3.5 stars
This was my first book by this author, so going in I wasn't sure what to expect. But going off the blurb, I was hoping this would be a funny, entertaining read that had some dark humour thrown in. Did I get that? Well, sort of.
First off that prologue was fantastic and I was immediately hooked and invested in the story.
I really did enjoy the authors writing style, it flowed really well and I didn't want to stop reading. I also found that I liked both of the characters Saffy & Jon.
However, as this went on it started to focus more and more on Saffy's crush and it just turned into a rom com. There was also a near complete lack of humour throughout. I wanted this to focus more on Saffy and her killings, not just the romance.
There were also absolutely no surprises or twists to the plot.
I found the ending to be slightly disappointing. The whole thing felt like it could have been a bit better, which is a shame because it started out so well.

Saffy will do anything to protect her sister from harm, including murder. Saffy is a feminist serial killer who targets bad men. She considers her crimes to be an act for the greater good.

Jon is the host of a crime podcast and crime author. His obsession with solving crimes has lead to his marriage ending. Little does he know that Saffy has had a crush on him for quite some time and will go to any lengths to get her man.

I don’t want to give anything else away so it is hard to write a review without spoilers. The book is fast paced and the introduction is quite dark however, I felt like you didn’t see much of Saffy’s dark side. This book felt more like a romance than a thriller. I also thought that Saffy was going to be the main character who was going to be committing murders and fighting the patriarchy, what I actually felt was that Jon was the main character and he had much more character development than Saffy. It kind of felt like this started out as Saffy’s story but she got lost half way and Jon overshadowed her. However, this is still a great book and the story will keep you guessing right to the end.

Thank you to @netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

All hail Julie Mae Cohen, the Queen of the Revenge character!
There has been an explosion of interest in the area of revenge killing/female serial killers in crime fiction in recent years and it is a genre that I have struggled to enjoy. Until now. Bad Men is original and funny, with the type of characters, that the reader cannot help but sympathising with throughout the novel. After all, dating is not easy and there are some real creeps out there. Plus, when Saffy (or Seraphine Huntley-Oliver to be formal) is talking directly to the reader, she is refreshingly honest about her reasons and actions. She is also down-right funny on occasion when explaining her reasons for buying a particular brand of car (greater boot space = more space to hide the body). And it's not often that we hear of a killer attempting to arrange a 'cute-meet' (I had to google the meaning of this phrase but it is sufficiently out of the usual context of a killer that it fits Saffy perfectly)
Saffy is not the sole focus on the novel however. We also have Jon, a true crime podcaster, cold case solver and the object of Saffy's affections. Cohen also provides the reader with Jon's POV and we learn about his experiences and fears as a results of his work. There's also a quirly mystery surrounding Jon and soon Saffy must step in to resolve the case or risk loosing Jon, before she actually catches him!

Saffy comes from an extremely rich family - she is intelligent, well-groomed and appears to be very well-adjusted - but she's also a serial killer. Her targets though are 'bad men', men guilty of abuse and violence. Saffy's other secret is that she has a crush on a podcaster/writer - someone who is also fascinated by killers.

She decides to pursue Jonathan but in the meantime he's also being pursued by someone who turns out to have altogether darker intentions than Saffy.

I thought I'd enjoy this more than I did - it's almost more of a romance than a thriller (a romance with a darker, grimmer background story than is usual, but a romance none-the-less). I did race to the end because I really did want to find out what happened so in that way it's a page-turner.

The most obvious comparison is with 'How to Kill Men and Get away with it' - the main character in that one seems to kill more men than Saffy though.

The ending leaves open the possibility that there will be a follow-up.

This book was everything that I anticipated and more. From the very first chapter I was hooked and I couldn't wait to unravel more of the story and piece together the mysteries that Cohen laid out for both the characters and reader. There were a number of times were I could see how the narrative may play out however this did not take away from the twists and turns that Cohen created to get there. I was obsessed with Saffy, she was like the feminist upper class Joe Goldberg. The characters were layered and it was easy to sink into the narrative and feel swept up in the chaos surrounding Jon and Saffy. In a number of places I was in fact able to visualise the story as though it was a film or series and feel that this would be an entertaining series due to how the crime and comedy perfectly played together. I really enjoyed this book and found it perfect amongst other crime fiction that I've been reading lately, such as How To Kill Men and Get Away with It and You'd Look Better as a Ghost.

Deliciously Dark & Funny!
Wickedly humorous and entertaining with laugh out loud moments.
A fast-paced, tense and engaging page turner. Reminiscent of a female Dexter.
Saffy is damaged and broken but still manages to portray the best version of herself.
Two POV characters, a great plot and well developed characters.
Hoping for a sequel! Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the author, [ublisher and NetGalley UK.

This one really sounded like a bit of me, I was excited to read it and I really wanted to love it. As much as this was an easy and enjoyable read, I’m left somewhat disappointed.

What was marketed as a feminist thriller about a female serial killer, was more about her LI and his dilemmas. She almost became a side character in her own story, which was a shame.

Now, I did find Saffy an interesting and morally grey character. She’s a vigilante with very fierce views on why and how she does things. As much as her and her questionable moral code are difficult to get on board with, you do feel somewhat of a kinship with her.

Sadly I didn’t warm to Johnathan, her love interest as much. The ‘good guy’ whose moral compass was more than a little off. I just didn’t believe their relationship, it seemed forced (for obvious reasons) and uncomfortable. This, in parts added a certain quality to the book, but for the most part fell flat.

It definitely felt like more a suspenseful book club read, not a serial killer, thriller. Not to give any spoilers but it was 80 odd percent of the way through before she actually killed anyone and even then it was closed door.

I feel like I’ve moaned a lot about this book and I don’t mean to. It really isn’t a bad book at all, it’s well written and would definitely appeal to people. I think it’s because it just didn’t hit the mark for what it was advertised as, so I was left a little disappointed.

Bad Men is a very different novel to those I have already read written by Julie Cohen. Here she has a slightly different name and a much darker story about a woman who revels in killing bad men. But throughout the journey that includes a romance there is plenty of humour and I think Ms Cohen will attract new fans with Bad Men. Many thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books/Zaffre for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I read the synopsis of 'Bad Men' it reminded me of Bella Mackie's 'How to Kill your Family' and I was immediately intrigued.

The story centres around Seraphina 'Saffy' Huntley-Oliver, a heiress, former model and socialite. But Saffy has a secret:

"My name is Saffy Huntley-Oliver, and I kill bad men. Of course, that's a secret. To the outside world, I'm something different... Killing bad men is my private hobby, my passion project, the thing that makes me tick. It's my own humble attempt at smashing the patriarchy... As a hobby it's not as Instagrammable as baking, but at least it's better for your thighs"

But now Saffy has fallen in love, with Jonathan 'Jon' Desrosiers, a true crime podcaster and crime writer who has run away to a shack in the Highlands after the breakdown of his marriage, quickly followed by the discovery of a dead body. Jon battles with whether his podcast and crime writings glorify murder, and whether he brought danger into his life. Saffy is keen to get him back to himself and will go to any lengths to get her man.

At the start I liked Saffy’s narrative of her past crimes, but they tailed off after she detailed the first two or three murders. I liked hearing about her own form of justice and the morality of a sociopath serial killer. The story became more about how Saffy was going to get her man, and was she going to kill him if he didn’t fall into line?

I liked the fast paced story, and connected with both Saffy and Jon. One star was lost for animal cruelty (though I understand how it fits in the story) and one paragraph in the finale which I thought was totally out of place and incomplete – about a knife - I had to read it three or four times to see if I’d misunderstood. While I understood what it meant it did feel like a copy and paste error.

If you like a bit of feminist murder and patriarchy-smashing, you'll enjoy this.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books for the ARC.

Fabulous! Such a devilishly enjoyable read. Nit quite as psychotic as Sweetpea but equally as funny. The book was a quick read but managed to hold a decent storyline throughout and didn't feel rushed. Would be great to catch up with Saffy in a sequel.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I loved the blurb of this so was excited to read it, but unfortunately it fell short of expectations. Although the story surrounding Jon was interesting, as he character be wasn't well developed, and Saffy was equally one-dimensional. The book was predictable and Saffy's story which drew me in felt like a side plot that didn't go anywhere. I do think the concept was great, however, and would be interested in other books exploring similar.

Honestly I absolutely loved this book. A funny serial killer book with a narrator that you can’t help but love! Saffie honest and funny and just absurd enough that you find her charming!
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a murder themed comedy with a little bit of thriller thrown in.
Instantly one of my favourite reads of this year!

I was intrigued by this title although unsure how the author was going to balance a female serial killer with a traditional M/F romance. As it turns out, I was right to be dubious. And apparently I turned up for the serial killer, not the crush. Part of the issue is that I had expectations of a tongue in cheek bloody satire and then it switches to a romance. It was jarring. The two separate if not disparate storylines did not mesh. And I have to admit once we got into the romance, I lost interest. Plus I couldn’t switch off the little voice saying ‘this is ridiculous’. So I guess this one was just not for me.

“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…”

After a promising start, in which the comparisons to CJ Slide’s Sweetpea and Balla Mackie’s How To Kill Your Family seemed to be more than fair, Bad Men took nose dive into romance novel territory and never recovered. Instead of focusing on the genuinely fascinating character of Saffy - she fricking kills bad men ffs, what a great set up! - the book instead focuses more on true crime podcaster Jon, who I found dull as ditchwater yet is supposed to be so irresistible that Saffy hatches a complicated plot to get with him.

Bad Men would be ideal if you enjoy romance novels with odd set-ups, but if you’re expecting a thriller you may be disappointed.

Bad Men is a fabulous read ,Saffy Huntley Oliver is a serial killer who targets bad men and so far has got away with it .This book is fun ,witty sometimes shocking a thriller that is hard to put down .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Female serial killer? Yes, Please!

This was entertaining from the very first page to the very last page!

Love me some feminism!

Go and check this book out today! Could be a new favourite for you!

Guess who ordered herself a copy? This girl!

Rating: 2.5⭐️ rounded to 3⭐️

Saffy Huntley-Oliver is a serial killer who targets bad men. She develops a crush on time crime podcaster and author Jonathan Desrosiers which interferes with her plotting her next murder. But Saffy knows how to get her man…

This book started with a lot of promise until it changed to he about Saffy’s crush which turns into an obsession which consumes her. This definitely read more like a romance than a thriller to me. The female main character went from being portrayed from a strong, independent women ridden the world free of bad men to being desperate for the attention of one man.

We didn’t hear much from Saffy in this book and she felt more like a side character than the main one. I would have loved to hear more from her because I liked her backstory and her motivation for her murders. We heard more from her crush Jonathan. I do wish that the POVs were more balanced so that we got to know them both equally. This book felt predictable and like the author wasn’t sure what direction to go in.

It felt fast paced, however at times, it was too fast paced because some things were concluded way too fast so didn’t make as much as an impact. I do wish that her carrying out murders played a more active part within this book. The ending felt rushed like it was trying to tie everything up fast.

⚠️ CWs: murder, cheating, alcohol use, blood, animal cruelty, derogatory language, profanity, sexual harassment, physical assault; mentions death, paedophilia, rape, suicide, sexual assault, drug use, domestic abuse, sex, arson, misogyny & animal murder ⚠️

* Thank you to NetGalley and Zaffre for the opportunity to read this book. *

I love books like this, heroines with a black streak through them but ones you can relate to a book that you will keep turning the pages on that’s for sure.

I am showing my age now in referencing my review to an excerpt from a song in The Sound of Music; How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How on earth do I review a novel which was so good but I cannot define why?
It's a sort of thriller but not the best I have ever read.
It's a romance novel but again not the best I have ever read.
It's a black comedy but not the most laugh out loud funny, I've ever read.
What it is, is far, far greater than the sum of its parts.
I suppose if you've watched Villanelle on TV, there are some similarities but without the asides to camera.
If you are looking for a really entertaining read and this brief description has whetted your appetite, follow it through as you won't be disappointed.

Saffy is intelligent, beautiful, and very rich. She also has a secret, Saffy is a serial killer. It’s only a hobby and she only kills bad men so that’s okay, right?
Unfortunately, Saffy has now done something she has never done before, something she thought she would never do. She has fallen for someone. Jonathan is a true crime podcaster who caught a killer and Saffy is determined to catch Jonathan.
This could be her hardest test yet but Saffy have never shied away from a challenge.
Different, funny, sharp. This is a totally different take on a serial killer book. Saffy is funny, engaging and, in a weird way, very moral and principled.