Kill Me If You Can

By: James Patterson, Marshall Karp

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman, Jason Culp

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2011 James Patterson (P)2011 Hachette

Patterson continues to give a good story!

I am a fan of James Patterson's writing and this was just another example of the twists and turns in this book. If you like mystery, intrigue, action (and there's a bit of 'sappy' stuff) get this book!

I wanted to love it, but it fell a bit short

I received an Audible copy of this book from Audible.com as a gift for signing up with them. I was impressed with the quality of the audio production. The readers did an excellent job and that was what kept me tuned in as I listened. Their skill in reading enhanced the story telling of what Patterson wanted us to gain from the novel.

The gist of the novel is that Matthew Bannon, a struggling art student discovers a bag full of diamonds in a locker at the train station, he is drawn to the locker by the dying man that is laying below it. The man was a thief who stole the diamonds from the Russian Mob. Now Matthew is a thief because he steals the diamonds from the dying thief. What complicates the situation for Matthew is that a 'hit man' is after the diamonds as well, that is why the first thief is laying in a pool of his own blood and dying.

Matthew takes the diamonds, calls his girl friend (who happens to be his art teacher at Parsons) and sweeps her off her feet with a trip to Paris and Italy. Unfortunately for Matthew and Catherine (the art teacher) they are being tracked by a third assassin. A very good assassin who finds them and does her best to kill them both. But Matthew Bannon proves to be a bit more than an Art Student and does not die easily.

The story goes from location to location with good detail. It has several characters that are developed well, but not one character that you can truly love as in most stories, because all of them have some baggage or faults that are just not good.

I was conflicted by the story because I have enjoyed Patterson's work, but this story wouldn't have worked for me in written form, but in the audible form it had a bit more sizzle and kept me listening.

So, bottom line, not one of Patterson's better books, but I did enjoy the audible.com presentation of the material.

Exactly what I expected

I don’t understand the bad reviews. This book is typical Patterson - uncomplicated enjoyment with a great ending. The story is fun so if that’s all you’re looking for and you’ve liked other books by this author, you’ll be happy you spent the credit. I would love a sequel to this one!

Great book with one draw back!

The book was super fun to listen to. A lot of twists, and curve balls throughout the entire story. Never unpredictable! There was a lot of gratuitous sex passages, I personally don't mind the discriptive sex passages but there were a LOT of them and after a while it felt like it was just pointless. The thing that made me give it a 4 star as opposed to 5 was: the writer went waaaaay past the end of the story. He had tied every loose end and could have ended at a good note but kept going and going until it was a bit exhausting. Funny thing is, he wrote it himself that the hardest part for a good artist is to know when to stop.. too bad he didn't!.

Incest was not necessary

The story would have been 5 stars by omitting the incest. That topic did not enhance the story by any stretch of the imagination.

This book started slow......

What made the experience of listening to Kill Me If You Can the most enjoyable?

This book started out slow, but then reached out and grabbed me. I loved it!

Fantastic book!

Really liked this book from beginning to end. Very exciting, liked all the characters and each of their bits of history. Couldn't put it down... Thanks for the good entertainment.

Never a Dull Moment!

If you could sum up Kill Me If You Can in three words, what would they be?

thrilling
absorbing
spine-tingling

What was one of the most memorable moments of Kill Me If You Can?

When he disclosed that he was a hit man.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the family of the the cab company took revenge on the incestuous couple.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Matthew visited the train driver, talked to him, then gave him a lot of money.

Any additional comments?

I finished the entire book in one very long, but very exciting day. I simply couldn't stop listening. The characters were well drawn, the plot was twisted enough to keep me in suspense, and the narrator was excellent.

Great Story!

I loved this one. Surprise twist was pretty awesome. Hope there will be another with this character. voice actors did an awesome job!

Best story in years from Patterson! refreshing

This is a hit! I loved, LOVED THIS STORY!! It is one of the best Patterson stories published in a few years. The characters are fresh and the story-line interesting. Just when you think that the story is ending, there is another twist or turn to the story line. Contrary to what was written in another review, the "sex" scenes were not at all excessive or graphic. Basically, "they got naked, they made love ". That is the extent of the "sex" scene. No descriptions of body parts, no panting, no sweating, grunting, entering, etc. Trust me...I've written more than what you will find in this story. Also note-worthy is that the death scenes were not overly violent. Enough information was provided to let the listener know how the character died. There were not graphic, long-drawn out, terrorizing deaths. I listened to this story almost non-stop. The narration was perfect. The cadence kept the pace exciting and breath-taking. I would love more stories about Matthew, Katherine, "Colorado", the Marine buddies, etc. Although it took awhile for the story to come to a conclusion, this story has a great ending too! Looking forward to the "right day".