Six Strikes by Antonia Grave

Description from Goodreads:

"There's no smoke without fire…As someone who has suffered abuse at the hands of men, Maddie protects women by murdering those who attack them – men she calls ‘fleas’. Fleas are men who follow women home. Abusive husbands who refuse to walk away. And then there’s the Manchester a serial killer stalking the streets, determined to murder people like her.

But Maddie can’t get away with it forever. Years later, in the interview room of her prison, she comes face-to-face with a very important visitor. Someone she’s going to tell all to, about how she caught one of the UK’s most prolific serial killers, and how she got caught as one herself…"

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Started off well but fizzled out

I picked up Six Strikes by Antonia Grave because the premise sounded like it was going to be right up my street. It's a dark thriller about Maddie Reid, who survived a terrible childhood in captivity and now spends her time as a vigilante. She hunts down men she calls "fleas" while also trying to find a serial killer known as the Manchester Maniac. The story jumps between her past and the present day, where she's being interviewed in prison.

It definitely started off strong and I was hooked by the opening. The idea of a killer hunting another killer is such a good setup and I found the early chapters quite tense. Maddie is a really complicated character and it was interesting to see how her past turned her into someone who takes the law into her own hands to protect others.

However, I'm afraid it didn't hold my interest all the way through. About halfway in, the pace seemed to slow down and the plot felt like it was dragging. It became a bit of a struggle to keep going and I actually ended up skimming quite a bit towards the end just to see how it all wrapped up.

It's a decent enough debut with a unique concept, but the execution didn't quite maintain the initial intrigue for me. It wasn't a bad read – it just didn't live up to the hopes I had at the start.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this book.

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