What a brilliant, unique idea for a plot!

This book was a really entertaining read. I felt Jessica (the "first" Jessica!) was a really great character, very likeable with attitude, bravery, a difficult past and a tumultuous career. Liam is a brilliant character too; he's there for Jessica whenever she needs him, brave, supportive and compassionate. Their relationship is complex but caring and supportive; I was rooting for these two to get together.

There's a couple of twists in this book but I only saw one of them coming. The other was a big surprise and made the book an even more enjoyable experience. The plot was very well planned out with the chapters giving us chunks of Jessica's past interspersed with what is happening to her in the present day. You Can't Catch Me is cleverly written with great pace and timing and a plot that is unique and enjoyable.

This was a really easy read that I absorbed in less than 2 days... in fact, I think I'd have read this in one day if a little thing called "work" hadn't got in the way!

Thank you to NetGalley, Catherine McKenzie and Lake Union Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jessica Williams managed to escape from a cult in upstate New York with the help of Liam, a private detective who has done this more than once. Now twelve years later, she is on the downside of a successful career as an on-line news writer. She lost her job because she was accused of plagiarism in one of her stories. But she managed to get a sizable settlement from her employer. Using some of the money, she heads to Mexico, the first true vacation in her life. At an airport bar, she meets a woman with an identical name and identical birth date. Upon her return, she finds that her bank account has been emptied and that her personal information has been stolen. She sets out on a mission to get back at the grifter, assembling a group of women, again with the same name and the same birthday. Her plan is to trap the grifter and regain the lost money. A taut psychological tale with an ending I certainly did not expect. My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review the ARC of this novel.

This latest novel, from one of my favs - Catherine McKenzie, was a bit of a mixed bag for me. You Can't Catch Me followed two timelines in Jessica Williams’ life - in the past we delved into her life growing up in a cult and in the present, Jessica dealt with an identity thief who stole most of her savings. I found myself super engaged in the former, but the later was a bit problematic for me.

When Jessica was first introduced onto the pages, I’ll admit I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for her. I thought to myself – here is a clueless character. As we got to know Jessica, though, my feelings changed. I really enjoyed the pace of how Jessica’s past was revealed to us. I found the cult storyline very harrowing and each key piece of her past weaved very well into the present storyline. While the premise behind Jessica’s identity theft was implausible, it did make for a very interesting mystery.

There is really only one “flaw”, if you want to call it that, that brought down my overall enjoyment of the story. Without giving away any spoilers, based on the ending, I believe the story should have been told in the third person, not the first person. Having read it in the first person, therefore getting the story through Jessica’s eyes, the ending, instead of feeling like I was being let in on a reveal, just didn’t make sense based on everything I had read up until that moment. I can forgive the author this, though, and just enjoy the story for what it was. The character development and twists in the story kept me engaged and kept the pages turning!

I am already a huge fan of Catherine McKenzie so I knew going into it that I would enjoy You Can't Catch Me. And guess what, I did!

One thing I love about McKenzie's books is that they are all so different. I haven't read too many of her books yet, but every one has been unique and really quick reads. This was my experience with You Can't Catch Me as well! There are short chapters and I was able to read it super quickly, plus I also thought the pacing was really well done and I was hooked from the very first chapter.

Books that involve cults are really hit or miss for me, but You Can't Catch Me is definitely a winner. I think it's because the cult Jessica was in is a part of the story, but it doesn't actually revolve around her being currently in the cult. The book jumps between her past (in the cult) and her present and I thought that was a big helper with the pacing and keeping things interesting.

Once again I was also totally thrown by the ending of a McKenzie book! I had so many suspicions during You Can't Catch Me, but most of them were not correct at all, and the big reveal was something I DEFINITELY didn't see coming! Read this book if you are already a fan of McKenzie, or if you are in the mood for a quick, page-turner.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I was intrigued by the blurb about this novel. I always like Catherine’s originality and story management and enjoy reading her new fiction. I liked her different cheeky slant on identity theft and how the modern story seamlessly linked with the historic thread which involved rescuing an eighteen-year-old young adult from the clutches of a power-crazy cult leader and her induction into the modern society.
Jessica Williams is the central character in this novel. It is now twelve years since PI (private investigator) Liam heroically saved Jessica from her horrible fate in the LOT (Land of Tod) cult. She is well integrated and still friendly with Liam, now her friend and mentor. The only problem at hand as our story begins is that she has fallen from grace and has been sacked. In a last ditch chance she managed to negotiate a holiday as a sort of consolation prize. We find Jessica getting tipsy in an airport bar with a long wait for her flight to Mexico to be announced. A total stranger, also a solo traveller, joins her at her table and so begins a conversation. They laugh and joke, happy in their growing inebriation and eventually get round to introducing themselves to one another. The chances of them both having the same Christian name is not good odds, but the chance of them also having the same surname is much longer. But even more long odds, is the chance of them sharing the same birthdate, day, month and year. But that indeed is proven to be the truth when they look at their ID. So begins a game of what is place of birth? Mine is Ohio, and so on. One thing they can definitely prove is that their destinations that day are totally different!
Jessica1(as our main character sees herself in the light of their conversation), eventually stumbles onto her flight but not before the two Jessicas swapped their phone numbers, agreeing that they have an unusual connection to be celebrated. Jessica thoroughly enjoys her holiday but when she returns home she finds her account has been emptied. She asks Liam to help her track down the miscreant, but insists she will only need support, not actually face to face, but access to his contacts in the PI sector on an advice only agenda.
What happens next beggars belief, as Jessica1 is adamant that she wants to track down Jessica2 and exact her revenge, get her nest-egg back and expose the criminal mastermind to save more Jessica Williams’s from the stress and inconvenience of being scammed and joining the club, so to say. I thought the issues at hand were well detailed and I appreciated the inclusion of many different points of view.
It is a rollercoaster of a ride from herein, but compelling reading. The story board is complicated, the twists in the story happen at a mile a minute, but I thought the very best aspect of the story was when all of the other Jessica Williams’s formed an invincible group baying for the blood of Jessica2. I enjoyed their interplay, plotting and planning and I thought their little clan was really inspired. I also liked Jessica’s growing awareness and gradual acceptance of the part her parents played in her early life hitherto unknown to her. I am glad I have read this novel despite my growing frustration with logistical problems and keeping pace of the complexities of the storyline.
Thank you for my copy of this novel, received through my membership of NetGalley and from Lake Union Publishing, sent to me in return for an honest unbiased review. I enjoyed it and my review reflects this. I recommend this as a good read and award it a 3.5* review.

If you save all your passwords to your phone, think again. A chilling catalogue of internet fraud and deep secrets pervade this rollercoaster tale of money, love and revenge. Plot twists and a protagonist with an unconventional backstory, mean that there is always more detail to unearth in the solving of this gripping story. A brilliant read which left me considering my internet password security!

Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

I've read every one of McKenzie's books to date and have been a fan since her very first release back in my early blogging days! The one thing that I love about her books is that I never know quite what I'm getting in to when i start reading. Her books fall in to very unique categories each and every time. Sometimes I love them and sometimes I don't like them as much as I had hoped, but YOU CAN'T CATCH ME was a winner for me!

Jessica Williams was in a cult called the Land of Todd (or LOT for short) since she was born. Finally able to escape just shy of her 18th birthday she is now older, but not necessarily wiser. Integrating in to society, and New York especially., has been challenging but she has her other misfit friends, The Twists, and Liam, her rescuer to lean on. A journalist, Jessica shoots to fame when she writes about her time in the cult, but it all comes crashing down around her when she is caught plagiarizing and is unceremoniously fired. Luckily she has proof that she has been harassed by a co-worker and walks away jobless but with a hefty amount of money in her bank account to tide her over.

On her way to a tropical vacation Jessica is shocked when she sits next to another Jessica Williams, same birthday and everything, at the airport bar. Jessica has to leave for her vacation but the two exchange numbers and promise to keep in touch. Sadly, when Jessica returns she finds that she's been scammed and that all of her hard-won money is gone.

So begins Jessica's pursuit of "Jessica Two" as well as other Jessica's who have been scammed by this same woman. As Jessica circles around the truth we, the reader, discover that Jessica Two is far more clever than we ever gave her credit for- or is she?

My favourite part of this book are the twists and the turns that the story takes. The writing is on par as always, but truly it's the plot that stood out for me when reading this book. The ending especially blew me away and had me rethinking everything that I thought that I knew when I was reading this book! That is truly the mark of an excellent storyteller in my opinion- the ability to hold my attention even after the last page has been read.

I also really enjoyed the deep dive in to the cult that Jessica grew up in, the Land of Todd. I found the depictions fascinating and a welcome addition to the overall story. I do wish that there had been more, as the Land of Todd itself is worthy of its own book.

A thought-provoking and twisty book, YOU CAN'T CATCH ME is the latest in the line of must-reads by author Catherine McKenzie.

My thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book for review.,

This story grabbed me from the first page, and didn't let go. Now I'm familiar with this author's work, which is how I chose this book, and yet, she still was able to surprise me all the way to the end.
Jessica Williams, yup, a name you will be very familiar with as you read, but there is depth here, and most you will never expect.
A little bit of Cults and Grifters here, and how they meld together is quite mind blowing, and con upon con. '
I love how the mind of this author works, and she keeps me guessing with bombshells and twist that I never saw coming, a book that will keep you page-turning and gasping!

I received this book through Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing, and was not required to give a positive review.

I admittedly didn’t plan on picking this one up because it didn’t seem like something I would like but after seeing a few stellar five stars reviews for it, I decided to give it a chance. I’ve never read anything by this author before so I didn’t really know what to expect. The plot is different and unique, interweaving the story of Jessica and her life after being rescued from a cult at 17, and how she is scammed by a woman with the exact same name and birthday as her, having her identity and money stolen.

This is a total revenge story with badass women that unfortunately didn’t quite reach it’s potential. The first half of the book was very fast-paced and kept my attention. I was interested in the story of Jessica and how she was going to get her money back, as well as learning about her childhood in the Land of Todd cult. Sadly, after about the half way mark, this story seemed to drag on for me and I lost interest. I kept reading simply so I could finish it.

I’d heard from some fellow bookstagrammers that the ending was mindblowing and that it changed their perception of the entire story. While I did find the final reveal to be surprising and not predictable, I didn’t find it believable. The whole story just felt too far fetched to me and I didn’t really click with the characters. I honestly wish that the cult aspect would’ve played more of a role in the twist. Even though I didn’t find it to be a memorable thriller for me, I think a lot of people will appreciate this one. I’ve seen a lot of great reviews for it, so it must be doing something right. Catherine McKenzie’s writing is super casual and easy to read, fast-paced, and totally bingeable. This is a solid thriller to try out if you’re looking for a unique storyline and a not so predictable ending.

This had promise but ultimately was too predictable for me. What kind of scamming con-artist sends texts to their victims with read receipts on? Way too many wtfs here for me.

The use of Jessica One and Two was too much of a Logan’s Run crash in my head.

I feel like this plot really could have been a great read, but it didn’t work out. Three stars because I still got a bit of Covid distraction from the messy read but mostly I was questioning details. The ending was a big predictable disappointment. Others may be satisfied or not feel it was as predictable as I did. Try it, the story may work for you.

Linda's Book Obsession Reviews "You Can"t Catch Me" by  Catherine McKenzie,  Lake Union Publishing, June 2020

WOW! Catherine McKenzie, author of "You Can't Catch Me" has written an intense, page-turning, intriguing, captivating, and suspenseful novel. The genres for this story are Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Suspense and Mystery and Fiction. The author describes her dramatic cast of characters as complex, complicated, manipulative, and calculating. This novel has twists and turns, betrayals, threats and danger. The themes in this book are identity theft and cults, and life after being in a cult. 

Jessica Williams was able to leave a cult with some help from a detective and has tried to become familiar with modern society to fit in. Until recently, she was a well-known journalist.  Jessica finds that there is more than one Jessica Williams, and one of them is a thief, not only stealing money but identities, and ruining reputations.

Jessica Williams and the other Jessica Williams try to trap and catch the one that is causing the problems. No one realizes how dangerous and deadly this can become.

I love the way Catherine McKenzie pulls you into this suspenseful thriller and vividly describes the characters, plot/s, and landscape. I highly recommend reading this thought-provoking novel.

You Can't Catch Me is a suspense/thriller with some romance. It is my third book by this author.

The book is divided into three parts. The narrator is 29 year old Jessica Williams (1st person POV).

Jessica/Jess, known as Jessica 1 is a journalist and former cult member. She is really quite different from most female narrators. She is blunt and fierce. Tough. Strong.

The book starts with Jessica at the airport. She meets another Jessica Williams with the same birth date (this Jessica is known in the book as Jessica 2).

There are more Jessica Williams with the same birth date.

This book is about identity theft. And stealing. And I honestly found the beginning to be so good. I loved the idea of there being multiple Jessicas with the same birth date. And I was curious to see how the story would play out.

One of my favorite characters in this book is 42 year old private detective Liam. He is Jessica's friend. I was so intrigued by Liam,

The story was mostly told in the present. But we get some backstory to see what happened in Jess's past.

I love when thrillers have multiple reveals. And this book definitely fit into that category. There were a bunch of reveals in the last half of the book. And I honestly did not see any of them coming.

This book was amazing in so many ways. However the last chapter had a lot of information/explanations. There was a letter ... and honestly I didn't love what the author did. It was interesting, but it made my rating go down to 4 stars. But overall this was a very unique mystery.

I adore Catherine McKenzie and the characters and stories she creates. she is a masterful writer and you care about the characters. with each book she gets better and better and this is her best yet!

Mckenzie has done it again, I'm blown away by her 10th book! She has become one of my favorite authors over the years and I am just completely and utterly mind blown by her amazing writing ability and the fact she can put a major plot twist in at 95% that gives the book a whole new dimension. Wow, I don't even think I have words to describe how much I adored this one. Cults, revenge, friends, murder, secrets this novel has it all!

I have read several of Katherine MacKenzies novels and have enjoyed everyone of them. I struggled to get through this one and suspect that the plot and characters were just too complicated to get me there. I suspect it’s the complicated times we live in.
A really twisted tale of multiple Jessica Williams, that are defrauded by a women, claiming to be another Jessica Williams. In an elaborate scam, that has these women’s lives virtually ruined, we try to manipulate the devious situations that these unsuspecting women are placed in.
They all have had disappoints in their lives and now must overcome one if the biggest challenges yet. And that is to find and stop this fake Jessica Williams from finding other victims. One thing I will admit, I never saw the ending coming!
This story is about cults, bad relationships, yearning for love and trying to fight back from difficult lives. But I just couldn’t connect with the characters and struggled with the challenge of keeping everyone’s story straight. It dragged on, far too long and I felt exhausted by the effort. The visuals were exceptional, the bleakness of the cult compound, the complexities of trying to adapt to a busy New York City, and the beauty and serenity of Wyoming. It’s an interesting plot and it will appeal to those readers that thrive on navigating a complex tale.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing for my ARC. My review is my independent opinion.

You Can't Catch Me is the third Catherine Mackenzie book I've read. I learned after The Good Liar to accept that I will never predict the twists. It makes it easier going in to her books when I'm just there for the ride. All the Jessica characters were riveting and all The Twists were heartbreaking. I'll always be on the lookout for another good mystery with heart from Catherine.

I was sent this book from the publisher/publicity team. My ratings and reviews will be my own personal opinions and are in no way influenced by publishers or authors who may have sent me books to review.

I was really excited for this one as I have heard amazing things about the author. I also really excited to see where this went with everything.

This was pretty good, but I had some issues with pacing. I felt certain things just dragged a little too much for me and I was losing interest. I had to skim some of the story. I still wanted to see what happened though, so I did push on.

Overall, I enjoyed this one.

It's exciting to meet someone with the same name as you. Then you discover that person has the exact same birthday as you. Wouldn't it fill you with wonder and then you exchange phone numbers with that person. Wouldn't you? It would just be so unusual. Then you go to the bank and discover that person has cleaned out your bank account. What would you do.

Jessica Williams was raised in a horrible cult. She has no one really close to her other than the guy who helped her escape and other cult survivors. She has no family and very few people she is close to. Naturally she reaches out to someone who could be close to her to very bad results. But she is not going to let it go and wants to find the person who stole from her and broke her trust.

This is a fast moving, interesting read that grabbed me. I enjoyed it all from the stories of the cult to how the person perpetrated the fraud. I thought Jessica was out there but who wouldn't be after being raised in a cult and separated from her family? The ending really took me by surprise and I enjoyed the read.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair review.

This is the first book I've read by Catherine McKenzie and I really liked it. I think this is a fun book with such a unique premise. I'm always down for a game of cat and mouse and it makes for a great book. Despite that though, I did have some problems but I want to discuss the good stuff first. As I mentioned before, this book is unique. I loved the narrator's (Jessica One) backstory and how she was in a cult. We see just how that has affected her life even though she escaped. We see the lasting impact that Todd (the cult leader) has made on her and her life choices. What else makes the story unique is the fact that we have a woman who steals from other women with the same name. One of the other things I enjoyed was that it wasn't predictable at all. I wasn't able to guess any of the things that ended up happening and for me that's a good thing. The author kept the suspense up and that made my reading experience that much more enjoyable. Also as I mentioned before, this book is a lot of fun. I read it in two days because I couldn't put it down. It was fast paced and the plot kept me interested. Aside from that though there was something about the book that held me back. I'm not sure, but I was expecting to like it a whole lot more than I did. It started out really fun but then somewhere along the way that feeling was lost. Without giving anything away, I feel like the ending came out of left field. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but when I finished, I just had this sort of meh feeling. I guess I wanted a little more than what I got. I also had a problem connecting with the characters. So while I liked this, I didn't really love it.

I will say that this is a solid book that I'm sure a lot of people will love. It was fun, light, smart, and fast paced. I also liked the author's writing style and I'm excited to check out more of her work.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the review copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Catherine McKenzie’s and I’ve read all her novels and was very excited to get an advance copy of her latest book.

This book grabbed me from the first few pages and I couldn’t put it down until it was finished. Thankfully it’s really fast paced. So many twists and turns and the epilogue I definitely didn’t see coming but appreciated because there were a few things I was a bit iffy on that definitely made more sense with the epilogue.

Inherent in this book is also a public service announcement about how much do we share with strangers - online and in person sometimes .