Review: The Killing Game - J.S Carol

Review: The Killing Game - JS Carol - October 2016


Reading slumps are the worst. You know that feeling when every book you pick up feels like a chore, when pages blur together and nothing seems to capture your attention? That's exactly where I found myself a few weeks ago, desperately scrolling through recommendations, hoping something would spark that old familiar excitement. That's when I stumbled across "The Killing Game" by JS Carol, and honestly, it couldn't have come at a better time.

The premise immediately grabbed me: JJ Johnson, a Hollywood fixer who specializes in making A-list problems disappear, finds herself in the ultimate crisis when what should have been a routine power lunch turns into a deadly hostage situation. When a gunman storms into an upscale LA diner frequented by celebrities, armed with a bomb rigged to his heartbeat, JJ and the other patrons become pawns in a twisted game where fame becomes a target.

The entire narrative around the four-hour timeframe of the hostage situation, and the ticking clock creates an almost suffocating tension that had me reading well past my bedtime. Each chapter feels like another twist of the screw, with JJ forced to use all her professional skills – negotiation, manipulation, reading people – not to protect her clients' reputations, but to literally keep them alive.

The character of JJ Johnson is brilliantly crafted. She's morally ambiguous in the best possible way someone who's built her career on covering up the worst impulses of the wealthy and famous, yet when faced with real danger, reveals an unexpected heroism. Her insider knowledge of celebrity culture and crisis management becomes crucial survival tools, and watching her pivot from damage control to life-or-death strategy was genuinely compelling.

What really pulled me out of my reading funk was how JS Carol uses the confined setting to create maximum psychological drama. The diner becomes a pressure cooker where Hollywood's carefully constructed personas crumble under genuine terror. 

If you're looking for a book that will grab you by the throat and not let go, "The Killing Game" delivers exactly that kind of addictive, page-turning experience that reminds you why you fell in love with reading in the first place.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/47Zmb32