Never Saw Me Coming

by Vera Kurian

• ISBN10: 1787302873
• ISBN13: 9781787302877
• Publish Date: 2 September 2021
• Publish Status: Forthcoming
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Vintage Publishing
• Imprint: Harvill Secker
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The story introduces Chloe Sevre, one of seven psychopath students who received a full scholarship at John Adams University. These seven students formed part of a special program created especially for psychopaths. The program aims to determine if psychopathy can be managed like all other mental illnesses. If so, then patients could live a normal life and control their psychopathic with the proper support.

Before Chloe can fully immerse herself into her studies, she needs to carry out a plan. A plan that’s been in the making for six years. It involved killing the guy who assaulted at the age of twelve. While Chloe is formulating her plan, someone murdered two the students on the program. Besides putting her plan into action, she now has to find and stop the murderer before she herself becomes a victim.

[Quirky Cat]

I've been craving a new psychological thriller, so I decided to pick up Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian.

Chloe Sevre is a psychopath. Not figuratively, but literally. Her favorite hobby is planning to kill Will Bachman, a friend who made the dire mistake of wronging her. However, when Chloe isn't in class or plotting to destroy Will, she's spending time with six other psychopaths as part of a clinical study.

You can already see how this would be a recipe for disaster. When one of the students is found dead, suddenly their world is turned upside down, and the surviving six must discover who did it. More importantly, they must find the liar in the group.

I picked up Never Saw Me Coming because it had an interesting premise, and overall I was hoping for a unique read. While I certainly got the latter, I feel like I was somewhat let down by it. I guess I just wasn't as blown away as I had hoped.

That being said, I didn't dislike this book either. I'd say that Never Saw Me Coming is a perfectly fine thriller – with a solid and intriguing premise. I love the idea of seven students all trying to figure out who the liar is.

Only, in this instance, everything is flipped upside down. They're not trying to find the psychopath in the room – but the person pretending to be one. It's dark and twisted, and I absolutely adore it.

Thanks to Park Row and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Jeff Sexton]

Complex Story With Interesting (But Unnecessary) Commentary In Finale. This is a particular idea that I didn't really know I was drawn to until reading Victoria Helen Stone's Jane Doe books, about a slightly more mature psychopath than these college students here. So when I saw the premise here, I pretty well *had* to check it out. The overall story works well and will keep you guessing - and you're most likely not going to guess right until the final reveal. The various aspects of psychopathy shown work well, and work well to show that *everyone* can lead a fairly normal life - thus helping (a bit) to destigmatize the condition. Including the romance that at least a few other reviewers panned - I enjoyed it for showing that even true psychopaths are capable of it, though admittedly this isn't a romance book and thus that element is never a core focus of the tale. The switching from character to character was usually abrupt and could have used a bit better editing, perhaps naming the character at the top of the chapter and even breaking into a new chapter (with character name) when a perspective jumps mid chapter. But that is perhaps something that could be seen at the beta/ ARC level (and this book is still almost two months from publication as I write this review) and *perhaps* corrected. So if you're reading this review years after publication, know that this particular issue may or may not exist any longer.

The commentary in the finale, about the doc and his perspectives, wasn't really necessary but did provide an interesting, rarely seen wrinkle. One I happened to know about outside of this book and largely agree with, so it was refreshing to see it both discussed and discussed in such a positive light here. But again, it was ultimately unnecessary for the tale and thus a bit of a momentum killer in the final stretch. (Though fortunately it *is* fairly brief, so there is that at least.)

Overall a truly enjoyable read with a fairly rare and possibly unique premise. Very much recommended.