, a compelling read. All the characters have depth, being abandoned, and abused for years by their foster families. Their past has more than scarred these young women. The bruises and breaks have healed but their brains and souls are tortured. They have turned their pain onto others in a way that will never release them from what they feel. As the bodies piled up things got more intense both for me and the characters.

The ending was surprising and the final paragraphs sent frigid icicles up and down my spine.

How I'll Kill You wasn't truly an escape of any kind but it is a story that will stick with you long after you read it. Romance and murder, heartbreaking and dark, a truly twisted thriller.