OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Catch Me If You Dare" by Tobin Michael.]
This was truly an exceptional thriller; one that really stood out from other thrillers as a league of its own. “Catch Me If You Dare” is a book that had me glued to the pages, that kept me up late into the night unable to stop reading, and that caused my heart to race uncontrollable with suspense and fear.

“Catch Me If You Dare” mainly follows Jake, a United States Marshall, and Max, a complete psychopath as they compete in a battle of wits and survival to kill one another (and in Jake’s case) rescue some young women from certain death. The story is set on the Apostle Islands in lake superior and is a race against time and death.

The plot of “Catch Me If You Dare” is absolutely fantastic. While this book does have a common premise, U.S. Marshall sets out to thwart killer before any more innocents die, this book has an extremely unique twist. In this story, the Marshall and the killer are playing a game, one that the killer set up. They are duking it out on an island, so it truly is just the Marshall against Max (or so it seems). I won’t give too much away, but just know that this book will keep you on the edge of your seat, not let you sleep until you’ve finished, and has an amazing plot twist of an ending.

The characters in this book are all really realistic and enjoyable to read about. The Marshall and Max, the two main characters, act in a realistic manner and are both unique characters that are interesting to read about (Max especially). The girls, who are the victims, were also very dynamic characters. Again, I won’t give much away but although they have a role to play (that of the victim) they are truly strong characters that don’t always follow their set roles.

The writing in this book was very satisfying to read. Tobin Michael does an astounding job of garnering suspense throughout the story and bringing it to a head at key points throughout. His descriptions of the action and the locations were also very pleasant to read; easy to follow and visualize. The one aspect of his writing that I really enjoyed, though, were the glimpses into the past of Max and his brother, Frank. The glimpses into the past were inputted into the text in a subtle manner, not interrupting the flow of the story in any way, and really aided in understanding the characters that were Frank and Max. I truly enjoyed getting a glimpse into the characters backstories as I found myself wondering why they acted the way that they did.

I would give this book 4 out of 4 stars. “Catch Me If You Dare” has all the elements of a fantastic thriller, and then some. I really struggled putting this book down until I was finished as it kept me on the edge of my seat and glued to the pages until the very end. I will definitely be reading more by this author and would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers, especially unique ones.

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Thank you for the great review. This sounds like a really exciting read. Thanks for whetting my appetite and not giving too much away!

Sounds good!

Thanks for the great, I think I'll give this one a try.

Sounds like an interesting book and nice review.

Thanks for the review. Sounds like a good one.

Hmm... It looks like it is a good book. I should add this to my ''to-read'' list.

I have to read this one!

Brilliant review! I really like the sound of this, I'll definitely have to read this at some point!

Hm I strongly agree that the review is excellent with the reviewer not giving up to much information. That in itself is grounds to make a person want to read. I just might too considering that this novel sounds like the type of suspense I love to read about. However, I can't help but think that this book sounds like a mix of two of Leonardo DiCaprio's movies but book adaptations. The first book( Catch Me if you can by Frank W. Abagnale and Stan Redding) the other is called(Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane). In the first book, the antagonist is being chased around by a detective but turns out to be a slippery one to catch. Employing Cunning, and Intellect, he masquerades around posing as different people with important occupations and cashes millions of dollars of forged checks all as a teenager.

The other was about detectives investigating Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane to locate a patient who has supposedly disappeared. It takes place on a remote island hence (Shutter "Island"). Crazy plot twists happen in this thriller to make it possess a very unique plot and story.

Now if you take a Detective/US Marshall chasing a madman in this case (psycho) and place them on a remote island where I'm sure elaborate setup's for the US Marshall await, sprinkle cliff hangers and plot twists that most likely will reveal all isn't as it seems, and call it a very similar title you get Catch me if you Dare. Not being pessimistic about the story itself as the reviewer confirmed it was great, however if he could also confirm he has seen or read both stories mentioned and it is nothing like them, then with me you have a winner.
Not knocking it at all if that is the interpretation, but I am critical about such stories for originality.

Thanks for the review. The book sounds good and the review retained the suspense. Will give it a try definitely.

Thorough review