Max Barry

From the critically acclaimed author of Jennifer Government and Lexicon comes mind-bending speculative psychological suspense about a serial killer pursuing his victim across time and space, and the woman who is determined to stop him, even if it upends her own reality. I love you. In every world. Young real estate agent Madison May is shocked when a client at an open house says these words to her. The man, a stranger, seems to know far too much about her, and professes his love--shortly before he murders her. Felicity Staples hates reporting on murders. As a journalist for a midsize New York City paper, she knows she must take on the assignment to research Madison May's shocking murder, but the crime seems random and the suspect is in the wind. That is, until Felicity spots the killer on the subway, right before he vanishes. Soon, Felicity senses her entire universe has shifted. No one remembers Madison May, or Felicity's encounter with the mysterious man. And her cat is missing. Felicity realizes that in her pursuit of Madison's killer, she followed him into a different dimension--one where everything about her existence is slightly altered. At first, she is determined to return to the reality she knows, but when Madison May--in this world, a struggling actress--is murdered again, Felicity decides she must find the killer--and learns that she is not the only one hunting him. Traveling through different realities, Felicity uncovers the opportunity--and danger--of living more than one life.

The 22 Murders of Madison May

From the critically acclaimed author of Jennifer Government and Lexicon comes mind-bending speculative psychological suspense about a serial killer pursuing his victim across time and space, and the woman who is determined to stop him, even if it upends her own reality. "I love you. In every world." Young real estate agent Madison May is shocked when a client at an open house says these words to her. The man, a stranger, seems to know far too much about her, and professes his love--shortly before he murders her. Felicity Staples hates reporting on murders. As a journalist for a midsize New York City paper, she knows she must take on the assignment to research Madison May's shocking murder, but the crime seems random and the suspect is in the wind. That is, until Felicity spots the killer on the subway, right before he vanishes. Soon, Felicity senses her entire universe has shifted. No one remembers Madison May, or Felicity's encounter with the mysterious man. And her cat is missing. Felicity realizes that in her pursuit of Madison's killer, she followed him into a different dimension--one where everything about her existence is slightly altered. At first, she is determined to return to the reality she knows, but when Madison May--in this world, a struggling actress--is murdered again, Felicity decides she must find the killer--and learns that she is not the only one hunting him. Traveling through different realities, Felicity uncovers the opportunity--and danger--of living more than one life.

ploral

Christine

Jehan Chawla

Such a good book. This book was so wonderfully written that it always had me on the edge of my seat. Such a page turner. The premise of the book is so unique and intriguing. The characters are established perfectly with each one of the main cast getting their time to shine. Can't wait to see the big screen adaptation of this page turner. Such a spell binding tale.

Adeline

Rachel Kanyid

'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.' In Queens, New York, 22-year-old real estate agent Madison May is showing a house. The buyer, a man she's never met, is friendly, engaging . . . and claims to be her soulmate from a parallel life. She's in danger, he tells her. He's come to save her. Later that day, newspaper journalist Felicity Staples is assigned to report on Madison May's murder. Discontent with her own life, Felicity finds herself drawn into a shocking conspiracy involving a powerful group who have harnessed the ability to slip between lives - to move between one version of reality to another. On the run, turned into an imposter in her own life, Felicity is forced to seek the truth behind Madison May, the woman who is murdered over and over, in different ways, wherever she goes. For only by saving Madison May can Felicity reassemble the broken pieces of herself. 'With unrelenting tension, Max Barry weaves a complex tapestry where a sociopath's insatiable obsession knows no bounds, not even time and space, and only two things are certain - he will kill her again because he's killed her before. I devoured this novel in one sitting.' J.D. Barker, author of A Caller's Game 'A crime thriller that tripped and fell through a manhole and into the multiverse. It's frenetic and funny and gut-wrenching by turns, and I absolutely could not put it down. You need to read this book. Do it. Do it now.' Edward Ashton, author of The End of Ordinary 'Beware Max Barry. Once his story grabs hold, you will forget to eat, sleep, and bathe until you're left with the world's worst book hangover. An exhilarating rocket shot of a thriller tempered with Barry's trademark wit and warmth.' David Yoon, author of Version Zero

Cindy Lieberman

While I very much enjoy SciFi set across the multiverse, the resolution of this chase around the worlds felt a bit unsatisfactory. It could have had more humor as well. 
Some excellent writing around the idea of mooring - anchoring to a world with specific totems - and the small and sweet nuances that bind us to the people we love in our instance of the multiverse. 
3.5, rounded down.

I don’t typically gravitate towards science fiction, but something about the description of this book drew me in. If you’re like me and not typically a sci-fi reader, I think this is a great choice because it’s definitely on the lighter end. 

We meet Maddie May who’s just trying to sell a house, but she’s about to get a hell of a lot more than she bargained for. I love that the first little plot twist comes in so quickly as Maddie is killed almost right away. 

The storyline was intriguing and definitely page turning. I found the writing to be wonderful and really kept the story flowing correctly. 

My only complaint would be that around 3/4 of the way through it was starting to get a bit repetitive, but the ending really saved it and pulled it back from that ledge. 

Alyssa Rovella

I don’t typically gravitate towards science fiction, but something about the description of this book drew me in. If you’re like me and not typically a sci-fi reader, I think this is a great choice because it’s definitely on the lighter end. 

We meet Maddie May who’s just trying to sell a house, but she’s about to get a hell of a lot more than she bargained for. I love that the first little plot twist comes in so quickly as Maddie is killed almost right away. 

The storyline was intriguing and definitely page turning. I found the writing to be wonderful and really kept the story flowing correctly. 

My only complaint would be that around 3/4 of the way through it was starting to get a bit repetitive, but the ending really saved it and pulled it back from that ledge. 

Overall I did really like this book.

sophia n

i actually am surprised how much i enjoyed this read! a really fun light sci-fi take on the metaverse, that read like a non-stop thriller action film, with some super fun characters and really well paced and plotted story beats. happily surprised by this read, i would highly rec this to people who either are new to sci-fi or just don't actually like heavy sci-fi.

i think my only drawback is that the sci-fi element was very light, and that's obviously a super personal preference. i would have loved a little more focus on the actual science and fleshed out world-building around the group introduced. the story teased it but never really followed through on that front and i think it would have been an all time favorite read for me if it had. still really glad i picked this up.

Lacey Feigl

Madison May will die. Murdered to be exact and it will keep happening until Clay gets what he wants… the perfect Madison May. He will travel through several timelines to hunt Madison down unless he is stopped by an unexpected group of people who are already on his trail.

The 22 Murders of Madison May is 322 pages long and took me three days to read.

This is one of my favorite books of 2021! I’m giving it a 4.5 out of 5! I did not expect to love this book as much as I did but it’s so action packed with adventure and has so much heart. I’m recommending it to everyone I know.

Thank you, Putnam Books, for sending me this copy!

Here’s to the adventure of finding a novel novel!

Lacey

bere mendez

one of my new favorite books. this was like two of my favorite books combined (dark matter by blake crouch and the 7 1/2 deaths of evelyn hardcastle by stuart turton). i think my new favorite genre is sci-fi. i don’t mind that the question of what happens to the other version of yourself when you change universes isn’t answered, but what does kind of confuse me is this: Felicity was so bent out of shape and angry at Hugo for letting Madison die right? Hugo was like desensitized to it at this point but Felicity was like eeee. What does Felicity think happens to the version of herself in the new universe? I know she isn’t physically sinking the knife into the other her but they sure aren’t frolicking in the wind happily. 

Also, in the last chapter I was so scared that the cycle was just going to repeat again.

Anyways I still loved this book and didn’t rest until I finished it. I should read more true-crimey books.

Monae Reads

This was a lot of fun. I am already in love with the author even though this is my first book. As I was reading, I remember thinking this book has so many elements that I loved about Warcross by Marie Lu. Marie is a video game developer and that really showed in her Warcross Duology. This author, I found out after finishing the book, is a game developer as well and that just made so much sense. The books ARE NOT SIMILAR in terms of plot, premise, characters, or age group. But I will highly recommend this book is you liked books like Slay by Brittney Harris and Warcross. 

I really enjoyed the idea of the multi-verse and following Felicity into different alternative versions of her life. It was all so similar, yet it was subtle nuances that made the new version of her world different from her old one. In one life her boyfriend and her depend on takeout almost everyday, in another one he’s a really good cook, in another life she suspects him of cheating. I enjoyed this about the murders of Madison as well! You get to see what paths she would have taken if she played it safe with her acting career, if she actually pursued her acting, lives where she was both successful and unsuccessful. Even a life where she a designer herself. And every murder was different! Yet the same in the way Clay was obsessed with her. 

Following Clay, Hugo, Madison, and Felicity was the perfect way to divide perspectives in this story. And the way the multiverse worked was complex yet so easy to understand. I will say that this book is indeed a thriller in the way you have adrenaline the whole time reading it. I honestly never got bored, or felt like the story was stagnant. And even at points where I felt we were hitting the brakes in the plot. We would get a new murder of Madison. 

In short. This is a new fave and I’m DEFINITELY reading more from this author.

Lottie oliver

Absolutely brilliant! Couldn’t really see where this was going but I loved it!!!

Stefanie Viens

Lindsay

Laura Melançon

From the critically acclaimed author of Jennifer Government and Lexicon comes mind-bending speculative psychological suspense about a serial killer pursuing his victim across time and space, and the woman who is determined to stop him, even if it upends her own reality. "I love you. In every world." Young real estate agent Madison May is shocked when a client at an open house says these words to her. The man, a stranger, seems to know far too much about her, and professes his love - shortly before he murders her. Felicity Staples hates reporting on murders. As a journalist for a mid-size New York City paper, she knows she must take on the assignment to research Madison May's shocking murder, but the crime seems random and the suspect is in the wind. That is, until Felicity spots the killer on the subway, right before he vanishes. Soon, Felicity senses her entire universe has shifted. No one remembers Madison May, or Felicity's encounter with the mysterious man. And her cat is missing. Felicity realizes that in her pursuit of Madison's killer, she followed him into a different dimension - one where everything about her existence is slightly altered. At first, she is determined to return to the reality she knows, but when Madison May - in this world, a struggling actress - is murdered again, Felicity decides she must find the killer - and learns that she is not the only one hunting him. Traveling through different realities, Felicity uncovers the opportunity - and danger - of living more than one life.

The 22 Murders of Madison May

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