What Doesn't Kill Her by Max Allan Collins, a Mysterious Review.

Review: A serial killer is targeting families in the Cleveland area, only doing so in a manner that escapes the attention of authorities. An astute cop and survivors of the victims, however, realize a pattern exists in What Doesn't Kill Her, a crime thriller by Max Allan Collins.

Jordan Rivera is one of the survivors. Her parents and brothers murdered before her eyes, she was raped before the killer said to her, "You'll live to tell my story. You'll live to tell the world." In therapy for years afterwards, she never said a word. Indeed, it wasn't until she heard the news of another family being murdered, leaving a single survivor, that she decides to reach out to him and try to learn what happened. Meanwhile, a cop also suspects that a single person may be responsible for a series of killings that haven't yet been considered related. Convincing his superiors that there is a reason to investigate, he begins his own search for the killer.

What Doesn't Kill Her takes readers on an interesting ride through mostly familiar territory here. On the plus side, this isn't a typical serial killer thriller, but on the other hand it does suffer from offering up a predictable (and stereotypical) character relatively early in the book, one that does indeed turn out to be the culprit. One's interest is maintained, however, in how Jordan and cop Mark Pryor — her one-time high school suitor — work independently towards a common goal. The narrative is often more than a little clumsy, odd for such an accomplished author, but overall the storyline is a solid one.

Acknowledgment: Thomas & Mercer provided a copy of What Doesn't Kill Her for this review.

Strip for Murder
Berkley Prime Crime (Trade Paperback), May 2008
ISBN-13: 9780425221396; ISBN-10: 0425221393

Supreme Justice
Thomas & Mercer (Trade Paperback), July 2014
ISBN-13: 9781612185309; ISBN-10: 1612185304