Kill Me If You CanJames Patterson (Author), Marshall Karp (Author)
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (August 29, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316097543
ISBN-13: 978-0316097543
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
Product Description
Matthew Bannon, a poor art student living in New York City, finds a duffel bag filled with diamonds during a chaotic attack at Grand Central Station. Plans for a worry-free life with his gorgeous girlfriend Katherine fill his thoughts--until he realizes that he is being hunted, and that whoever is after him won't stop until they have reclaimed the diamonds and exacted their revenge.
Trailing him is the Ghost, the world's greatest assassin, who has just pulled off his most high-profile hit: killing Walter Zelvas, a top member of the international Diamond Syndicate. There's only one small problem: the diamonds he was supposed to retrieve from Zelvas are missing. Now, the Ghost is on Bannon's trail--but so is a rival assassin who would like nothing more than to make the Ghost disappear forever. From "America's #1 storyteller" (Forbes) comes a high-speed, high-stakes, winner-take-all thrill ride of adrenaline-fueled suspense.
REVIEW
It's the story of a young ex-Marine, Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran, who finds a bag full of diamonds, worth several million dollars. He decides to keep the treasure, and a blood-soaked series of events ensues, for the Russian mob has a strong "proprietary" interest in those diamonds.
A pivotal event in this novel reminded me of a device that I have seen used in movies. One of the actors, at a critical juncture, turns to the viewers and points something out or offers some explanation. It just seems awkward to me, and I've never seen it done well. Similarly, a character in this book, at about the half-way point, explains that readers have been purposely misled about an important plot element! So a stunning shift in the story made no sense until we had the "inside" info. I found it all rather confusing and felt a little editing could have gone a long way.
Too much time is spent on international tourist hot spots in Paris, Venice, Amsterdam, and Nassau. These travelogues do not really keep the story moving. Also, some of the villains are almost comically over the top and stretch credulity.
However, author James Patterson (writing here with Marshall Karp) is a master craftsman of the page-turner. I have read and reviewed fourteen of his works for this site and (almost) never had trouble finishing them, even those I did not rate highly. It seems to me that Patterson's fail-safe method is to juggle three or more intriguing elements at the same time. At least one of them will keep most readers engaged.
The book weaves two taboos into the plot. A college professor has an affair with one of her students. The other taboo is far more scandalous. Many readers will find this part of the book revolting, although the authors handle it in an almost matter-of-fact manner.
There's nothing profound here. But there are stretches of high excitement, and I did keep wondering what would happen to those diamonds and the man who took them.
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