Review: The Killer You Know by S.R. Masters

Author: S.R. Masters

Publisher: Redhook

Publication date: August 2018

I'll murder three strangers. And you'll know it was me. That way we'll all be connected. Always.

When Will jokes about becoming a serial killer, his friends just laugh it off. But Adeline can't help but feel there's something more sinister lurking behind his words.

Fifteen years later, Adeline returns to Blythe for a reunion of the old gang - except Will doesn't show up. Reminiscing about old times, they look up the details of his supposed murder spree. But the mood soon changes when they discover two recent deaths that match.

As the group attempt to track Will down, they realise that he is playing a sinister game that harks back to one they used to play as kids. Only this time there are lives at stake...

The Killer You Know is proof that too much foreshadowing will give away the killer way too early making for a dull read as the reader waits for the characters in the book to catch up to them.  I had hoped to love this book, but it wasn't very exciting.  

The story wavers between the present told through Adeline's perspective and the past told through hers as well as the other 4 main characters.   I think the premise was really promising, but it didn't deliver upon execution.  The pacing was really slow.  That definitely had to do with the two time lines.  We would get to a good part in the present and then abruptly, we were in the past in a different character's head.  It interrupted the flow.  None of the characters were particularly likable or memorable.  The killer was so easy to figure out. I only stuck it out in order to see if I was right.   I'm not sure I would recommend this one.