You Can't Stop Me (You Can't Stop Me, #1) by Max Allan Collins

You Can't Stop Me (You Can't Stop Me, #1) Reviews

• 
  Jim

  3.5 stars. This was a very good, interesting mystery story. Not as much action as his Quarry novels, but better in many ways. The look into the twisted motivations of a serial killer & the exciting way the story played out were riveting. The setting was different - a take off of Alan Walsh's example. I liked the early CSI TV shows (Collins writes novelizations of them) & this story is similar. Well worth reading.
• 
  Joan Reeves

  This book kept me riveted from page 1 to the end. I could not put it down. Quite simply, it's one of the best thrillers I've read in a long time, and that's in large part to the character J. C. Harrow, hero and victim. Every civilized person identifies with the fear--the nightmare--that a madman could take away everyone you love. Your entire family--gone in minutes because of a sick killer.
  
  We identify with that fear, and we identify with the man left behind when all his loved ones are gone. Harrow is every man, just the sort of guy who might live next door to you. He's a cop with cop instincts, and, on the day of a professional best for a cop, he loses everything important to him.
  
  His emotions and actions seem organic as we read about him. Never once do the authors descend to purple prose to convince us of his heartbreak. Indeed, everything about Harrow rings true, and that's the strength of this thriller. You root for him to find the killer. You become emotionally invested in him and his team of experts. Even as I was reading along and mentally fitting the clues together, I was surprised at the ending. I just didn't see it coming.
  
  As I was approaching the end of the book, I didn't want it to end. I kept hoping that this was the beginning of a series. As soon as I read the last word, I turned on my wireless and connected to the Kindle Shop. To my relief, I found a second J. C. Harrow book, and it's now residing on my Kindle. I can hardly wait to dive into it.
  
  Do you like thrillers that are taut, suspenseful, action-packed, and peopled with great characters? If you answer in the affirmative to these questions, then you must get this book!
• 
  Jay Fromkin

  I hate reality TV. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Even shows that have a moral center, such as "America's Most Wanted." So, once I got into "You Can't Stop Me" I thought I'd have trouble getting past the basic concept of a former Iowa sheriff becoming host of a true-crime show in an effort to find the killer of his wife and children. But, I liked it. The main character, J.C. Harrow, is admirable, but while the supporting characters all have distinctive characteristics, many are not well fleshed out. As usual, one of the most interesting characters is the serial killer (given the number of books and movies featuring serial killers, it's a wonder any of us is still alive). The author's approach to the television is both sanguine and cynical - television can do good work if the talent can just work around the executive suits. The author also seems to have affection for small-town law enforcement officials - until the unnecessary surprise ending.
  
  In the final pages, the author's bio reveals that he wrote the graphic novel, "Road to Perdition," which was made into an under-appreciated film with Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig. Like the film, the dialogue in "You Can't Stop Me" is generally natural, dipping into the expository only when a character is developing a stream of conversation before the TV cameras. As someone who's done a lot of TV interviews, it is pretty spot on.
  
  This is a good crime procedural, mixed with an appropriately ambivalent perspective on television and the emotional effect participatory journalism can have on all parties concerned.
• 
  Urs

  I have never read any of Max Allan Collins work, nor have I read any of Matthew Clemens work. I had no special expectations for this book as a result. I got this as a free read from the kindle store.
  
  The book is about a man who saves the President and then comes home to find his family murdered. He then uses a reality show à la America's Most Wanted to track down his family's killer. The authors switch between scenes of the main character, plus cast and crew of the show, and scenes of the killer.
  
  This book was a quick and easy read, and I remained interested until the end. It slowed down a bit in the middle, but not so much that I wanted to give up on it. There is not much depth for any of the characters here, but there is just enough information about each to keep reading.
  
  The scenes involving the killer were a little repetitive, since they often involved the killer going through the killing process in much the same way every time. The odd thing is that I felt really attached to the victims by the ends of these scenes because you learned so much about them in a short space, contrary to the main characters.
  
  Still, this was a worthwhile suspense/thriller read with a twist, although many will probably see the twist coming.
• 
  JenniferJ

  One of the fastest most exciting mysteries that has held me in my seat in a long while! I quickly was swept into the life of JC and how he goes in search of his families killer on reality tv! It was just an amazing concept and the characters we meet along the way are fantastic.....one of my favorites being a crazy old coot with a shotgun but that's all I'll divulge. lol
• 
  Solitairerose

  You Can’t Stop Me is one of the better thrillers I have read in a long time. Max Allen Collins and co-writer Matthew Clemens have pulled off a novel that is suspenseful, taut, and made me turn pages as fast as I could.
  
  The story opens with the lead character saving the President from an assassination at6tempt, only to come home to find his wife and son murdered. This leads to him working for a show called “Crime Seen!” that works to put criminals behind bars, and brings the resources for him to find the person who killed his family. The show brings together a crack squad of top-notch crime scene investigators when they realize this is one of a series of murders that have gone unsolved for a decade.
  
  The book feels like the pilot for a series of novels. As such, we are introduced to a group of supporting characters and the “Crime Seen!” setting for them to have a reason to go after the serial killer. It works to give them a reason to work the case, as well as the resources to do so. The supporting characters are quickly drawn, and have their small roles to play, but the lead character JC Harrow, carries the story. Collins has given us a great protagonist in a former sheriff who doesn’t mind using the trappings of fame to bring criminal to justice.
  
  On top of this, the antagonist has an agenda other than “He’s a crazy serial killer” which makes the story feel a cut above most in the genre. The novel doesn’t waste much time in driving the story forward, and uses the expertise of the team Harrow has brought together to drive the story forward. Colls has written most of the CSI tie-in novels, and uses that experience to good effect here, using technology to move the story, without the huge SF leaps that the CSI series did.
  
  Not just a great thriller, but a must-read for fans of the genre.
  
• 
  J.L. Bowers

  I've never read any of this authors work before and thought I'd give this one a go. I erred on the side of three stars, but mostly I thought it deserved 2.5.
  
  The plot held an interesting premise, but there was a lot of telling in this book, boring exposition that cluttered it so that there was only minimal tension. I found myself skimming over a lot of unnecessary information esp when it came to character descriptions. The author seemed obsessed with describing everything the characters wore, even the minor characters. I began to wonder if the author used to write for Fashion Police.
  
  I thought the gathering of the team chapter could have been eliminated, or at least shortened.
  
  Much of the dialogue was either corny, didn't ring true, or didn't add to the story.
  
  The story itself unfolded predictably, but it was readable and again, it was an interesting premise. The center of the country thing was interesting. And I liked the idea of the main character. He was likable for the most part.
  
  
• 
  Susan Jo Grassi

  I've read a couple Max Allan Collins mysteries but I think this one will stay with me for quite a while.
  
  An ex Iowa small town sheriff comes home from the state fair, after saving the life of the president of the United States, to find him wife and son murdered. Several years later he has become the star of a reality show that helps find bad guys with the help of viewers. Suddenly, he is confronted with evidence that may relate to his own family's murders. What would you? Read the book and see what J. C. Harrow does.
• 
  Petrina

  Good read!!
  
  Very good book. It started off slowly as the story was building, but once the story started rolling this book became excellent. Hard to review without spoilers, but good solid crime drama. Complete with crime scene review, profiling, and computer hacking. It was like watching an episode of Criminal Minds. I loved it!
• 
  Melanie

  An excellent crime mystery peppered with quirky humour, and narration the equivalent of easy listening music that made visualising the story effortless. Very well paced, not high octane, but strong, steady and seamless writing that makes "writing a book" look easy.
• 
  Ljbischoff

  This is one of the best books I have read in awhile!
• 
  Jane

  Just started this January 3 2021 and so far it's very good
• 
  Krista Bassett

  • 7/10
  • A little slow at times, but a very interesting premise overall
  • Poetic justice
• 
  Muhammad Yahya Cheema

  Excellent. Period.
  
  Why? For a number of reasons. First, because of its crisp, lively and 'characterized' dialogues with wit, humor and more than often black humor. Second, because of its suspenseful dramatization of events, which kept the thrill going till the very last page. Third, its characterization, which felt better than in many other fiction works recently published. List goes on, but you get an idea.
  
  Never thought I'd say this about a 'cheesy' serial-killer-thriller, but the idea of putting it all on a show actually worked wonders for the story. A slight nod to the current tasteless trend of making a 'spectacle' of everything, putting protagonist's family's murders in hands of a media executive as means to an advertising end simply raised the stakes.... for the protagonist and the reader both. It felt like tapping into the darkness of Earle Stanley Gardner's lawyer's mind, which realized, long ago, that this society of ours was a society of spectacle, of cheap thrills, of narrative; even if it meant narrating one's personal tragedy through lavish thousand dollar brands and expensive feminine perfumes. Even if it meant narrating the death of a child (many children) through the lens of a camera that would digest about anything streets would throw at it and would vomit it back to the hungry mouths of eyes wide open past midnight, greedy for something to satisfy, something to provide closure.
  
  The struggle of the protagonist within himself was highlighted just enough to dichotomize revenge and grief, reality and fantasy, dream and fiction. The character could have been developed more (I expect nothing less from novels ahead in the series) and yet it felt just right to have read precisely as much as written about the character.
  
  The film-like cutting and fading to felt great. Very much like CSI, which I have come to like in its own place over the years. The noir added some real bleakness... and yet it kept to a minimum to allow younger readers to enjoy the book. I guess that's become standard procedure in Hollywood. Never thought I'd be watching a PG13 'why so serious' version of Batman! I even heard Prometheus comes with the same rating. Back in good old days, I'd had watched Alien hidden away in my own room so my parents wouldn't catch me with an R18 movie!
  
  I digress.
  
  Bottomline: flaws are there. It ain't perfect. But it is damn near it. Highly recommended for any thriller fan.
• 
  Grey Liliy

  This gets a four star because I loved J.C. Harrow. Characters are what make me love a book, and he's a good one. He's that perfect sort of old school detective playing the role of a TV host--and he gets the best of both worlds. You can see how he's adjusted from Detective to Host and what's kept and what's changed--merging together into a lovable personality who's still a good man.
  
  Jumped right into that, didn't I?
  
  Yeah, the highlight of this particular novel had to be the lead, J.C. I liked the rest of the cast as well, but they were sort of a collection of standard tropes (the nerdy computer girl, the strong female lead, the shy country boy, the tough old guy, etc.). They were all likable, but nothing really stood out about them. Though, my second favorite after J.C. was a trope in himself--loved Dennis, that executive scamp.
  
  Story wise, it was good stuff. The TV Show was a nice window for J.C. to hunt down the serial killer & was a great way to spice up the traditional detective story. The killer himself had a lot of depth, and was fairly relatable. He was completely crazy, but in a sympathetic way--which is always a good combination and helped with the motivations for the twist ending.
  
  Not much else to say. Good story, and I'd read another J.C. Harrow story, easy. :D
• 
  William M.

  I’ve heard of Max Allen Collins a lot over the years. His movies, the adaptations, and his crime novels with the Hard Case Crime publishing imprint. The premise of this story really intrigued me and I thought I’ve give it a try.
  
  Once the narrative gets moving, I felt the team of experts that were brought together by Harrow was a bit too clichéd with their multi-cultural heritage. It almost felt like a spoof; the black lesbian, the Asian jokester, the shy sexy computer nerd, the tough muscle, etc. Just when I started to regret investing my time in this book, some impressive and brutal events would occur to keep me hooked.
  
  While most of the story built to what you would expect, the last third was considerable strong and really ramped up the intensity and danger. It was very entertaining and the authors managed to even include an extra clever ending after the climax. This strong last third made me happy I stuck with the book. The author’s knowledge of the inner workings of a film production were quite accurate and the details were on point. I’m definitely interested in the next story in this apparent series. Authors Collins and Clemmens know how to deliver an engaging thriller.
  
• 
  Toni

  This story by the author of the Oscar-winning Road to Perdition and many CSI novels could very well be the basis for a television/movie script. It plays smoothly, flowing from one scene to another. The characterizations are spot-on: the network executive theoretically caring for his star and staff but in reality wanting only the high ratings JC’s vendetta will bring in, the talented staff JC bring in, each an expert in his field, each with their own little quirks, and JC himself, grief-stricken, still carrying around the guilt of saving a president but being unable to save his own family, and determined to find out who and why?. That it’s on the air is incidental, it’s justice he wants, as well as revenge and if he has to use a major television network to get it, he will. Delving into the mind of both protagonist and antagonist, the author compares and establishes a relationship between the two men in their bereavement, contrasting how each reacts to his loss. You can’t Stop Me is a tense thriller with a twist of an ending most won’t suspect.
• 
  Cristina Rivera

  On the same day sheriff J.C. Harrow saves the President, he discovers his wife and son have been murdered. Years later he has his own show, Crime Seen!, and uses it to find the killer of his family. After assembling a team of top-notch professionals, they take a journey deciphering 'messages' left behind by their still active killer with camera crew in tow. However, presenting their information to the world also gives the killer one step ahead. The team, itself, also put their lives at risk following a trail they were intended to follow.
  
  Good story. Some details were a little drawn out like everyone's profession and specific skill and what they all wore, but after that it gets better once you delve into all the clues and the journey itself. You might even find yourself trying to figure out what the clues mean before you read the following page. I gave it 4 stars because I didn't like too much the lack of indication when the story moved on to a later point in time. Overall, it's worth a read and makes you think who the victim and the bad guy really are.
• 
  Susan Kelley

  JC Harrow has dealt with the horror no person should have. His loving wife and son were murdered in cold blood, ironically, the same day JC saved the life of the President of the United States.
  
  Years later, JC has turned his unexpected fame into a gig as host of the real-life crime solving show, Crime Seen! Sure,there are critics who say he is using his personal tragedy to his own benefit. In a way, he is. JC hopes to one day find the person who took everything from him. That day may be coming quite soon thanks to an eager Production Assistant. She finds a murder that looks like Harrow’s case, only this one just took place.
  
  Using this new information, JC forms a 'super-star' team of investigators in the hopes of taking down the person who killed his family.
  
  This was a pretty interesting book. I liked following along on the chase for clues. I don't feel like the characters were fleshed out enough, maybe the author intends to do so in later books in the series. I probably would try at least one more series book to see if the characters develop.
• 
  Robin

  This book has an interesting, but highly improbable premise. J.C. Harrow, a former small town Iowa sheriff and current criminalist for the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation, is on special assignment at the Iowa State Fair. He is assigned to monitor the crowd during a Presidential visit. He spots a shooter and dives on him, thus saving the President's life. That night, when he arrives home, he finds his wife and and children have been murdered. Publicity for these two events, plus his good looks and winning manner, propel him to hosting a cable reality crime TV show. Because an associate discovers a link to a Florida murder with a similar M.O., J.C. pressures his producer to allow him and a select team to try to track down the killer. It's an interesting story, but could NEVER happen in real life.
• 
  Darcia Helle

  Collins and Clemens borrow from the TV show America's Most Wanted and its host John Walsh. In You Can't Stop Me, J.C. Harrow is a cop who loses his wife and son to a serial killer. Circumstances send Harrow into the limelight and, consequently, he becomes the host of a reality crime show. He uses this show to assemble an expert crime team and they travel the country tracking the killer with TV cameras following their every move.
  
  This is a quick read, with believable and likable characters. I found the authors had a thing for making most characters cute blondes and for describing what everyone was wearing. And the last line, in my opinion, was just plain silly. But those are minor things. Overall I enjoyed this one and would read another by these two authors.
• 
  Angela Risner

  I downloaded this as it was a free promotion on Kindle. I was a bit disappointed in the novel, although the author does have promise. I am not sure if the author is using this book as a stepping stone for a series with the same characters or not. If so, he needs to flesh out the characters a bit more.
  
  There are a few twists and turns, but overall it was fairly formulaic. The description of the killer was nothing unusual, other than when the author seemed ready to turn him into a rapist. That didn’t go with the flow of the story at all and was quickly dismissed after a few pages.
  
  I’m interested to see what else this author offers up, if only to see him grow as an author, but I won’t be rushing to get the next book nor to pay full price for it.