Review: What Doesn't Kill Her

Title: What Doesn't Kill Her

Author: Max Allan Collins

Published: September 17th, 2013

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

ISBN: 9781612185293

Pages: 340

★★★★✰

Jordan Rivera is an ordinary kid with an ordinary family, until a vicious killer takes it all away, sparing her, but leaving her broken. The murders of her father, mother and brother destroy something inside Jordan, who spends ten long, mute years in an institution. Catching a glimpse of a news report about another family slaying, Jordan at last 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 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 life – and her sanity – depend on it.

In a way, I have been waiting (not so patiently) for this book. Not that I had ever heard of this book prior to reading it, I hadn't. I didn't know that this book existed. But I had been waiting for a book to move me. And this one did. 

You get pulled into this nightmare from the first page. Being a parent, this one really freaked me out. I can't imagine my child having to go through that kind of experience. Listening to your family being brutally murdered? Absolutely terrifying. I have a VERY vivid imagination and I often picture in my mind, the events of a book - especially when the book is well written. This happened with What Doesn't Kill Her. I could hear Jordan's mother calling to her, I could hear each footstep coming down the hallway ... I was terrified for Jordan! 

I really liked watching Jordan transform from an emotionless mute to a very determined and angry victim. But I didn't see her as a victim. She is the definition of a survivor. Jordan was such a strong woman, just biding her time, waiting. I really don't think that she could have been written any better ... I love strong female characters!

Max Allan Collins is an amazing author. I had not read anything from him before this and that is going to change. Man, he's just awesome. The plot was absolutely perfect, the characters were so developed that I could relate to them as people and the book wasn't full of extra "fluff" (those unnecessary paragraphs full of info or descriptions that really aren't needed and usually just tick me off because they are a waste of my very precious reading time).

What Doesn't Kill Her is one of those books that you pick up and don't want to put down ... unless you have the flu while reading ... which I did ... and then you would rather die than get out of bed or crack your eyes open to read a page ... but if you don't have the flu you should totally pick this book up ... it would be great to read while sitting by the pool or by a fire with a cup of hot chocolate (I'm hoping hot chocolate / fireplace time is coming soon even though it feels like 900 degrees outside right now).