When I Kill You

 

When I Kill You by B.A. Paris
2/17/26; 304 pages
St. Martin's Press

When I Kill You by B.A. Paris is a recommended psychological thriller where stalking/stalkers is the focus.

Nell Masters' life is going well now and she's in a good relationship with Alex. She also knows someone is following her, she just doesn't know who it is or why it is happening, but all the indications are there. Fourteen years ago Alex was Elle Nugent. After she saw  Bryony Sanders, who was later found murdered, get into a stranger’s car, Elle became obsessed with the man driving the car and relentlessly stalked him. This experience ended badly, thus her name change, but it is also this experience years earlier that fuels her certainty that she is currently being stalked. 

The glacially slow but entertaining plot unfolds through chapters that alternate between the past and present, telling the story of Elle/Nell. Included in between the earlier/later chapters are chapters through the voice of Nell's stalker, which always end with the words, "when I kill you." There are plenty of secrets held by everyone and more than one suspect for the current stalker. The chapters are short, which helps hold your attention.

Nell's anxiety does increase, but the slow pace kept much of the tension at bay for this reader. Younger Elle is immature and her obsession can be annoying while, as Nell, she has a reason for her current paranoia. This one lost the thrill early on and the suspense and trepidation about the identity of the stalker was slow building. Not a bad novel, but B.A. Paris has written much better. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.