“Ted McKay had it all: a beautiful wife, two daughters, a high-paying job. But after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour he finds himself with a gun to his temple, ready to pull the trigger.

Then the doorbell rings.

A stranger makes him a proposition: why not kill two deserving men before dying? The first target is a criminal, and the second is a man with terminal cancer who, like Ted, wants to die. After executing these kills, Ted will become someone else’s next target, like a kind of suicidal daisy chain.

Ted understands the stranger’s logic: it’s easier for a victim’s family to deal with a murder than with a suicide. However, after killing his targets, Ted’s reality begins to unravel.”

When I read the blurb of Kill The Next One it’s fair to say that I was hooked.  I just HAD to read this book.  The plot sounded totally different to other books I’ve read and I loved the idea of everything that was being presented to me.  So being totally smitten with the idea of Kill The Next One, I decided to make a start on it as soon as it arrived.

It’s also fair to say that I was quite surprised to be thrown straight into the action on page one, chapter one.  It’s a book of over 400 pages, I thought to myself, how is the author going to eek this out?  The answer to that question is by making his story, quite possibly one of the strangest, most convoluted and…well, I’m afraid I have to say it, peculiar tales I have ever read.  Did I enjoy it?  Yes, I did.  But there were moments where I was just plain confused.  And there were moments when I had to force myself to carry on rather then give up.  But I’m glad I did continue.  I know I would have always wondered what became of Ted McKay.

I’m afraid that this is going to be one of my more bite-sized reviews as this is a book where, as soon as you start talking about the characters or the plot, you end up giving the entire book away (and I don’t want to do that).

Would I recommend this book?  I would, but I can promise you it’s like nothing you’ve read before.  So twisty I was dizzy.  I guess, thinking about it, I was a little disappointed; that blurb had me buzzing, but that part of the story is over and done with in under 100 pages. I wanted more of the ‘suicidal daisy chain’ that’s mentioned in the blurb and less…of the rest (I can’t tell you what the rest is!).

However, what I will say is that I did enjoy this book.  Part one is a thrilling read.  I also really enjoyed the closing chapters which were just as gripping and intense, and I would actively seek out other books by Federico Axat.  Particularly if he wrote one that continued the ‘suicidal daisy chain’ theme!

Three and a half stars out of five.

I chose to read and review an ARC of Kill The Next One. Many thanks to Sophie Goodfellow at FMcM for providing me with a copy.  The above is my own unbiased review.

Kill The Next One by Federico Axat was published in the UK by Text Publishing on 26th January 2017 and is available in paperback, eBook and audio formats | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones | Goodreads |

Federico Axat was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1975. His first novel, Benjamin, was published in Spain by Suma de Letras and translated into Italian. His second novel, El pantano de las mariposas was published in 2013. La última salida (Kill The Next One) has 33 international publishers and has been optioned by a major Hollywood production company.

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