This was such a fun read even though it contained several serial killers and a few gory descriptions of their murder victims! I really couldn’t put it down once I had started it.
Jon is a true crime writer and podcaster who also manages to solve several murders due to his love of working out puzzles. Saffy is a serial killer who only murders “bad men” and she has fallen in love with Jon from afar as they obviously have “so much in common”!
The book is told from both of their viewpoints- Jon’s chapters show his innocence, loyalty and goodness. Saffy’ demonstrate her extreme sneakiness and amoral attitude. This leads to some very humorous moments as they get to know each other- Saffy committing a heinous murder when Jon just happens to arrive on her doorstep.
Both are great characters in their own right- I even liked Saffy’s innocent little sister, Susie, and Girl, Jon’s dog.
Such an intelligent and well written plot that kept me reading late into the night.
When I got to the end, which in itself was clever , I did think that this book definitely had the potential for more adventures for this unlikely pair! Could they solve any more murders together?
Definitely a five star read for me and recommended to all crime fans who like something a bit different from your run of the mill thriller or murder mystery.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

Absolutely loved this,
Had me hooked from the very start and will recommend to everyone. Five stars!

A really great and intriguing read. I loved the characters and the story. Will look out for more from this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this feminist serial killer thriller. I really liked Saffy and the wry humour throughout.

Delightfully dark and beautifully written. Loved this feisty feminist tale about a serial killer you end up rooting for... 5 stars!

I had heard very mixed reviews about this book, so I made sure to go into it completely open-minded and see how I found it. Saffy is an independent woman who is ridding society of “bad” men - it is a cause that many women could get behind, perhaps just not in such a hardcore and extreme way as Saffy.

The premise of a feminist thriller really excited me, but I feel like this book had SO much more potential & it just did not reach a point anywhere near to its full potential, which was really disappointing. For a book which is meant to be about murder, it wasn’t very murder-y. It could have benefited from a few more murders, perhaps a list of targets & why they deserved to die; to start with at the beginning of the book.

Saffy was meant to be the main character however it felt like her and Jon were 50/50 the main character, which wasn’t very feminist or female-orientated. I liked both characters but Saffy deserved more & I would’ve liked to have seen more of her throughout the book, with more focus on her.

The chapters were relatively short & I got through the book pretty quickly which is always a positive - I would recommend reading this book but I would also not say to RUN and get it.

A really fun story with a twist. Bad Men keeps you hooked in with a whole new version of a will she won't she.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book with a difference.

Loved it! After reading How to Kill your family, I am looking for similar books. So pleased this is a developing genre, keep them coming!!

Feminine rage. I love it. Maybe that’s telling and we should all be a little bit scared! When I saw this book that sounded like a sassy story about a bad ass woman dishing out vengeance to deserving men I was all over that!!

It was not what I got. This is really a bit of a romance. I persevered on though as I had enjoyed the opening and the following chapters told from our main characters perspective. Unfortunately, overall this was a little too cliche for me. I struggled with the perfection and chances of good luck etc…The storyline itself could have really worked had it stayed with a much darker element and I feel that there’s more potential there from this author in that area. The romance aspects felt written in a way to cater to the masses and gave the book a very disjointed feeling.

I feel that there is definitely a target audience out there who will enjoy this book. I just don’t belong to it!

Headlines:
Endearing socio-psychopath
Gripping plot
Laughs along the way

The vibe this book brought to what I thought would be a straight thriller was fabulous. Satire, sass and feminism all wrapped up in a morally-dark grey protagonist Saffy. Her kills were justified, she had conniving dedication to the cause of trying to meet the crime podcaster John. She lived without conscience.

There was a serial killer or two to bust, police that were inept, relationship breakdowns and a lovely dog. John was a depressed mess but Saffy brought him back to life and gave him a purpose. My feelings about her were so conflicted but the issue with the dog stopped me ever really liking her.

I laughed internally at the dialogue, the plot and Saffy's attitude to those in her crossfire, she really was the villain and superstar of the piece. I really do hope there aren't actually people out there like her.

This was a great debut, seamlessly written with a fast but well-paced plot. I highly recommend.

Thank you to Zaffre Books for the review copy.

A very different book where the serial killer is female and you root for her. This is clever, dry and littered with black humour. Go buy it!

I raced through this book, it was easy to read, kept me on my toes and I enjoyed the characters, possibly more the male than the female as I thought from the description she might be committing more murders in the present than she actually did. Nevertheless. it kept my attention and had a satisfying ending.

Why was so much time spent on the male podcaster rather than the actually interesting anti-men female serial killer?

Funny, unpredictable and unlike other things I've read before. Safe has an interesting way of dealing with the challenging men in her life - she kills them. So when she sets her sight on Jon, a true-crime podcaster and writer, she is taking a risk. An entertaining read and 'Girl' the dog kept making me smile.

Saffy offers a light-hearted taken on a serial killer with a purpose. That is, she only kills bad guys. It started when her stepdad had started to molest her, and she has out manoeuvred and successfully killed those men that she considers deserve it since.
She is rich, beautiful, intelligent, and oozing with confidence – maybe too much confidence. She places herself in the path of good guy, true crime podcaster and author Jonathan Desrosier, whom she has a crush on. This leads to a layered play out as she helps Jonathon to re-find himself and look to solve another serial killer case, which Jonathon has been accused of. It has to be said they are good for each other and there is a romcom aspect that is played out here.
The book brings humour to an otherwise dark subject. The writing and plot is very clever, some great twists and turns with other distinct characters that add to the story. The police perhaps get a dumbed down a bit, but there is lots of manipulation to observe being played out. Very entertaining, somewhat different in its feminist delivery. The ending perhaps could have been a bit stronger, but probably an ideal holiday read.

A book about a feminist serial killer is not an obvious read for me, but I actually enjoyed this fast moving thriller. The reader even comes to enjoy the time spent with Saffy, even if she does so unspeakable things. Highly recommended as a page-turning thriller with real humour.

I saw the blurb for this in Red Magazine, and thought it sounded interesting (and with a similar vibe to Bella Mackie’s ‘How To Kill Your Family‘ which I very much enjoyed) – so I requested an ARC from NetGalley and was lucky enough to be granted it. Here’s the blurb:

“It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to kill them . . .
Saffy has a secret. A secret that she is deeply ashamed of. It’s not the fact that she’s a serial killer in her free time. In fact, she’s quite proud of that. After all she’s only killing the bad men. She is making the world a better place.
No, her secret is far worse than that. Saffy has a messy, inexplicable, uncontrollable crush. So while she’s busy plotting her next murder, she also has the much harder task of figuring out how to get a boyfriend.
But if there’s one thing Saffy knows, it’s how to get her man . . “

The book is told from two perspectives – that of Saffy (or Seraphine Huntley-Oliver to give her her Sunday name!) with chapters told in the first person, and then from Jon – a true crime podcaster, with chapters told in the third person. I liked this change in ‘voice’ throughout the book (and thought it must have been quite hard to write like that?)

The initial chapter, when Saffy is still quite young, was quite disturbing – and I did wonder if the book was going to be that dark throughout. But it was actually setting the scene for why Saffy is how she is – a serial killer of bad men!

Whilst the rest of the book does contain more murders – they don’t seem as upsetting, and there’s a lot of dark humour throughout.

As well as the ‘love story’ between Saffy and Jon – there are various murders and other crimes – and the supporting cast of Saffy’s sister and her loser boyfriend, and Jon’s wife all add to the substance of the book.

There are lots of twists and turns and murders which make it very interesting – and I was always keen to see what happened next. I thought a couple of the twists were quite predictable – but most definitely not all! It was a really fun read – honestly, despite being about serial killers it really was!!

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC. It was released in July 2023 – so you can but it already – and it would make a perfect summer read.

I absolutely LOVED this darkly entertaining book. I read it in a weekend as I didn't want to put it down.
Julie Mae Cohen is such a good writer and she somehow manages to tie up all the ends, but leaving enough hanging for the reader to want more, even after the final page. That is a talent!
Where to start? Saffy is a serial killer - but madly, I really liked her and wanted the best for her and for her not to get caught. I defy any reader not to feel the same. And she does only kill bad men.. Jon, on the other hand, is a pretty good man, but with a job that often involves him solving crimes, catching killers and then writing about it.
The chemistry between them is so well written. (Can we have a book 2 please JMC?)
And there is a dog. Girl is one of the best written dogs I have come across in fiction. We don't get any insight into her thoughts, but the descriptions of her behaviour says it all. Brilliant!
I am going to be shouting from the rooftops about this one. I am so glad I read it.

A fabulously written gripping story that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book

Bad Men By Julie Mae Cohen

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Thanks to @zaffrebooks and @bonnierbooks_uk for the arc!

A five star thriller /rom-com (I’m unsure!), I have never read anything like this. It was so much fun, it was thrilling and at some points it just was absolutely jaw-dropping in how incredible the writing was. Saffy is our main character who is just so charming and is just doing her bit to rid the world of bad men… by killing them. Saffy has a crush on Jon and we get to see both POV’s which becomes hilarious as the Saffy that is projected to the world is entirely different to the Saffy we get to see as she goes about killing men and making plans to date Jon.

Jon and Saffy aren’t just love interests, their storylines are also interwoven as Saffy is a murderer and Jon a true crime podcaster. The story from Jon’s POV deals with some very real issues but they’re so carefully crafted into the story that it never feels too heavy or like they’ve just been skipped over. We also see a side of obsession that comes with podcasts which I found very interesting! I have never read a killer that I have enjoyed reading so much, and that’s something I never thought I’d say but please read this book and tell me otherwise!

I put this up there with How to kill your family but this one has much more of a comedic twist and also some incredible little plot lines that aren’t followed up until the last moment.