Kill the Next OneFederico Axat
Mulholland Books
December 13th, 2016
Ted McKay was about to kill himself. He’d been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and the last thing he intended to do was become a burden to anyone. Just as he’s about to pull the trigger, the doorbell rings. Ted figures he can ignore it, but then the insistent pounding on the door starts. The man on the other side of the door says he has an interesting proposition, and Ted better open up.
He says seeing as Ted wants to die anyway, why not do the world a favor and take out two other deserving men first? Then the next person in a murder chain will take him out. Simple, and it provides a more dignified exit for him.
Nothing is ever that simple.
The premise of the book sounds interesting, and draws you in immediately. The problem is, the book goes completely sideways from there. If the strange, almost sci-fi angle it seems to take had been the actual premise of the book, I think it might have made for a more compelling story. Unfortunately, the actual explanation of this weird and convoluted plot is far more pedestrian, and frankly a bit of a let down. For what it is, it’s unnecessarily complicated, and the setup comes off as a bit pointless. Axat is a good writer, as he creates some rich and interesting characters, but the plot here just didn’t live up to the premise. Instead, it’s a weird book that spoils it’s weirdness with too ordinary an explanation.
JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.