Kill for Me, Kill for You

Cavanagh (the Eddie Flynn series) keeps readers on their toes in this tense and tricky revenge thriller about grieving women in New York City. Amanda White’s stalking of Wallace Crone, a well-connected sex offender she is sure has gotten off the hook for assaulting and murdering her six year-old-daughter and driving her husband to suicide, lands her a restraining order and a mandate to attend a grief support group on the Upper West Side. Drunken conversations with fellow group member Wendy lead the pair to concoct a Strangers on a Train–style pact in which Wendy will kill Crone and Amanda will kill the man Wendy claims raped and murdered her daughter three years earlier. In a parallel narrative, 39-year-old Manhattan real estate agent Ruth Gelman survives a home invasion during which she’s stabbed multiple times. Unable to give the NYPD more than a thin description of her attacker, she’s left dependent on her husband, Scott, for her safety, and mired in a state of near-constant paranoia. The initial link between the stories is Det. Andrew Farrow (nicknamed St. Jude for his habit of pursuing hopeless cases), but as the plot gathers steam, the overlaps become more and more substantial and startling. Cavanagh seeds the narrative with a series of explosive, game-changing reveals that, combined with an uncommon attunement to the central characters’ emotional arcs, make for a wild, deliciously satisfying ride. Even seasoned genre fans will find themselves white-knuckling this roller coaster. Agent: Jon Wood, RCW. (Mar.)