Member Reviews
What happens when there are too many Jessica’s. What starts out as a women determined to recover money stolen in an airport twenty questions game by a name sake Jessica, turns into a whodunnit of mythical proportions. I could not have predicted the ending and I must say the pace was thrilling. Intriguing clever, methodical. You follow the Jessica’s and find tragedy, redemption, revenge and retribution after the fact. Happy reading
Really enjoyed this un-put-downable thriller from Catherine McKenzie, whom I've never had the pleasure of reading before but definitely will now! I finished this in a day and would recommend it to anybody who loves a well-paced, innovative crime and/or thriller tale.
Twenty-nine year old former cult member and current journalist Jessica Williams is horrified to discover that after a chance encounter with a friendly, funny woman at the airport that she has been scammed out of almost her entire life savings. Once she manages to find out who is responsible, she's on a mission to right wrongs both past and present.
I won't go into too much detail for fear of spoiling of the many plot twists; but I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author weaved tales past and present and how that helped shape our protagonist, Jessica Williams. She is an intriguing, dark and compelling protagonist and there are not many characters quite like her. I haven't read any novels in which we have a backstory involving living within and escaping a cult, which I thought was refreshing and inventive. I thought the dialogue was realistic and that Jessica and her fellow characters' conversations reflected that of people our age in real life (I am also a 1990 baby, much like many of our characters here!)
I look forward to going through Catherine McKenzie's previous work to find more entertaining gems just like Can't Catch Me.
“You Can’t Catch Me” is another fantastic psychological thriller from author Catherine McKenzie. After surviving her childhood in a cult, Jessica Williams has started a career as a writer. After an unethical decision, she decides to ‘get out of town’ for a few days. At the airport, in what she believes to be a coincidence, she meets another woman by the same name. Upon her return, she finds this was not a coincidence. With further investigation, finds out she was not the only victim of this scam. Jessica enlists in the help of her friend Liam and some of the other victims to track down the scam artist that has victimized them. Twist after twist ensues, bringing together Jessica’s past and present, building to the ultimate thrilling conclusion.
As with her other books, I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful novel and highly recommend it.
I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley.
You Can't Catch Me by Catherine McKenzie is a cunning and well-crafted tale that will blindside even the sharpest of readers.
Jessica Williams has been long free of the cult in which she grew up, known as the Land of Todd, when she meets a woman at the airport who shares not only her full name, but also her exact birthdate. Is this merely coincidence? Jessica believes so, until she finds her bank account emptied. Taking it upon herself to track down the mysterious grifter, Jessica finds herself drawn back into a past from which she believed that she had escaped forever.
I am always anxious to read the latest offering from Ms McKenzie, and this one does not disappoint.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.
You Can't Catch Me by Catherine McKenzie delivers a PUNCH! I never saw that coming! Now you have to read the book to understand my reaction to this suspense thriller. This is an intriguing story that has some unexpected twists. Jessica Williams had grown up in a cult commune and was very proud of the life she had made for herself. But now Jessica is on her way to Mexico for a much-needed vacation to try and recover from the humiliation of being fired from her job. While in the airport bar she happens to meet another woman with the name of Jessica Williams who also shares the same birth date. When she returns home from her vacation, she is shocked and upset to learn her bank account has been emptied by the Jessica Williams she had met at the airport. As she starts to research and seeks out others who share her name and birth date, she finds she is not the only Jessica Williams who has been targeted by this con woman. As the story unfolds, the reader will get a glimpse of Jessica's life as she was growing up and her concern for her cousin Kiki, who she could not rescue from the LOT I will not post spoilers, but I read the book from start to finish without stopping.
Publication Date: June 9, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.
This book was well-crafted, twisty, and clever in all the right ways.
The concept of it feels new and different, which is always something I am looking for when I go to read a story. I was fortunate enough to read another one of Catherine McKenzie's books early, and I enjoy the way she develops characters, making each one nuanced and very real. This is a book I want to reread and examine, now knowing the twists in it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the chance to read this book!
I got this book less than 24 hours ago and I am already done with it...if that tells you anything! It definitely kept me hooked from the very beginning and I couldn't stop reading it. There were a lot of twists and turns, and just when you think you have it all figured out, something else gets thrown in.
The thing I like about this more than her last book, "I'll Never Tell", is that I just felt like there were too many main characters to really get emotionally invested in any of them. With this, you definitely get drawn into Jessica's story right from the start and you are invested in her, even with her being a flawed person. Her relationship with Liam, and the other girls is the focus and I felt a lot more invested in the outcome of this book.
Definitely recommend for a nice plot-twisty book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of You Can't Catch Me.
This story grabbed me from the beginning. I loved the ease of the characters conversations. Catherine McKenzie left me guessing what was coming next and how it was all going to play out. I would've liked a little more at the end about how everyone ended up.
After surviving a cult, rebuilding her life and finding a small amount of success Jessica Williams's life falls apart. As a way to get some distance and some perspective she decides to take a vacation to Puerta Vallarta. While at the airport bar she meets a second Jessica Williams and start chatting a bit playing "Jessica Williams 20 questions." After enjoying the coincidence and each other's company for a bit our heroine, Jessica one, goes on her way to enjoy a much needed vacation totally unplugged. When she arrives home she discovers that she has been robbed, all of her bank accounts have been cleared out. Realizing what happened Jessica decides that since the police won't help she will have to track down this criminal and get her money back herself. So begins this suspenseful tale.
I liked a lot of this book the cover, the title, the story idea captured me right away! I thought that this cult, suspense novel sounded absolutely fascinating and I couldn't wait to see how things unfolded. I loved the aspect of many people with the same name. I thought that was such a unique idea for the jumping off point for a story, something I haven't seen before and I really appreciated that uniqueness. It terrified me in a great way cause I have one of the most common names for women so it made me think what if? And I love when a book can get under my skin like that!
In general the book wasn't for me, I felt that there was too much story in both areas, the cult aspect and the present day part. I wanted more from each and not in a way of it was so good I need more but more like I got pulled out of the story by the switching back and forth because there were too many questions and not enough answers for me. I also felt that the book was a strangely over descriptive in awkward areas and left me questioning things in others. By the time all the reveals started happening I was a little bored because things had been going on for so long that I honestly wasn't surprised when certain things came to light.
All in all this just didn't work for me but I think that the author has a truly fascinating mind and am looking forward to reading more from her to see if I can find a groove with her writing. The book gets three stars from me mainly because of the uniqueness of the idea behind the story.
When I first started reading this book I wasn't exactly sure what to expect because I had never read a book about cults or the type of living environment of a cult. Of course, I had watched many TV shows alluding to people living in cults and sometime in the news cults were mentioned but reading this book really helped open my eyes to the plight of the children in these cults. From start to finish this book had me in its grasp because I couldn't wait to find out whether or not Jessica was going to be triumphant in her quest to find Justice for herself and for the other Jessicas that she met along the way. The expert riding and the plot West throughout the book were so well devised that it took me awhile to figure out exactly who the bad person was in this book. The best type of book I must add. The ending is to die for! Literally! I did not see that coming at all! And what I am even more grateful for is that the ending was explained in such a perfect way that I had no questions left to wonder about when I was done reading this fantastic book. I am totally recommending this book to all my friends and it will be our next book featured in our book club!
Catherine McKenzie never fails her books draw me in from the first pages keep me up late into the night reading This book had so any twists and turns kept me guessing till the last pageHighly reckoned thisadall her books #netgalley#lakeunionpublishing,
So excited for my 10th book to be out there in the world!! Imagine if you met another woman with the exact same name and birthday as you. What would you do? How would you feel? Would you open up to her? She's you after all. And then, if it turned out it was all a scam - would you try to solve the mystery? Let the games begin...
Catherine McKenzie did it again! Definitely a 5+ star read. I couldnt put this down, and the ending?!?! What? I am tempted to re-read this right away to see if I missed any clues. I think this may be her best book yet....even though I say that about all of her books. They just keep getting better and better.
Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.
It’s been over a decade since Jessica Williams was rescued from a cult. After intensive counseling and a lot of press coverage, she was able to move on. Then one day she meets a woman who not only bears her name, but also her birth date. Strange, but Jessica things nothing more about it until her identity is stolen along with all her money. Not willing to sit back and hope that law enforcement might catch the crook, Jessica begins to look for others like herself, each robbed of their identity and finances. But she’s playing games with a highly experienced criminal, someone with links to Jessica’s own past, and it turns out there are worse things to lose than your bank account