Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

“It’s spring, and a new evil has awoken.”

Another dark, intense and unnerving book from JK Ellem! I loved the first book in this series, A Winter’s Kill, which I reviewed a couple of months ago and I was so excited to dive straight into the next. A Spring Kill really takes this series to a whole other level… I hope you’re ready! I’m so thrilled to be sharing my review for book two!

About the book

Sam Pritchard, the Highway Killer from Utah, tried to kill her…but failed.

Robin Hood, the winter serial killer who terrorized most of the Midwest, did kill her, and technically, Carolyn Ryder, for almost five minutes, was dead. But the woman who surgeons brought back to life on the operating table is not the same woman who was wheeled into the ER without a heartbeat.

She has changed. But one thing hasn’t changed. Carolyn Ryder has some unfinished business, and it’s called Sam Pritchard. She wants to find him real bad. And when she does…she’s not interested in capturing him.

She’s going to kill him.

The beginning

After reading book one of this series, A Winter’s Kill, back in June, I was so excited to jump back into another serial killer story from JK Ellem! This one took a little longer for me to get into than the first, but as soon as Sam Pritchard was mentioned, ‘The Highway Killer’ who once tried to kill our MC, Carolyn, the one who had murdered countless women before, I knew I’d still really enjoy this story. Let’s backtrack a little… From the ending of the last book and the horrors she’d endured, to the beginning of this one, Carolyn Ryder had changed. She gets unexpected, life altering news and she has a mission; to not only find Pritchard, but to kill him. She gives herself nine months to do the job, with a fierce drive and motivation, a lack of concern for her safety. She felt like a very different character to the first book, and I just hoped I would continue to love this new version of her throughout book two! It didn’t take me long to get inside Carolyn’s head, to really understand her motives and what she wants to achieve in such a short space of time. I was curious to see how her plans played out!

“I’ve found no solace in this place where I work until the small hours of the morning. Just a limitless supply of anguish to feed my determination to catch him, my nemesis: the man who haunts me endlessly. The man who tried to kill me.”

As with the previous book, I loved (and was horrified by) the author’s detail, descriptions of how this killer took women’s lives, dismembered their bodies, tortured them. And it only got more intense as we’re introduced to another character, Emma. It seemed Emma was his new target. I loved the different POVs; hearing from Carolyn, Emma and the killer himself really brought everything to life and helps us to see the story from all angles. I love hearing from a killer’s perspective! It was great to see characters I’d liked from book one, especially Aaron Wood and Beatriz Vega, Carolyn’s old colleagues and friends. I loved how both Aaron and Vega had differing views on missing girl, Emma. Aaron isn’t convinced she’s another victim of The Highway Killer. But Vega’s senses are tingling. I liked her, but wished she had more air time! Emma’s POV was tense and unpredictable. She is taken and held captive, and I found these scenes a little too horrific, even though I could see them play out like a horror film in my mind. It was quite uncomfortable to read, but it did stick with me.

The middle

This author is pretty good at making you want to read on after a chapter ends, and I found this book to be super easy to binge-read. The chapters are short and snappy and for me, this really helps to keep that momentum going, to keep me invested. Carolyn’s quest to find Emma felt really intense, but a sudden face-off with Pritchard at the mid-point felt a little premature. It also felt a little off that the only person Carolyn asks about possible hiding places just happens to pick the correct area. Despite this, a lot happens here which made me overlook this, and I soon began to fear for Carolyn’s life once again as she experiences a horror unlike anything else. There was one scene where Pritchard effortlessly takes a life, and from the ease of it alone and the brutality of it, it made me think of the countless times he’d done it before. God, it was dark and so unnerving, but wonderfully so. Other than his ability to kill with ease, one thing we know for sure about Pritchard is that he loves the thrill of a chase. Things were about to get creepy!

“There is something innately horrible about someone killing another human being with their bare hands.”

I loved the atmospheric descriptions, how Emma and Carolyn are separately trying to outrun Pritchard in the moonlight, with Carolyn also trying to find Emma before she is hunted down. I could see these eerie scenes so vividly in my mind, each small detail perfectly setting the scene. The book seemed to quickly turn into a kind of horror, something which would work so well on the big screen. I was reading so quickly, flying through chapters as Carolyn and Emma experience hurdle after hurdle after hurdle, just trying to escape, trying to keep safe. But I wasn’t convinced both of these women would get out of this place alive. I really liked how much a big chunk of the book focuses on this chase, and it was easily my favourite part. I was always engaged here, always wondering what the outcome would be, concerned about how many more lives would be lost before Carolyn could bring this guy (and his psychotic sidekick) down. I was really looking forward to seeing how the ending played out, as well as how it would lead into the third book of the series.

The end

It was strange (but brilliant) to be reminded that Carolyn and Emma hadn’t actually met each other until this point in the book. How wild is that, two really solid characters, one running away from this horror, one running towards it? When they do finally meet, they meet at the most crucial moment, when things were at their most dangerous. And Carolyn is faced with a tough dilemma. Does she do the right thing, or the thing she’s wanted to do for so damn long? It was emotional at times, horrific in others and tense consistently. Would Carolyn be able to finish what she started with the time she had left? Emma was such a strong character, especially in the aftermath of everything she’d gone through. Her experiences with Pritchard had changed her. I would love for her to join forces with Carolyn, to continue hunting for this monster together. What a good angle that would be! Carolyn does a lot of reflection on what happened during her time in that forest, and what is still left for her to do. She sees a bit of herself in Emma, and so did I. They shared a confidence, a kind of bravery and determination.

“Nightmares, however, always manage to find you. And Sam Pritchard always leaves his indelible stain, like pure acid on your skin, on those who go on living in his murderous wake.”

I loved the ‘later’ chapters, part of which focused on Pritchard. I didn’t expect a photo of him!! But he looked exactly like the person I had envisioned which felt a little scary to say the least. But it just goes to show what a great, lifelike character this author has built up over time. The fact he wasn’t quite dead (yet), the fact that this only fuelled the monster inside him made me very excited and equally as terrified to jump into the third book of this series. These final chapters also visit a new character, another killer, and potentially a new dangerous link to Carolyn… the worst kind of person she could get involved with! I felt the ending of this book was strong and is the perfect transition into the third book of the series, one I am really looking forward to picking up soon, so watch this space! If you’re a fan of books about serial killers and strong female protagonists, then you’ll probably like this book as well as the series. Definitely recommend you start with book one, A Winter’s Kill, but the books (so far) definitely read well as standalones. Onto the next!

Overall thoughts

A Spring Kill isn’t just a tension-filled thrill ride. It’s a grim horror and a chilling mystery, with our fearless MC Carolyn Ryder hunting down the serial killer who once tried to take her life. When Carolyn is given life-altering news, she makes it her mission to not only find the man who tried to kill her, but to ensure he never hurts another woman again. I really enjoyed the continuing development of Carolyn’s character in this book, and I can see how this will continue into the next book of the series. She’s such a brilliant character to follow who has been through a hell of a lot. Hearing from three main POVs worked really well and had me flying through this book. How this killer hunts down his victims is something that will really stay with me.

This book seemed much darker than the last, which had its pros and cons, and I’m interested to see where the author takes this ruthless hunt for a serial killer in the third book! I preferred the first book in the series to this one, but I still enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it, as well as this series!

You can grab your own copy of A Spring Kill right now on Amazon. Make sure you’re following the author over on Instagram for more more updates!

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