Kill Dick: A Novel

by Luke B. Goebel

ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF FOURTEEN STORIES, NONE OF THEM ARE YOURS , CO-WRITER OF THE FILM EILEEN and Oscar Nominated film CAUSEWAY

RECIPIENT OF PRESTIGIOUS RONALD SUKENICK INNOVATIVE FICTION PRIZE AND JOAN SCOTT MEMORIAL FICTION AWARD

“If this book were any better I’d cut my own head off.”—Ottessa Moshfegh

“ Kill Dick is a fever dream.”–Harriet Armstrong, author of To Rest Our Minds and Bodies

A fever dream, Kill Dick is a literary thriller that plunges into the chaos of Los Angeles where addiction, privilege, and corruption combust.

At nineteen, Susie Vogelman should be she’s an NYU dropout with no responsibilities, endless prescription pills, and a Brentwood estate to waste away in. But Los Angeles has other plans. A string of brutal murders targeting addicts spreads through the city, and Susie’s ivory tower begins to crumble. The headlines point too close to her father’s ties to an opioid empire, a sinister secret society, and her own complicity in the systems holding it all together.

Then there’s Peter Holiday, a disgraced professor running a rehab scam so audacious it’s almost admirable. When their lives collide, Susie and Peter are dragged into a web of privilege, corruption, and violence, where every escape leads deeper into the rot.

Dark, satirical, and razor-sharp, Kill Dick is a modern literary thriller that unflinchingly dissects wealth, exploitation, and the perilous line between survival and self-destruction.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Mystery

280 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 14, 2026

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll admit I wanted to read this book because it is written by Ottessa Moshfegh’s husband, and I believe that Moshfegh would not tolerate being married to a bad writer. I was correct.

This novel portrays the psyche of a woman named Susie who has been chewed up by the events of her life and is in the process of grieving while trying to continue living. I am wary of how male writers portray women’s inner lives, though Goebel did a fantastic job. The portrayal of Southern California made it the perfect setting for this satirical thriller. I couldn’t help but think of Moshfegh’s prose while reading this book. They share a kind of sharpness to the storytelling, like a sort of detachment that is more enticing than it is off-putting.

I think Moshfegh fans will love this book. It has the best of what makes Moshfegh’s writing enjoyable to me, with an experimental spirit and flair. I also think they are different enough as writers and storytellers that readers who perhaps didn’t connect with Moshfegh’s writing should try out this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Red Hen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Ruby Caster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently on page 90 and grappling with the reality that the more I read the closer I am to finishing the book and I do not want this book to end. I have become enveloped in the world Luke so brilliantly created and my attachment and affinity towards the characters is a true testament to his genius. People will be talking about this book for as long as there is language. And even once humans wipe ourselves out, the plants will be communicating about this book through electrical signals. A must-read for anyone who has ever felt anything ever.

[Al Kratz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as an ARC and am working on a full review to be published soon. This is a hell of a read. Pynchon and Hunter S Thompson and William Burroughs and Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch. But in the end all Luke Goebel. All beauty and ugliness. All dreadful and reassuring. All like nothing else I have ever read.

[Katie Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that lingers after you’ve set it down. The characters stay with you, and the world Luke has created continues to unfold in your mind, unsettling, vivid, and impossible to forget. So many lines in the book are so finely crafted that they stop you mid-page, asking to be read again.

[Lyle Coppjnger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luke has an ability to describe the scene with more than just portrayal of the visual but also the senses, urgency, anxiety, intoxication. I feel like we are from the same generation. I relate more than I care to admit to this book. Am I ok? Lol. My favorite book in the last 10 yrs of my life. Definitely would recommend.

[Emma Burger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kill Dick is a fascinating story of addiction and violence, which offers a searing criticism of the ruling elite and the power structures that they govern. Fast paced, entertaining, and packed with pop culture references. This book is giving BEE in the best way!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished Kill Dick by Luke Goebel and OH MY GOD is it great!! This book is an unflinching portrayal of addiction, greed, violence, and redemption. Fast paced and real. Luke does an amazing job making you feel like you’re in this story.
I can’t recommend this book enough!!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many lines I want to read over and over, they were that brilliant!

[Jessica Catalano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unsettling, beguiling, and addictive. Goebel writes with a cinematic immediacy that consumes the reader. Reading Kill Dick is a fully immersive experience.

[Alexander Mint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pulpy, elegiac, sexy, repulsive, conspiratorial, revelatory, pulled from the headlines, ahead of its time, read this book, burn this book.

[Xana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luke is an evil genius I can’t get over how good this book is. The text is challenging, expansive, and impossible to put down. Everyone should read this book. 10’s across the board!