When I Kill You

by Michelle Wan

Paperback, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Description

Gina Lopez is 26, a postal worker during the week, a mud wrestler on weekends. She's also a recent widow, though she is not exactly mourning the death of her abusive husband Chico. Instead, she's anxiously awaiting the life-insurance settlement that will pay off his gambling debts. After that she's hoping to take her mud-wrestling skills out of small-town-Ontario bars and down to the more lucrative U.S. circuit. And then Marcia Beekland enters her life. Marcia has video evidence that appears to implicate Gina in Chico's death. Faced with the likelihood of a jail sentence and the certain loss of the insurance settlement, Gina succumbs to Marcia's blackmail demands. And what Marcia wants is that Gina kill her husband Stanley. What follows is a comic mystery caper that will keep readers both laughing and eagerly reading to discover what is really behind Marcia's increasingly crazed demands.… (more)

Publication

Rapid Reads (2012), 144 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member Dabble58
Well. What do you get if you're a struggling mud-wrestler, trying to make some cash after the untimely and vaguely suspicious-looking death of your abusive husband, and you find out someone has filmed the suspicious-looking stuff and wants to blackmail you?
You get a strangely amusing romp through
Show More
"how do you kill someone without really wanting to" techniques...
As a fast read, this book flew by - it reads well and is funny in parts, absurd in others. There are lengthy descriptions of the mud-wrestling bouts, which made me feel soggy, and rather less effort making the reader want to cheer for Gina as she goes through the various murder attempts. The best character, by far, is the blackmailer Marcia Beekland. She's the one I'd like to meet, with her waspish tongue and generally horrid approach to life.
It's always a problem in mysteries when the antagonist is a more interesting character than the protagonist. Gina comes off as rather two-dimensional and the capers in the book are light enough to seem "cheap and common" as my old mum would say. Her motivation for heading out to kill a stranger in a fairly brutal way isn't convincing. I'd like to see the whole thing either ramped up to the truly absurd or taken down to the significant - here the story falters in a blandness that takes away most of its charm.
And it could be funny. It's just that the capers are so familiar. Seems made-for-TV.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LynnB
This is the fourth "Rapid Reads" book I've read. Telling a good story in a reasonably plausible way with good characters in such a short book is a real challenge. This author was up to that challenge (not all of the series authors are, in my opinion).

This is the story of Gina, a postal clerk and
Show More
part-time mud wrestler who is blackmailed into commiting a murder. Gina is an interesting character who seems to get herself into bad situations -- and from the way she reacts to the blackmail, it's not surprising she gets herself into trouble. Gina's life provides an interesting story with insight into human nature, especially the need for self-preservation and the pursuit of what we think we need to be happy.
Show Less
LibraryThing member crazybatcow
It's a "Rapid Read" book and, as such, is intended to be a quick read (this just means it's really only a short story). The author has to create a character we care enough about to read about, introduce some struggle to be overcome, then overcome it, all in the space of 140 pages and, for the most
Show More
part, Wan succeeds in doing this.

It is decently written and the story does go full circle. And you might even like Gina enough to actually care what happens to her. That being said, however, I have to say that I didn't find the story content particularly believable and Gina's behavior was abnormal - I don't see how one can go from mud-wrestling to attempting murder and then back to mud-wrestling without some sort of internal disturbance. That, and anyone who has watched any CSI would know that her attempts at murder either wouldn't have worked in the first place, or would have left enough evidence that she would have been caught for it. Perhaps the "murder" she was being blackmailed about would have carried a lighter sentence (self-defense) than murder-for-hire would...

Anyway, I think it was a decently written story, it just wasn't deep enough, or meaningful enough for me.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
This is a great little book: an easy and fast read as it promises, it grips the reader from the start both for its characters and setting as for its plot. A seedy small town, a mud wrestler and a conniving witness make for a great story. The strength rests on the writer's ability to describe Gina's
Show More
emotions and mounting nervousness and recklessness. Its low point is probably the final twist: well-thought out but a little contrived,especially after the well-constructed plot where the action systematically spirals out of control, in a very realistic way. All in all, however, very enjoyable. A book I would easily recommend.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AlmaB
This was an o.k. short story. I didn't find the characters or the storyline personally appealing but it was well written. However, I wouldn't call it a novel and I'm surprised it's being marketed as anything other than a short story using an oversized, widely space font in a book binding. Hopefully
Show More
the pricing will reflect the fact that it is a short story or I think it will backfire on the publishers and people will feel cheated out of the full price of a full length book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mrdoan72
This is one really good book to read. the characters are great, the plot is great what more can you say. i highly recommend this book
LibraryThing member bill
Raven Books says good things come in small packages. When I Kill You is one of their Rapid Reads by Michelle Wan. I do not normally seek out “short” stories, preferring instead to read mysteries and thrillers with more complexity. Wan’s book arrived shortly before I had my first of two
Show More
cataract surgeries. Reading a long complex book was definitely not on my things to do. Wan’s book proved to be the right length and it provided the satisfaction of a complex read ideally suited to my shorter reading times. I have a new appreciation for the value of a “rapid read.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member ddracer7040
Suspensful. A good read. Recommend for a fast easy read, but still interesting.
LibraryThing member momweaver
This was a very good, quick read. A definite twist on the typical murder mystery. The story moved quickly, and the suspense holds you until the end.
LibraryThing member Romonko
I was sent this book by the publisher in order that I might review it and I have to say that it wasn't a bad story. It is a quick read, and took me less than an hour to get through it. The book is actually quite funny-a female mud wrestler who is a postal worker by day. Actually this little book
Show More
reminded me of Janet Evanovich's earlier Stephanie Plum novels, (when they were actually funny before they got too ridiculous). Gina is recruited as a reluctant hit woman. She is asked to kill a woman's husband or else the woman will release a video that could bring into question whether Gina's husband's death was an accident or a murder. The video could be interpreted as a deliberate push off the cliff and cause Gina to be arrested. It becomes apparent that Gina is no killer, and after several failed and hilarious attempts, a resolution of sorts to Gina's dilemma is reached. Not a bad comedic effort my Ms. Wan.
Show Less
LibraryThing member michellereads
This was not a bad little book. At about 140 pages, it's the first book that I have read from the "Rapid Raads" series, and the series is a great concept.

As expected, I was able to finish the book within the evening. It had slower parts, and faster-paced parts, but as it moved towards its
Show More
conclusion, it did hold my interest and keep me reading....when I should have been doing housework!

The book had its humourous moments (intentional, or otherwise), and was fairly well-written. Despite my lack of interest in the hobby of mud-wrestling, it was quite good (the mud-wrestling wasn't a huge part of the story). Lots of local references to places and establishments in Ontario, Canada.

Not sure the suthor was quite consistant regarding Chico - was he an abusive spouse, or not? Overall, worth the time and I would recommend it to someone looking for a quick little entertaining story.

Three and a half stars out of five.
Show Less

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

7.25 inches

ISBN

1554699908 / 9781554699902

Barcode

4266
Page: 1.4235 seconds