Review: You Can't Catch Me

2020 has been a hell of a year, hasn't it? As some of  you may know, I also write reviews for Niagara Life, a magazine put out by my local newspaper. Usually there are four issues a year and I write reviews for three (or sometimes four) books for each issue. This year we lost the summer issue because of COVID. The fall issue was pushed back and one of my reviews wasn't able to make it into the issue. That review was of Catherine McKenzie's latest novel, You Can't Catch Me. I read the book way back in February 2020 as it was originally supposed to be published earlier than the August pub date. So, instead of reinventing the wheel and trying to add to a review of a book I read before COVID was a Thing in North America, below you'll find the review as I wrote it for the magazine. I hope you check out this book by one of my favourite Canadian authors!

Jessica Williams has had a rough few weeks. She’s been fired from her job as a journalist and now her identity has been stolen. What else could go wrong? Everything, as it turns out in Catherine McKenzie’s latest novel, You Can’t Catch Me.

After Jessica is fired for plagiarism, she takes herself on a trip to Mexico. While in the airport bar, she meets another Jessica Williams (now known as Jessica Two). Knowing Jessica will be out of the country, Jessica Two wipes out her bank account. Jessica vows to get revenge.

But who is Jessica really? The unreliable female narrator trope has gotten pretty tired over the last couple of years but McKenzie manages to do something that feels completely fresh. Without giving too much away, there are a number of explosive revelations that leave the reader wondering exactly who to trust. And just when you think you have it figured out? You find out you don’t. Not at all.

There are many threads to this novel with layers of information that are revealed slowly over the course of the novel. Jessica’s background holds more than a few surprises and the mystery of who Jessica Two is will consume thriller fans.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*