William Morrow
Published March 18, 2025
Reviewed by Sharon Mensing
There are only two characters in Killer Potential that matter and are well developed: Evie Gordon, an overeducated and underemployed SAT tutor; and Jae Park, an enigmatic and silent woman rescued from captivity by Evie. The book begins with Evie arriving at the house of one of her students, finding a dead body or two as well as a woman calling for help, and making an impulse decision that has the pair running from the authorities. The initial feel of the book, with Evie narrating her story, is very self-satirizing and cynical. Once Evie and Jae meet up and the real action begins, that tone drops away in favor of a much more declarative structure. Short sentences and phrases, as well as short chapters, move the plot forward.
As the two find themselves on a desperate road trip to evade capture after Jae’s rescue, their characters, motivations, values, strengths and weaknesses are developed. Their actions as much as their words bring the complexity of their characters to life. All other characters serve mainly as foils for Evie and Jae.
Undergirding the fast paced plot, the book analyzes, from a variety of perspectives, the question of how an individual is seen both by others and by themselves. Deitch deals with the way that suffering can become a commodity through social media, ownership of the power to decide a person’s value, how poverty and privilege define the boundaries of one’s consciousness, and the means by which one’s self can become defined by others’ portrayal. The many aspects of this theme appear again and again, mainly in Evie’s narration of the two women’s motives for their actions.
Despite the thematic and character development, the plot screams along, told in short chapters that engage the reader. There is a breathlessness to the action. Evie and Jae’s development as characters does not suffer from the fast pace since both their ruminations (particularly Evie’s) and actions propel the book. However, the descriptions of setting are less than transformative thanks to a road trip that allows little chance of taking in the sights.
I didn’t enjoy the ironic tone of the beginning of the book, but it did fit with all of the reflection upon personal vs. societal influences on a sense of self that permeated the book. Once the book’s road trip-based plot took off, the theme remained without the irony and I found it much more enjoyable. The plot moved so quickly that it veered a step away from plausibility. This was only apparent in retrospect, however, as the somewhat hazy detail of the road trip kept the focus pinpointed on Evie and Jae’s isolated state. Their self-contained world makes sense while the reader is immersed in that world.
Deitch did a good job with unreliability, so that when the twist came it made complete sense and fueled the book’s resolution, such as it was. I do not love endings that tie things up with a neat bow, and I respected the way that this book resolved some issues and left others open. Killer Potential was so well written that it is hard to believe it is a debut! I will be watching for Deitch’s sophomore outing.