Don't Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp

Title: Don't Tell Me How

Author: Marshall Karp

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, Inc

Release Date: March 4, 2025

I have one thing to do before I die.And time is running out.

I had it all: a fantastic husband, two great kids, an exciting career. And then, at the age of forty-three, I found out I would be dead before my next birthday.

My mother also died at forty-three. I was seventeen, and she warned me that women would flock to my suddenly single father like stray cats to an overturned milk truck. They did. And one absolutely evil woman practically destroyed his life, mine, and my sister’s.

I am not letting that happen to my family.

I have three months, and I plan to spend every waking minute searching for the perfect woman to take my place as Alex’s wife, and mother to Kevin and Katie.

You’re probably thinking, she’ll never do it. Did I mention that in high school I was voted “Most Likely to Kill Someone to Get What She Wants”?

From thriller writer Marshall Karp (cocreator with James Patterson of the #1 New York Times bestselling NYPD Red series), and rich with Karp’s deft array of three-dimensional characters and his signature biting humor, Don’t Tell Me How to Die has so many twists and turns, you’d swear he wrote it with a corkscrew.

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A FIVE for me!

I’ve heard you either love Don’t Tell Me How to Die or don’t care for it. Fortunately, I’m in the former group.

From the first chapter, this book gripped my mind and held on for days. I couldn’t stop thinking about it long after I finished. Maggie, Lizzie, their parents, and Maggie’s friend are characters who will stay with me. It’s a story I won’t forget!

I know I should tell you more, but you’ll enjoy it most if you go in blind.

So here’s the bare minimum: Maggie’s mother dies of an aggressive blood cancer at forty-three. When Maggie reaches the same age, she learns she has the same disease and only months to live. Like her mother, she doesn’t want her husband, Alex, to end up with an unsuitable woman. Determined to find a worthy partner for Alex and a loving presence for her children, Kevin and Katie, Maggie sets out to choose someone she approves of to complete her family after she’s gone.

It sounds straightforward, right? Nope, so many formidable twists that made this book a fantastic novel!

Cliffhanger: No

5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Blackstone Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.