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.

The male version of Patterson's Now You See Her

After having listened to Now You See Her and Kill Me if you Can, I really like this somewhat new style coming from James Patterson. The "heros" in both books have a shady past yet they are ever the optimists and even while under heavy gunfire seem to be upbeat and chipper. This got on my nerves at first but I found myself enjoying it.

In Kill Me if you Can, Matthew Bannon is an art student who finds a doctor's bag full of diamonds next to a dying Russian mobster. This is the story of the people who need to find Matthew and Matthew's attempts to out-run them.

The pace is fast and aside from a pretty major plot twist we are kept on a very linear path to the end.

I'm giving this book 3 stars because it is a fun read with great characters and for you Audible listeners, you will find two great readers that help break up the good guys from the bad guys.

My biggest issue with any book is when I'm asked to suspend belief when the big shootout/fist fight/final plan is implemented. Without giving anything away, there is a big to-do at the end and quite frankly I had to suspend way too much belief. I also was not a big fan of the ending either.

In summary Kill Me if you Can is a decent book and a fun ride with great characters but don't expect anything special in terms of plot.

If you are not a fan of suspending belief during major action sequences then you might look elsewhere. I was not and dinged this book from a 4 to a 3 star due especially to the last chapters.

-Bill

Funny as hell and surprising ending

Would you listen to Kill Me If You Can again? Why?

I listened to this book just as much as I have listened to Guilty Wives. OMG the ending was awesome and hoping there will be series attached to it.

What did you like best about this story?

The twist and turn on the storyline. Characters that I thought were just shadows or unimportant were surprisingly..... YOU just have to read the book ... there were too many twists and turns I was on pins and needles... I had to stop my SUV at one point in the parkway because I got too excited and started talking to my IPHONE lol....

What about Jeff Woodman and Jason Culp ’s performance did you like?

They were perfect...

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

OMG Yes.

Any additional comments?

I hope Patterson as I have said earlier would make a series on the Ghost because the book was funny, exciting .....

Very enjoyable audio book.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This audio book held our interest for the entire 12+ hours. It was just a bit predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. The narrators were excellent and had a wide range of voices to distinguish the different characters.

A pretty good listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend because it helps the miles go by while driving. All in all a pretty good listen.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes the plot kept me guessing with a nice twist.

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!