Vera Kurian is not a writer I had heard of before reading this excellent thriller, but I'll be sure to look out for anything released by her in the future.
It can be difficult at times to know who is a real psychopath, who is playing at it and which of the characters maybe at a far worse stage than some of the others. We know from early on that two main characters want to bring significant harm to someone that has wronged them in the past. Luckily, it's not the same person. Whether they will achieve this with each others help or fail because of the other, is what makes me turn page after page as quickly as possible.
This university is running a specific programme designed to help psychopaths become able to live more freely in society and blending in without causing any fuss or aggravation, which would be mostly illegal activity, as they continue with their lives. From the very early stages we know that this project has both been successful and is equally doomed. Whether our psychopath friends can outsmart someone who appears to want to kill everyone in the programme or whether this is a coincidence, will not be revealed in the early stages. Chloe appears to be a very likeable character and a very able burglar, but whether she can also commit murder will also be revealed at a much later stage. Whether she is the person looking to cause the trouble or someone is looking to get rid of her is confused by some of the friends she meets and then has to wonder whether they are friends or foe
I enjoyed a free copy of this book, but I'm glad I received it because, although the subject matter may have been difficult in parts, the overall story and the ability to keep me enthralled from the first to the last page is why I enjoyed this story so much.
I didn't like Will throughout this book, but to be fair, I was only seeing this through Chloe's eyes. If what she said was true, then he deserves everything he gets, but is it and does he? I feel the pressure building in this novel as I get closer to the end and while I understand the mind of a psychopath slightly more than I did before starting this story, it does make you wonder who walks around us, and who we know, that may also be a psychopath and we may never know. Looking forward to the next read from this excellent author. This may be her debut novel, but she has established a very high standard from the outset.

I really liked the sound of this premise, but it didn't really work for me. i'm probably not the target audience and there was so much detail that I didn't really understand, being UK based and largely ignorant of the US college system.

When I say the word psychopath, what image do you first get? A ruthless murderer? Well, it needn't always be. This book has a storyline that is intriguing AF! I was genuinely reeled in, and was eager to see how this story would unfold. The book takes it's time to pan out the background for the story, but once that's done, it picks up it's pace!

I personally liked Charles more than anyone. This book tries to put out the message that not everyone who is diagnosed with a personality disorder turns out to be a criminal/murderer. And Charles is a person who honestly tries to get better even though he is such an narcissistic being.

I was surprised when a major thing in the book happened 100 before the end. The author has written the narration in such a grip-like manner, you will keep reading.

I wish this book would have a sequel too. I liked the ending, even though I saw it coming. The book thankfully doesn't have an open ending, but I do would love to read more about these characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this one!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I really enjoyed it! I didn’t want to put this one down and managed to read it in under a week. The story gave great twists and turns and kept me on my toes throughout!

A great read for those who enjoy who done its and many plot twists!

The premise of this thriller intrigued me from the start and I raced through it. The story had pace and urgency throughout and, unlike some books in this genre, didn't lose sight of the central story. Recommended for fans of Karin Slaughter, Mark Billingham.
(I received a free copy of the book via Netgalley in return for an honest review)

3.5 rounded up

What do you call a room full of psychopaths? Well, I wouldn’t call them anything as I’d be moving swiftly in the opposite direction! In this novel we work our way to Day 60 when Chloe Sevré has plans for Will Bachman. It’s the first day of term for freshman Chloe at John Adams University where along with others diagnosed with psychopathy she is to be part of Dr Leonard Wyman's Panel Study aiming to train them to live a’normal life’. Chloe, Andre Jensen, Charles Portman and others wear a smart watch to record moods and so on. Events take a dark turn at the university which seems to link to the CRD serial killer of many years ago in which Wyman has involvement in his capacity as a psychiatrist.

The novel starts well and for the first half or so it’s extremely hard to put down. Wyman's study is intriguing and each of those involved have good back stories that are dark, particularly Chloe’s, though I frequently question exactly what game Wyman is playing. Chloe's portrayal is the most convincing, we can see her all to clearly with her chameleon habits and defined agenda. Her humour is dark, no surprise there and I really like this element. The pace is fast, there are several twists and turns, there’s so much tension it almost makes you gasp and some gut punching revelations that make you feel sympathy for Chloe’s mission. Charles is also portrayed well, he’s sleek, slick, dangerous and undoubtedly power driven.

However, unfortunately from about the half way point the pace drops off and the storyline drifts into something else from where it begins and the focus now seems to be on the past. It does have some excellent moments of tension- talk about Kill Bill - and it is certainly devious and unpredictable. The pace in the first half is fast so you anticipate an explosive ending, however what we get is something very convenient and if I’m honest, it’s a damp squib. It’s seems to be set up for a follow up which I hope will have more consistent pacing.

Overall there is a lot that is good in this book, there’s some originality and the characters are fascinating. Although it’s not marketed as YA it seems to me that is the most fitting audience for this especially as it’s set in a university with all the fraternities and other things that baffle us Brits! It’s well worth reading and the first half is an absolute cracker.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Vintage, Harvill Secker for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

What happens if you put a bunch of students with psychopathic tendancies into a study programme together at a university? "Never Saw Me Coming" is a psychological crime thriller set at an American university, not only dealing with daily college life but with the added layers of stalkers, voyeurs, sleuthing and solving murders. Some of it is twisted, some of it clever. A good twist in a genre that is very popular.

This debut novel is a tense thriller set on a college campus that includes a Psychology Department running a top-secret clinical-trials course with one entry requirement – that the chosen students have been diagnosed as a psychopath, the other proviso being that they are not privy to the identities of their peers. One member of this group has a hidden agenda and is planning a deadly personal revenge, but those plans are thwarted when there is a spate of murders on the campus, however sometimes “revenge is best served cold”!

Unfortunately this wasn't for me. It read more like a YA book than an adult mystery. This was because of the teenage setting and characters. While I accept this is stated in the blurb, it didn't transcend much beyond college life and teen relationships for my taste.

I’ve never read a book like this before, it’s a unique storyline follow the story of some psychopaths set on a college campus. It was a great read and I found the different characters very compelling, and it definitely keeps you guessing!

Chloe is eighteen and a diagnosed psychopath. She has enrolled at John Adams university because a psychology professor there has a programme designed to help people like her and if she participates she gets a scholarship. It's also where Will studies and she's going to kill him. However someone seems to have it in for the psychopaths on the programme and before long three students have been killed. Chloe hooks up with two other students on the programme to try to solve these murders. But she isn't able to trust either of them - they're psychopaths after all - and she soon finds herself in all sorts of bother.

I thought I would love this book but I found myself underwhelmed and rather bored by it. Yes, there are nods to the magnificent Patricia Highsmith and her creepy creation Tom Ripley and some of the writing is wryly funny but I found I wasn't engaging with the story or the characters at all. I didn't care what happened to them, perhaps because they didn't seem to care what happened to them (with the exception of Andre) and I found the book overlong and over complicated. I did manage to finish the book but it was a struggle. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This thriller has a really interesting premise; a group of students, diagnosed as psychopaths, receive college tuition in return for taking part in a clinical psychology study. In order to retain anonymity on campus, they need only wear a smartwatch, which signals if they need to give feedback or take tasks. Mostly in the rather creepy building which houses the psychology department, headed by Leonard Wyman.

The first character we meet is Chloe, who has a high IQ and murder on her mind. However, when those on the programme begin to get murdered, she finds herself with two other students, attempting to find out what is going on. There is Charles, whose father is a politician, and Andre, who has faked his results in order to pay his fees.

This works particularly well as both the plot and the characters are interesting and engaging. Chloe’s story really drew me in, but I found myself interested in what happened to these characters. Andre is the most obviously sympathetic, but the author makes them all engaging. I really enjoyed this and would definitely read more by the author. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Miriam

To say that Chloe is a complex character is the biggest under statement of the year !
A university student who just happens to be a psychopath.
It is very clever novel with many twists and turns that you do not expect.
God help the world of people like this really exist.
I read it in a few days and it kept me up at night in more ways than one..

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I felt a little underwhelmed by this book and feel like it read more like a YA thriller so it wasn’t really my cup of tea. There were a fair few characters involved and I also felt like the book was longer than necessary.

This was a fantastic read. Propulsive and original, it kept me guessing the whole way through. A very strong debut from Vera Kurian - I'm keen to see what they write in the future!

My first book by this author and I thought it was good. A different premise from usual and one that worked well.
I really liked Chloe I have to say, especially her sarcastic sense of humour. Unlike some I liked the ending too. Again different to normal
A few gripes-
Overlong- I do feel that there was rather a lot of padding
Americanisms- fair enough but can we have a glossary or when we check with our Kindles at least get an answer so we know what it is?
Lots of "popping"- whether it was necks (Lord knows how one pops ones neck!), blood/eyes/inanimate objects/knees/ people to name a few It did crop up far too often
Worth reading

This complex novel must have taken an enormous amount of time in the planning. There were so many characters and numerous scenes where Chloe, Charles and Andre compared notes and made plans. Chloe is like no other person you could ever come across. The three stalwarts of this very original saga are brilliant in every way from the privileged Charles, to the single minded Chloe determined to deliver revenge which has taken six years in the planning, to gentle Andre living a lie. It’s an amazing story that gave us an insight into university life in the US capital. Some of the terminology was lost on me a bit as a UK person but this didn’t detract for a second what was building to a well thought out ending. SPOILER alert…………………….."………….The only thing I want to know is how the three heroes managed to attend any lectures or complete study assignments while simultaneously trying to solve murders and stay alive themselves. .

Excellent!
This was an incredibly gripping thriller with very well-written characters which set the tone of the book and made it even more creepy!

Very fast paced and easy to read, I was hooked from the first page.

Highly recommend

I was really excited to read this book. After reading advance praise from Tess Gerritsen, Lisa Gardner and Kia Abdullah, I knew I was in for a fabulous ride! The campus setting will draw in a few readers and the different POV chapters merge well with the narrative, giving us insight into how each character lives and thinks.

We meet highly motivated, ambitious Chloe Sevre, at the start of Freshman Orientation and a first year student at John Adams University in Washington DC. A free ride scholarship to be a Guinea pig in a psychological study focusing on non-offending psychopaths, Chloe must navigate around hierarchies and six other students she calls the “bizarre elite”. But her participation is confidential and she is given a smart watch which she must wear all times. It’s intended to track her moods, although it’s hard to believe it’s not designed for GPS tracking. Someone has to trace all these ‘special’ students.

Selecting the date of a protest in DC to target Will Bachman, a junior majoring in political science and someone with a tragic link to her past, Chloe is ready to take the next step. She needs proof of what happened that night and a video is just what she needs. But her plan begins to fall apart when other psychopaths in the program are being murdered. Our anti-heroine, with two other psychs, must unravel the mystery or risk being next. With their unique attributes, you get the impression they’ll put up one hell of a fight.

Andre was one of my favourites in this book. The tragic loss of his sister means he is an “article of pride’ for his family and studying journalism at John Adams, sets him up as a good watchdog. But there is something glaringly different about him and I wondered how he would fit in to such a disparate set of freshmen.

A profoundly disturbing and well written book with an ending I didn’t see coming. I would like to thank Netgalley, the author and Random House UK, Vintage for the privilege of receiving an advance copy of Never Saw Me Coming.

It was okay, the premise of the book is so interesting and I liked the range of characters,

I enjoyed reading it on the whole but I dont know, something about it just wasnt as enjoyable as I thought it would be to me, I cant quite out my finger on it!