THEY WOULD DIE FOR YOU BY ANKESH K PRASAD (2025)

Blurb: Oliver, the town's beloved barista, is known for being the nicest guy around. But beneath his warm smile lies a darkness born from a mysterious and troubled past. His twisted sense of "protecting his loved ones" has turned into a deadly obsession. Elizabeth, his best friend since childhood, is finally ready to settle down and is actively searching for someone to date. However, her suitors are unaware that Oliver is watching their every move. His unwavering vigilance ensures that anyone who dares to hurt Elizabeth in any way faces inevitable, lethal consequences.

So, if they're dating Liz, they'd better be serious—because if they don't love her enough, they won't just lose her... They would die for her!

Friendship, devotion, love, attraction, and obsession are five very different words. Yes, they share many qualities, but we usually don't see all of them being used interchangeably. You either see friendship, love, and devotion together, or attraction, love, and obsession being paired. But this book challenges this formula by assigning all five qualities to the same person; and it is none other than Oliver.

He harbors deep platonic love for his neighbor and friend Elizabeth. They aren't romantically attracted to each other at any point in the book, but Oliver is obsessed with the idea of making sure that Elizabeth dates a 'worthy' individual. Oliver believes that he has 'standards' for men Elizabeth dates, but he is obsessed with stalking and eventually killing her boyfriends, an impulse that stems from a deeply rooted childhood trauma.

Oliver, Tilly, Elizabeth, and Geoffrey are childhood friends who get tangled in a web of conspiracies involving drug cartels, murders, obsession, and many other dangers once Oliver starts killing people out of some misplaced sense of morality. The once friendly friend circle begins to shatter as the case twists further, revealing unexpected personalities of prominent characters and their roles in the larger story as it unfolds. I know that I'm describing this book as a crime thriller, but at its heart, the story is about broken people with disturbing childhoods developing a warped sense of love and morality. The psychological element of this text is exceptional, as it masterfully crafts suspense and sprinkles some really unexpected twists at the center of the story to keep its readers at the edge of their seats till the end.

I won't be spoiling anything major, but if you pick up this book expecting a love story between Elizabeth and Oliver, you might be disappointed, as both of them are interested in different people at various points in the narrative. Honestly, I like that Prasad took this route with their relationship, as Oliver and Elizabeth's friendship really subverts this idea that two people need to be romantically attracted to each other for one person to develop an obsession towards someone.

This is one of the best thrillers I've read this year, and I would like to give it a rating of 5 out of 5.