I Told You This Would Happen by Elaine Murphy
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Special thanks to Hachette Books for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
When a new string of deaths share an eerie likeness to her dead sister’s preferred murder method, Carrie Lawrence is on the hunt for a copycat killer.
Carrie’s sister is dead.
Four months after losing her sister, Becca—a serial killer unknown to everyone else in their town—Carrie Lawrence is finally free of her manipulative clutches. From now on, she’s keeping her hands clean, no more hiding dead bodies in the middle of the night, no more lies.
She’s never been happier.
Then she attends a meeting of the Brampton Kill Seekers, a group of amateur local sleuths, and learns that a recent victim left behind a note that incriminates her in their disappearance. All of a sudden, the quiet, law-abiding life she’s been planning starts to unravel.
She’s never had so much to lose.
In her frantic quest to keep her secret dead and buried, she discovers someone nefarious lurking in the shadows…someone who’ll go to any lengths to bring her dark truths to light. Now if Carrie wants her secrets to stay hidden, she’ll have to get her hands very, very dirty (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
I Told You This Would Happen is an suspenseful thriller novel about complicated relationships, gruesome mysteries, and aftermaths of conflicts.
When I picked up the book, I thought it was the first book of a series. After doing some research, I realized this book was a sequel to Look What You Made Me Do even though there were no indications on the cover about this novel being a sequel. I was quite disappointed about the lack of indication; however, the book was still quite easy for me to understand despite not having read the first novel.
The interactions between Carrie and Becca felt movie-like while they were discussing disguises and pondering about the culprit. The novel is creatively written, which made me intrigued to find out what the author’s source of inspiration was to write this book. For example, the event in the book “Footloose” was inspired by an event where a serial killer cut off a foot from each of their thirteen victims.
The protagonist, Carrie Laurence is constantly in suspense and worries that her dirty secrets will be revealed. She dealt with anxiety and panic at the sight of gruesome scenes involving blood that made her reflect on the mental impacts left over from her serial killer sister. This is something not usually discussed in stories as authors usually focus on the main action rather than the consequences. I also liked that the author included the moral debate between Carrie helping her serial killer sister once again or sticking to her integrity.
Carrie’s struggles with Becca finding the suspect was fairly well-written. I was kept in suspense ever since the very first note was sent to the Brampton Kill Seekers group. After Graham’s alliance with the police and his “betrayal” to Carrie, all of his actions beforehand clicked into place and made me realize it was him after all this time. The plot twist of Becca playing dead after getting hit by Footloose’s car shocked me. Due to my personal preference, this book was a bit gory for me and not something I recommend reading before bed! Aside from that, I Told You This Would Happen had me hooked and shocked with that major plot twist.
I thoroughly relished this book. I would highly recommend it to lovers of thrillers and suspense.
Reviewed by Lianna K.