Thank you Crooked Lane Book, #partner, for the advanced copy of Spider to The Fly in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Published: September 2, 2025
Summary:
A true crime author helps in a desperate hunt for a killer in this dark and twisted thriller from the deviously inventive horror author that Peter Farris calls the “clear heir to Stephen King.”
Perfect for fans of cat and mouse serial killer thrillers like The Butcher and the Wren and The Jigsaw Man.
Ellie Isles first became obsessed with the I-64 murders when she saw her own face on one of the victims. Identical to every detail, the woman wasn’t her, but she could have been. Compelled to discover the story of her dopplegänger’s death, Ellie wrote a bestselling true crime book about the serial killer, dubbed “the Spider.”
Four years later, the Spider still hasn’t been caught, and his victim count is climbing. Many of the bodies remain unidentified, but with Ellie’s online network of true crime followers, that’s slowly changing. Together they’ve pooled information to create a massive database that tracks people at risk of becoming Jane and John Does–the homeless, the drug addicted, and the downtrodden–with the hopes that if they become victims, they might at least be identified.
Now that Ellie has successfully identified multiple victims, the law enforcement task force tracking down the Spider pulls her in to help–and after Ellie’s therapist is arrested for the murders, she is more determined than ever to help catch the Spider.
With striking prose and a horror flair, Spider to the Fly is an engrossing serial killer thriller, perfect for fans of The Whisper Man.
My thoughts:
I’m firmly in my horror element and loving it!! I’m not sure how I haven’t read this author before but after reading this book and absolutely loving it, I’m definitely adding his backlist to my tbr! And how lucky for me that while I was reading this I got to meet him and have him sign my ARC!
This book totally grabbed me from the get-go and I probably would have been able to read it in one or two sittings had I not started it on my way to Bouchercon. The comp to Nadine Matheson’s The Jigsaw Man is so spot on. I mean, depraved serial killer and a twisted cat and mouse hunt — I couldn’t request this one fast enough!
The way this one kept me guessing and second guessing myself, was insane! I literally did not see that ending coming. So many times I found myself holding my breath as I frantically turned pages to see what would happen next, but also wondering if I needed to cover my eyes for a moment…so many eerie, claustrophobic situations! The characters were so vivid and the secrets so intense.
I don’t want to say much more about this one–it’s the type of book to go into blind. So trust me when I say, it’s one heck of a creepy ride!
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