Do I need to read Corrupt and Hideaway before Kill Switch?

Kill Switch is the third novel in Penelope Douglas's Devil's Night series, following Corrupt and Hideaway. It centers on Winter Ashby and Damon Torrance, two characters introduced in the earlier books, so reading Corrupt and Hideaway first fills in the shared history of the Thunder Bay group, though Kill Switch's own central conflict is self-contained.

Does Kill Switch end on a cliffhanger?

No. Kill Switch is written as a complete, standalone dark romance within the Devil's Night series — Winter and Damon's story is resolved by the end of the book.

Is Kill Switch appropriate for young or teen readers?

No. Kill Switch is a dark, explicit romance recommended for adult readers (18+), containing violence, kidnapping, abuse, and explicit sexual content.

Kill Switch

Contemporary Romance Suspense

Pages: 507
Published: 2019
Language: English

Three years ago, Winter Ashby's testimony helped send Damon Torrance to prison. Now he is free, and he has quietly installed himself in her family's world with a plan for revenge far crueler than she could have imagined. He intends to take everything from the Ashbys and to make Winter watch, certain she is the weak point in the family that ruined him.

But Winter, blind since childhood, refuses to be anyone's victim. The war of wills between captor and captive curdles into something obsessive and dangerous, an attraction neither of them will name and neither can escape. The more Damon tries to break her, the more he finds himself unable to look away.

Kill Switch is the third and darkest novel in Penelope Douglas's Devil's Night series, a tense, high-heat dark romance about power, punishment, and two damaged people who bring out both the worst and the most honest in each other.

Prose complexity: 4/10

Dark Tense Gritty Romantic Spicy

Revenge Morally Grey Multiple POVs Forced Proximity Anti-Hero

Penelope Douglas

Penelope Douglas is an American author of contemporary and new adult romance, born in Dubuque, Iowa in 1977. She holds a B.A. in Public Administration from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master's in Education from Loyola University New Orleans, and worked as a teacher for eight years before writing full-time. She debuted in 2013 with Bully, the first book in her Fall Away series, and has since written the Devil's Night and Hellbent series alongside standalone novels including Punk 57, Mis...

Winter AshbyProtagonist

A blind young woman whose testimony sent Damon away, refusing to be his victim.

Damon TorranceProtagonist

The most volatile of the four men, freed from prison and bent on revenge.

Erika FaneSupporting

Winter's best friend since high school at Thunder Bay Prep, and the protagonist of Corrupt, book 1 of the series.

Griffin AshbySupporting

Winter's father and the mayor of Thunder Bay, whose embezzlement and tax fraud Damon exposes as part of his revenge.

All characters in Kill Switch

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to read Corrupt and Hideaway before Kill Switch?
Kill Switch is the third novel in Penelope Douglas's Devil's Night series, following Corrupt and Hideaway. It centers on Winter Ashby and Damon Torrance, two characters introduced in the earlier books, so reading Corrupt and Hideaway first fills in the shared history of the Thunder Bay group, though Kill Switch's own central conflict is self-contained.
Does Kill Switch end on a cliffhanger?
No. Kill Switch is written as a complete, standalone dark romance within the Devil's Night series — Winter and Damon's story is resolved by the end of the book.
Is Kill Switch appropriate for young or teen readers?
No. Kill Switch is a dark, explicit romance recommended for adult readers (18+), containing violence, kidnapping, abuse, and explicit sexual content.