FRONTLIST FEATURES: What Doesn't Kill Her by Max Allan Collins
Of all the members of Top Suspense, Max Allan Collins has
to be the most prolific. (Just
take a look at this). He’s ALWAYS got a new book coming out— frankly, the
rest of us envy his productivity, but that’s another story. So it’s not surprising that Max has a
new novel coming out September 17.
WHAT DOESN’T KILL HER tells the story of Jordan
Rivera, who was an ordinary kid with an ordinary family – until a vicious
killer took it all away from her, sparing her and leaving her broken. The
murders destroyed something inside Jordan and she spent ten long, silent years
in an institution. Catching a glimpse of a news report about another ordinary
family slain, Jordan breaks her silence. Now she’s out, and she molds
herself—body and mind—into an instrument of justice. While a young detective pursues the case on his own, Jordan
teams up with members of her Victims Support Group, people like her, damaged by
violent crime. They have their own stories of pain, heartache, and vengeance
denied. With their help, Jordan will track down the killer before he can ravage
any more lives. Her own life depends on it.
When we asked Max why this
story, here’s what he said: “For my first novel with Thomas & Mercer, I wanted to step
away from the historical and private eye genres I’m best known for, and do a
straight thriller. I also wanted to get away from the procedural nature of the
CSI, CRIMINAL MINDS and BONES novels that Matt Clemens and I have done
featuring super-star forensics teams, including our own J.C. Harrow novels. The
notion fascinated me of real people, members of a Victims of Violent Crimes
support group, teaming up to use their own various everyday skills to track
down a killer. Also, I’d been toying with doing an American variation on the
strong damaged female protagonist of GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, and this
seemed a perfect opportunity.”
Reviewers agree.
"What Doesn't Kill Her is a kick-ass thrill ride
from page one. This is the American answer to The Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo." – John Gilstrap, author of High Treason and Damage
Control
“Another winner from a fine writer.” Not the Baseball
Pitcher
"Collins weaves a compelling story with strong
characters: Jordan, several members of her victims support group, and Mark
Pryor, a high school crush recently made detective who pursues the case on his
own time. Jordan is torn between her desire to destroy the killer on her own and
identifying with the other victims, accepting their help. There are lots of
interesting twists to keep the story moving briskly." Karen Musser
Nortman"
You can find WHAT DOESN’T KILL HER at Amazon in ebook and print. Audio too. And
while you’re at it, check out a couple of other works in the pipeline: EARLY
CRIMES (Perfect Crime), which collects three early pieces by Max -- a short
story, a novella, and a previously unpublished novel. And ASK NOT, a new
Nate Heller thriller, the third in his JFK trilogy, will be out in October. It
deals with the statistics-defying number of witness deaths that followed the
assassination.
See? Prolific. And Amazing.
