Group Read - You Can't Catch Me ch 1-9 Spoilers Welcome

[Ann]

Discussion thread for discussing chapters 1-9 of Catherine McKenzie's You Can't Catch Me.
Spoilers welcome on this topic. if the first to post please briefly summarize to drive the discussion. Thanks!

[Ann]

Chapters 1-9
Two Jessica Williams meet in an airport bar; one recently fired and heading to Puerto Vallarta. The other initiates a game of twenty questions about personal information they "share".
**2**
Back in her small Greenwich Village apartment Jessica one is back home. The former investigative reporter had plagiarized a story, got caught and managed to use a prior sexual advance she wouldn't pursue to leave with a six figure severance - now all gone; her bank account drained by Jessica two.
**3**
The police officer taking her stolen identity and theft complaint doesn't give much hope of recovery. She needs Liam
**4**
Liam is a private eye and fixer, he rescued Jessica one from the Land of Todd (LOT) a cult in the Adirondacks where she grew up and escaped at 18 before she became a bride of Todd.....
**5**
Jessica one was "sold" to Todd by her mother, but rescued by Liam who is now offering to help. A college grad, debt free, living in a tiny apartment with roommates (unemployed and disgraced and newly broke) J#1 tries locating other Jessica Williams victims on Facebook. She needs her friends...
**6**
The Twists, other former cult kids, rescued by Liam. Covington, Daisy, and Miller meet and commiserate. They discuss Daisy's lingering cocaine habit and the resentment they each feel towards their parents and Todd who died of a "heart attack".
Liam found her....
**7**
Jessica three lives in Wilmington NY, so they drive up to meet her...
**8** J#3 has a similar story. She was a teacher in Chicago and won $1 million dollars in the lottery. She bought a house in the Adirondacks and was lured to attend a fake conference where in the airport bar Jessica#2 engaged her in twenty questions, then wiped out her bank account.
**9**
Waiting for copies of the bank photos of J#2, Jessica and Liam return to the dilapidated cult compound where before his death, Todd terrorized his followers and apparently "married" the young girls and boys when they turned 18. Haunting memories of the time spent in unheated cabins without running water as a child were softened by memories of Kiki, her close friend who Jessica had tried to convince to leave too.

[Ann]

The books starts out with an alarming scene and results - who isn't terrified at the thought of stolen identity and the difficulty of recovering from the damage.
Jessica one doesn't appear to be the kind of person who will let this go, so the game is on when she realizes what has happened to her. J#1 has started with nothing before and pulled herself up so this challenge will certainly be interesting.

[Kari]

I was just going to read the first couple of pages and ended up nine chapters in. This book is very fast-paced! During the first couple of chapters, it was almost too fast-paced, but it's slowing down and starting to take its time with the cult mysteries and what's going on with the Jessicas so I'm enjoying it better.

First, though, I have to say, if a complete stranger asks you what your mother's maiden name is and what street you grew up on, how can you not be at least a little suspicious? Those are such weird questions for a fun little "get to know you" game, even if you have the same name and birthday and have been tempted with alcohol. Maybe it makes sense with a softie like Jessica Three, but Jessica One strikes me as a savvier type than that.

For having grown up in a cult, Jessica (One) definitely seems to have embraced a modern lifestyle, which makes sense. She seems a bit cavalier about things, more entertained by the adventure of finding Jessica Two than angry.

I do find it very, very strange Jessica Two found both J1 and J3 after they had come into money, and I'm thinking there must be more to it than that. My very off the wall theory right now is J2 is in on it somehow. (To be fair, my off the wall theory about Jane Harper's The Lost Man turned out to be correct but I am generally not an excellent detective.)

Thus far, though, I'm more interested in this cult business and what happened to Aaron (I guess suicide?) and Kiki. What Todd had planned for Jessica, and what happened after he died. And what that weird punishment forest is all about.

[Ann]

Kari: Same here, I was thinking of reading a few pages and found myself flying through the chapters and wondering what possessed Jessica one to tell a stranger all of her personal details without suspicion.
The mystery of what happened with, or to Kiki and Aaron is driving me crazy with curiosity!

Kari wrote: "I was just going to read the first couple of pages and ended up nine chapters in. This book is very fast-paced!

First, though, I have to say, if a complete stranger asks you what your mother's maiden name is and what street you grew up on, how can you not be at least a little suspicious? Those are such weird questions for a fun little "get to know you" game, even if you have the same name and birthday and have been tempted with alcohol.
."

[Dawn]

"First, though, I have to say, if a complete stranger asks you what your mother's maiden name is and what street you grew up on, how can you not be at least a little suspicious? Those are such weird questions for a fun little "get to know you" game, even if you have the same name and birthday and have been tempted with alcohol. Maybe it makes sense with a softie like Jessica Three, but Jessica One strikes me as a savvier type than that. "

Enjoying this book so far! And I agree...its moving fast! There are definitely a lot of sub-plots! When I was reading this part of the book it immediately clicked what was going on...and all I could think was...give some fake answers!!

[Ann]

Dawn: wow, yes! FAKE answers would have been a great way to thwart this bold grifter Jessica.

[Sandi]

Thanks for the summaries Ann.

I'll just echo everyone else that the book is really fast paced and easy to get into. I had some reservations based on the whole cult part of the plot but, so far, I think it has been handled well.

I also wondered why Jessica gave all that info to Jessica 2 and am eager to see where this plot line goes.

Liam seems a bit too good to be true but is very handy to have around.

[Ann]

Sandi: Liam is quite handy to have around. He does seem a bit "super hero"ish.

Sandi wrote: "Liam seems a bit too good to be true but is very handy to have around."

[Sherry]

Ann wrote: "Sandi: Liam is quite handy to have around. He does seem a bit "super hero"ish.

Sandi wrote: "Liam seems a bit too good to be true but is very handy to have around.""

but that's why we like him :)
i wondered why he was doing what did.

[Ann]

Sherry: yes indeed, that is why we like him! (Liam)

[Geri]

I finally started this. I am enjoying it. Like everyone else, I am shocked how easily Jessica answered the questions and never got suspicious. Then proceeded to go offline and unreachable for a week! Very convenient for the plot and for Jessica 2. LOL

Jessica’s cult background is interesting. I want to know more about the mystery there too. I was surprised that Jessica had plagiarized a story. She is definitely a complicated character, and a little flawed.

[Dawn]

Geri wrote: "I finally started this. I am enjoying it. Like everyone else, I am shocked how easily Jessica answered the questions and never got suspicious. Then proceeded to go offline and unreachable for a wee..."

You're being kind with "little flawed" but I can't imagine coming from her background and not being totally wrecked. I'm glad you all were as surprised as I that she handed over so much info about herself. I thought am I overly cynical. Raising children when Myspace was born (and then Facebook), we had police officers often at the school warning us about what the kids were giving away on the internet.

[Sherry]

Dawn wrote: "Geri wrote: "I finally started this. I am enjoying it. Like everyone else, I am shocked how easily Jessica answered the questions and never got suspicious. Then proceeded to go offline and unreacha..."

all i could think about when she was doing that was those stupid facebook games that ask you all the personal stuff for fun (!) and thinking how stupid she was to be so free with that info. I'm guessing that living in a cult made her more innocent than "our" kids would be.

[Dawn]

Sherry wrote: "all i could think about when she was doing that was those stupid facebook games that ask you all the personal stuff for fun (!) and thinking how stupid she was to be so free with that info. I'm guessing that living in a cult made her more innocent than "our" kids would be. ..."

Oh good point!!!