An academic experiments aimed to explore the psychopathic behavior went terribly wrong, with one student, Chloe being caught in a race against the clock to save herself while hunting a guy who wronged her terribly years ago. A Scooby-Doo gang getting dangerous while being hunted at the same time.
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian is a complex psychological novel with many unexpected turns, not only related to the action but also regarding biographical details of the characters putting many short episodes into a larger perspective. A carefully curated story, it is using the moral ambiguity of the characters to create suspense and a heavy, sometimes unbreathable, ambiance.
The characters are young people, some priviledged, some from humble background, identifying themselves as psychopaths. The aim of the program they are in is largely unclear for the most part of the story, but they are expected to report to various checkups and take part of some activities, while doing their own academic schedule.
But Chloe, who is the main storyteller, is here with a slightly different aim: to satisfy a very human basic emotion - revenge. At the same time, there is a serial murder wandering the campus, and Chloe feels followed. Would she be able to survive or can she with her super psychopathic skills use this situation as an opportunity to reach her goal?
I didn´t know what to expect from this book, but I got relatively easy caught into the story. The observations regarding psychopaths are used to build up the story and the characters, and was a fascinating part. However, I felt that there are many details wasted and there are many episodes lagging the story behind. I felt like the story is hurried towards the end, but the final installment though is playing again with ambiguity which is an inspired choice.
Never Saw Me Coming is Kurian´s debut novel. Since then, she published another book that I would really be curious to read one day.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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