A no holds barred look at the current state of media and reporting in modern times, Killer Story is an engaging whodunit novel that will intrigue and infuriate you. A car crash of a story that you can’t look away from as the investigation to find the killer unfolds.
Petra Kovach is a newspaper reporter in Boston, trying to make a name for herself and find stability in a tough industry. However, the paper is struggling and desperate to keep from being laid off yet again, she pitches a true crime story idea to her editor about an unsolved murder of Olivia “Livvy” Anderson, a young woman she knew and cared for until she was killed. This being a very personal story for Petra, she will stop at nothing to find new clues, conduct an investigation and find the killer. Fighting office politics, apathetic law enforcement, multiple suspects and her own code of ethics, Petra must constantly make decisions on how far she’s willing to go and how many people she’s willing to burn to get justice for Livvy…and to become famous for her reporting while driving millions of clicks to her written stories and podcast.
Matt Witten has achieved quite an interesting feat by making unlikeable characters sympathetic. The main characters in this book are not good people. They are constantly exercising poor judgment that show them to be unethical, conniving, self-centered and criminal, all while deluding themselves into thinking the ends justify the means as long as they solve Livvy’s murder. However, despite wanting to smack some sense into these people, you still can find a way to understand their desperate behavior because we all know what it’s like to be ambitious about your career and/or struggle to deal with the loss of someone close to you. So while the decisions these characters make – Petra, Natalie and Dave in particular – are frustrating at best and unforgivably despicable at worst, you keep reading with at least a little understanding of their predicament and a smidge of sympathetic hope that they will see the light, turn it around and do the right thing before they become completely unredeemable. And if not, you want to be there to see them get what’s coming to them for their terrible actions.
If you like true crime podcasts and books, then you need to pick up a copy of Killer Story. This is right smack in the middle of your wheelhouse. And if that’s not your jam, it’s still a compelling read for the suspense and spectacle of a solid murder mystery.
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Barrington Books
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