Watch Me

Jay Fletcher #1

by A.J. Holt

"I know who you are."
"No you don't."
"I'm coming after you."
"No you won't."
"Watch me."

Special FBI agent Jay Fletcher knows how to catch serial killers. She's developed a computer program that identifies the most vicious murderers in America.

But Jay's Washington bosses have told her to stop. She can't use her program. It violates the Constitution. It violates these sick killers' civil rights.

Now Jay's been transferred to a tiny office in Sante Fe. She's instructed to stay out of multiple murder cases. As far as Washington knows, she is.

Like hell she is.

Jay is going on-line.
She's going to track down the killers.
What will she do when she finds them?
She says...watch me.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Suspense, Horror, Audiobook

370 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

A.J. Holt is a pseudonym used by the Author Christopher Hyde

Reviews

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

An agency hacker, Jay (real mane Janet) goes rouge, to catch a killer. This came out in the mid '90's, so the tech talk is as such. Good enough for a 3.5 rating.

[Michael Clifton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watch Me, written by Christopher Hyde under a different pen name, AJ Holt, is a taunt thriller. In it, Jay Fletcher, a female FBI agent, becomes fed up with the law, rules, and regulations which often allow killers and murderers go free. Reassigned after using evidence illegally gained to convict a serial killer, she begins to use her impressive computer hacking skills to find other serial killers. Vigilante-style, she tracks them down and kills them.

Written in the mid-90's, readers will be amused by the obvious references to what is now hopelessly obsolete technology, particularly computers. Floppies, disk drives, and VHS tapes abound. Nevertheless, the story is fastmoving and taunt.

Holt does a good job with imagery, describing every person, room, and setting in great detail. Some readers may find this a bit too much ad nauseam, but I liked it.
Four Stars for Watch Me!

[Aryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. I think the beginning started off interesting, but it took a sudden turn and everything was like "whoa, what?" and it was a bit confusing. I like how the story gradually moves further and further, and switches between different characters and their stories and actions one at a time. I kind of wish more happened with "Ricky Stiles", however... the ending seemed very abrupt and like more should have occurred afterwards instead of just ending with Jay killing a certain someone and taking off.

I think it's really interesting how Jay gradually turns into the very same person she wanted to destroy. She turned into another copy of Ricky Stiles. It was a bit sad, because she was supposed to be bettering herself and getting back into the swing of things, but I guess that never happened. Irregardless, being a programmer myself, I loved the computer stuff that was thrown in. I'd totally read it again, and look forwards to reading the second book, whenever I can get ahold of it. :)

[Elly Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

1* This started out lame. The writing is weak, for example, so many tedious, long descriptions to introduce characters that I thought about getting a pen and notebook so I could figure out who was who. And it didn't get any better. The writing sounded more like an author's notes about characters who might be included in an upcoming novel, rather than a finished novel. I tried, but this one just isn't worth my time, other than as a good example of what not to do.

[Audrey (Warped Shelves)]

I have been trying to read this on and off for months now. It just occurred to me: I don't care. I don't care about the characters, "good" or bad; the crimes, the mysteries. If I DNF this now, I don't think it will bother me. I don't particularly care how the story unfolds. It doesn't interest me at all and it's really just bogging me down seeing this book on my nightstand still.

So goodbye, Watch Me. I can't say my time with you was pleasurable.


POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge: A book with bad reviews (Story time: I was only inclined to pick this up in the first place bc I found it free at a library sale with "Terrible book!!!" scribbled inside the cover. I snorted and bagged the book--I had to find out for myself. I guess the book vandal had a point. I should have heeded their warning.)

[Saskia (Smitie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deze thriller was beter dan ik had verwacht. Ik hou niet zo van de 'Vigilantes' die opeens besluiten om te moorden voor het groter goed, maar dit verhaal heeft ook een heel kat en muisspel tussen de Iceman en Hawkins. De hele redenatie van Jay Fletcher vond ik wat zwak. Ik had liever wat meer opbouw van haar personage gezien zodat beter te verklaren is waarom ze overstapt naar de illegale manier van werken.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ran across this several years before the Dexter TV series began. Don't know if it came out before the first book. At the time, I thought it was highly original - a serial killer of serial killers and a woman for once in the lead. I still see it as a kind of both literary and socio-political landmark, whatever you might think of the writing, and so worth a read.

[Turtle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book of all time and That is saying something

[Alicia Kuester · Rating 4 out of 5]

it takes awhile for the story to develop but once it does, it's hard to put down

[Carolyn (in SC) C234D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an all right book. An ethical dilemma—is it okay to break the law to bring down a serial killer?

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just not worth my reading time.

[Alex Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow start, but speed up and was really interesting toward the middle

[Katie Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow start but the psychology of serial killers and the use of technology is very intriguing.

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent first novel - mystery with cyberspace overtones. Very good read.

[Brian West · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there wasn’t so many in-depth, unnecessary descriptions of everything, this would easily be a 4*

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not good. It's not bad.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good story and good writing.

[Chrisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit slow in the beginning and I got a little confused with all the characters but I do love some vigilante justice.

[Charlotte (Buried in Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An FBI Agent who models herself on Clarice Starling, writes a computer programme which can come up with a list of possible suspects given the characteristics of a crime. Only draw back is you have to have a warrant to use it and its this little oversight that finds her angry, disillusioned with her job and stuck in the middle of no-where.

Of course the temptation to use her programme to track down a local serial killer is too great and while in the process of checking out the most likely suspect comes across a website which hides the fact that there is a network of serial killers bragging to each other about their exploits.

During the course of the book she becomes the very thing that she hunts.

[Pirata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watch Me is a story of an FBI agent that finds out about an online network of gruesome murderers. As she has been suspended from work, she makes it her mission to track down the instigator of the network who turns out to be a massive serial-killer himself. Pursuing her quest, she hunts down a bunch of serial-killers by impersonating one on the cyber-network. She, then, attempts to get dangerously close to the monsters and take them out. This book is not for those with a fragile heart as horrendous scenes of ghastly crimes are depicted.

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It took awhile to get into, that's why I only ranked it as a 4 *s. I did enjoy the plot twist and change of events. I like the different POV for the killers and the officials. I liked how everything was intertwined. The computer jargon was a little complicated, but the story still ended up making sense. I'll recommend this to people who love murder mystery, cops vs bad guy fans. It makes you sit back and think of what is right and wrong, it makes you question morality, and who is truly the "bad guys".

[LJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

WATCH ME - Okay
Holt, A.J. - 1st in Jay Fletcher series

An agency hacker, Jay can use computers to find out anything about anybody. She uses her computer tracking system in an ongoing investigation of a serial killer, and this time she meets the killer in person, not just online. When she discovers that the murderer is hooked into a secret network of people playing a gruesome game, she makes her move.

A serial killer and vendetta FBI agent. I shan't be reading any more by this author.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stole this from my grandparent's house! I was a teenager and it was on their shelf of books they had finished. It was the beginning of my long career in swiping books from others... I am now a member of bookmooch.com where taking other's books is socially acceptable.
It was totally worth stealing from my grandparents!

[Shaunna · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like a good vendetta mixed with cyber crime and coupled with a wicked serial killer tale then this is the perfect book for you. I read it probably 15 years ago originally, so the computer terminology is a bit dated, but still an excellent read. Holt's serial killers are pretty creative beasts. The follow-up, Catch Me, is well done but not quite as good as Watch Me.

[Rixiatrixie0-0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as Catch Me but still THIS BOOK IS TOTALLY AWESOME! Must read! If you haven't read this book but then u read Catch Me, dont worry! The two books dont really clash, this book is just the opening to Catch Me! I love Jay Fletcher! And the love the art work done by A.J. Holt's mind and fingers! READ!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun to read a little back-in-time and to remember how different technology was. The book was okay, I enjoyed the story but felt that the main character just wasn't fully fleshed out enough. I couldn't really see why she was willing to cross the lines she did and it really just seemed like more character development was needed.

[J.M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be completely honest, I can't recall anything about this story. I remember reading it but nothing at all stands out about it. In the end, I guess that's a more telling review than any other I could write.

[Michelle Winters · Rating 3 out of 5]

WOW Interesting crime book. Main character cop becomes a serial killer. I don't watch "Dexter" but if you're a fan of that TV show you'll probably like this book. Wonder how the follow up books will go???

[Ninamarie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. It will be a complete waste of good hours of your life, as it was mine. I loved Silence of the Lambs, and regularly enjoy murder mysteries, police and detective stories. This was one of the lower quality ones.

[Stacy Kamerer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book. I wasn't sure if I liked it in the beginning seeming to jump back and forth. A little into it and I wanted to know what was happening in both cases I was disappointed when went back to other but it was put together to where there was no confusion on what was going on.