Kill Billionaire

by Anders Lustgarten

Perhaps one reason not enough people kill billionaires is it’s actually quite tricky...

'Hopeful and exciting. Funny and heartbreaking ... I want to read more books like this!' Mikaela Loach

When her home is destroyed in wildfires, fourteen-year-old Australian outback genius Kayla Connolly decides to hunt down the culprits of climate billionaires.

She teams up with Mr P, a giant ex-soldier from Tuvalu whose home is being flooded by rising sea levels. Together, they find ingenious ways to kill a property developer building on protected wetlands and a mining company CEO poisoning the earth with toxic chemicals. They also find an unexpected ally in Nancy, a wealthy elderly woman with a shocking past.

The trio’s mission soon develops a life of its own, taking them first to California to crack billionaire tech bros and then to London for superrich oil executives, spawning a global movement along the way. In pursuit are the FBI and Detective Sergeant Kate Anderson of Scotland Yard, but Kate is having doubts about whether Kayla is even in the wrong. Will Kayla be able to stay ahead of the game and pull off one final, remarkable hit?

Praise for Anders Lustgarten's writing
'Bursting with energy... extraordinary' The Times
'A fierce writer whose activism blends intellectual curiosity and idealism' Evening Standard
'Brave and provocative' Guardian

Genres: Fiction

Kindle Edition

Expected publication April 30, 2026

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a name like that it’s easy to know what the book will be about. Set in a slightly more dystopian version of our world we follow a teenage Australian girl as she has to find the solution to climate change; you can probably guess what she decides upon. Whilst this was technically a multi POV story, Kayla dominates the narrative with her witty humour and intelligent solutions to any problem that comes her way. We also get some chapters with our ‘antagonist’, Kate, a headstrong policewoman who is destined for success with her ability to actually think like Kayla and somewhat predict the next moves. These are supplemented by an excellent secondary cast of Mr P, Nancy and Brian each with their own unique and slightly outlandish character traits. I wish we had gotten more from Dmitri the hacker friend whose presence was limited to when they needed something from him and then discarded. All together I’d say this is definitely a book that doesn’t tie itself to realism and flanderises current affairs to provide a stronger message about what needs to be done, although I fear it might come to fruition in the not so far future. If I had one minor gripe it’s that the phrase ‘kill billionaire’, which is used throughout the novel and is of course the title, doesn’t feel grammatically correct; I did check and turns out its allowed but ‘kill billionaires’ sounds much better and is also more accurate.

[Kenzie Leckie ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say that this has some similarities to How To Kill Your Family in terms of the jumping between our victims and then that ending which I also enjoyed.

I really wished our characters were more fleshed out. You get a very brief introduction to each but they are then turned into side characters with little to no mention a whole lot. I feel like they all had such interesting back stories and could have been more prominent in the plans.

I liked the discussions of the varied billionaires and how they are complicit in each way even if they aren’t directly.

I don’t get the POV from Kate. We got a little on her backstory too but her chapters were just too short for me to fully gauge her as a character and I would have either liked less information or an elaboration.

I was sent a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ‘for fans of Irvine Welsh’ tagline in the email from ‘Kill Billionaire’s publicist piqued my interest and I can see similarities in the sweary rants against the mega rich and the environmental damage they’re responsible for. Sure it’s on the money and darkly funny, but, whereas Welsh offers us fully formed if fatally flawed characters existing on mainstream boundaries, Anders Lustgarten supplies cartoon caricatures. Kayla’s a 14 year old wild spirit of Nature genius, Mr P’s a displaced chieftain from Tuvalu and Nancy is the vengeful geriatric sister of an obnoxious billionaire. The action/violence is comic strip like too so, for all the righteous indignation, I found it difficult to care or relate. ‘Kill Billionaire’ is at its best when it’s making humorous observations about how fucked up society is, but it needs to offer a lot more than witty remarks if it wants to be bracketed with the great Irvine!

[Peter Willoughby · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you only read one book in 2026 it should be this one.
It is a fantasy book set in the near future, where the actions of the few are endangering the lives of the many.
From the title the reader can immediately guess what the proposed solution is.
The characters are superb, the settings although unlikely are terrific.
The main character Kayla is on the way to be a real life superhero when she meets her end, or does she.
Normally when reading psychological thrillers at key points if the reader is given three guesses what is going to happen next, the reader always gets one correct.
I never guessed any of the next actions correctly.
I loved it, and can't wait for Anders' next book.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit of a play on words for the title should give readers an idea about the theme. Kate, is a forthright police officer but Kayla is the dominant voice, the witty, bright Australian teenager who is trying to find the solution to climate change (See title for answer). It's dystopian with a fabulously written setting using the Australian outback as a backdrop with all of its eerie, unsettling sensations. I enjoyed this novel more than I thought I would. Highly recommended. My thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers for the ARC.

[Gem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Random House UK, Vintage, Chatto & Windus & NetGalley for an advanced copy of Kill Billionaire by Anders Lustgarten.

Satirical, dark and sarcastic. Kill Billionaire imagines a word without billionaires, challenges the system and causes chaos and revolution along the way.

A thought provoking and relevant read.

[varsouviana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have more words, but there is nothing left to say. Life is not like literature, it doesn’t rate erudition. What life feeds off is action.