Publisher: Simon & Schuster (ebook – 3 February 2026)
Series: Standalone
Length: 378 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Australian author Shailee Thompson presents one of the more distinctive and entertaining debuts of 2026, with the addictive horror romance hybrid novel, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates.
Plot Synopsis:
A hilarious, swoony and downright terrifying horror romance in which a cinephile gets caught in the middle of a murder spree at a speed-dating event and must use her encyclopedic knowledge of the rom-com and horror genres to make it as a real-life Final Girl.
When cinephile Jamie Prescott attends a speed-dating event, she expects to meet some mediocre men and have a laugh – she doesn’t expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at her table during a blackout. When the lights come back on, there are more bodies on the floor and the doors are locked.
Armed with makeshift weapons and her extensive knowledge of what not to do in a slasher, Jamie must figure out how to make it out of the building alive. But as the night progresses, she begins to suspect the killer is committing the slayings to woo one of the daters. Whatever happened to roses and perfume?
And why can’t Jamie stay focused on the important thing here, which is obviously not getting murdered, instead of being distracted by a few hot guys? Especially if one of those hot guys happens to be the bad guy…
Oops.
Laugh-out-loud funny and hide-under-your-bed scary, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates puts the killer in killer love story.
I’m always on the lookout for unique and out-there crime fiction reads, and with its slasher parody narrative How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates had everything I look for in a novel. Combining a thrilling narrative with some amusing takes on two very different genres, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates was an excellent first novel from Thompson that is guaranteed to hook you like a serial killer.
Thompson provides a very fast-paced narrative for How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, which works to bring you in quickly and allow you to enjoy the fun of her entertaining story. This book nearly immediately drags you into the action after an effective introduction to the protagonist and point-of-view character, Jamie, before providing readers with an extended speed-dating sequence. This sequence is fun on several levels, as it not only provides details about much of the supporting cast, including early hints and red herrings, but it also introduces some of the potential romance options for the protagonist. After a sudden yet brutal series of killings, the protagonist and several other speed daters are trapped in the venue, desperately trying to find a way out. Thompson builds up some excellent tension in this first half of the novel, especially with the labyrinthine setting and the clashing personalities, even before the masked killer makes their first official appearance.
Despite the protagonist following certain rules to survive a horror film, the group starts to get separated and hunted by the killer, who is given the moniker Heart Eyes. However, things only get worse when Jamie begins to understand that Heart Eyes is killing to specifically woo her as a messed-up courting ritual. This amplifies up the plot, with Jamie both attempting to sacrifice herself while also getting closer to some of the men she is trapped with in some entertaining, if a little inappropriate, romance sequences. In typical slasher fashion, the supporting cast of the novel are slowly whittled down, with revelations muddying who is responsible for the crime. All of this leads up to the big final confrontation, where Jamie attempts to become the final girl anyway that she can. Without giving too much away, I think the lead-up and execution of the big finale was done well, as Thompson provides a great deal of desperation and intensity, although the result is never in doubt. I will say that I figured out the big twists and identity of the killer early on, although much of this was because of the various film homages I was familiar with. Still, readers come away from this story very satisfied, and it was the thrilling, campy narrative you expect it to be going in.
How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates is an exciting and tense read that cleverly brings two very different genres together. Filled with a range of big personalities, the story is well told from protagonist Jamie Prescott’s perspective, and I loved the intrigue, terror and mistrust that emerges as the plot continues. Thanks to the protagonist’s joint love of romcoms and horror films, as well as the presence of several suspiciously perfect men, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates quickly starts to feel like a fun mixture of the two genres. Thompson uses this genre mixture to great effect to increase both the entertainment value and the intensity of the plot, especially when it becomes clear that the killer is attempting to romance Jamie from afar. The resulting carnage is very over the top, which becomes even creepier once you realise how everyone is dying due to a killer’s twisted sense of love. Of the two genres, I think that the slasher elements of the book were stronger, and I really must highlight the claustrophobic setting, the various hidden clues about events to come, as well as the growing guilt and fear of the characters. The romcom elements of How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates were also pretty good, if a little forced at times, but it did help to lighten the plot. The result was quite gripping, and I felt that this was a book that will appeal to fans of both genres, as well as anyone looking for something entertaining and unique.
One of the very fun highlights of How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates was the references that Thompson made to classic and iconic horror and romcom films throughout the book. Much of this was in character, with the cinephile protagonist talking about her favourite films and revisiting famous slasher movies to predict how the killer will attack them next. It was very entertaining to see a character with some meta-knowledge of horror tropes try to survive their own slasher experience, although it was frustrating to watch all the characters ignore or forget the very simple rules the character (and the author) brings up multiple times. Still, that gave How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates a bit more of an authentic horror flair, and readers can have a good think about how they would act in a slasher film if they knew all the potential survival rules.
In addition to the references the protagonist deliberately makes there are also a lot more subtle homages that Thompson slides into the book, including in her character’s names. For example, the protagonist is named for two classic final girls, while another character was named for two major horror directors. The author loaded in a lot of other quotes and homages throughout the book, and while I’m personally not a mega fan of either genre, I felt I got most of these references. This allows fans of both genres, and films in general, to have a lot of fun as they try to pick out the easter eggs. Indeed, those readers with an in-depth knowledge of one of these genres can also unlock a teaser about how the plot unfolds if you really dive into the meta-inclusions, and I personally still got a chuckle about how Thompson did this. It was a shame that Thompson named her killer Heart Eyes, as it kept making me think of the 2025 film of the same name, which had some similar story beats. I’m not sure if this was a deep cut from Thompson or an unavoidable coincidence, but you couldn’t help but make some comparisons. However, this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the novel, and I felt that overall the references in How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates were never too overwhelming, and even someone who has never watched a film can still appreciate the story without getting lost or confused. A very fun inclusion to an exciting and entertaining read.
Shailee Thompson bursts into the fiction scene with the bloody and highly compelling debut, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, which ended up being a very fun read. Fast-paced, exciting and featuring some great movie references, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates was an outstanding novel, and I’ll be very curious to see what this Australian author writes next.
