Stop Me

by Richard Jay Parker

Forward this email to ten friends. Each of those friends must forward it to ten friends. Maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends. If this email ends up in my inbox within a week, I won't slit the bitch's throat. Can you afford not to send this onto ten friends Vacation Killer Leo Sharpe's life is shattered when his wife Laura suddenly disappears. His desperate need to find her turns to obsession when he becomes convinced she's the latest victim of The Vacation Killer who has claimed eleven lives already - is Laura going to be the twelfth The MO is the same every time - a woman disappears and within hours inboxes around the world receive a threatening email. A few days later, grim evidence of the victim's death is delivered to the police. But in Laura's case, nothing is sent. Has the killer spared her life Why And for how long For Leo, the clock is ticking - he needs to do everything in his power to stop the killer before it's too late.

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

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2009

About the author

R J Parker's creative career began as a TV script writer, script editor and producer. It was this background that fed into a series of cinematic, high-concept thrillers that grabs the reader from the very first page and doesn't release them until the last. R J Parker now lives in Salisbury. One More Chapter/HarperCollins have published THE DINNER PARTY, WHILE YOU SLEPT and THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR. Out April 29th 2022 -THE REMOVAL MAN.

As Richard Jay Parker he has written the thriller STOP ME and as Richard Parker - SCARE ME, STALK ME, FOLLOW YOU, HIDE AND SEEK, KEEP HER SAFE, NEVER SAY GOODBYE and THE SONGBIRD GIRLS.

Check out: www.richard-parker.com

Insta: bemykiller

Twitter @Bookwalter

Reviews

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have a general rule about not reading a book with an average Goodreads rating of less than 3.5 stars. I made an exception for this because I thought the premise was interesting. I wish I hadn't bothered!

And the premise really was interesting - a serial killer sends out a chain email with cryptic clues about a victim he is holding. If the email doesn't return to him within a week or so he will kill the victim. This book could have been so much better. While it started out pretty well thanks to that premise, it went downhill rapidly. I nearly didn't finish it.

When its Laura's turn to be kidnapped and the week is out and there is no sign that she has been killed, her boyfriend Leo uncovers every slimy stone to try and find out what happened to her. This part just dragged on and on and got sillier and sillier. I can't believe Leo's actions, how gullible can anyone be? And the attempt at a twist and shock ending was just ludicrous. Its a shame because I really enjoyed a later novel by this author - Stalk Me, much better.

[Richard Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you could mark your own exam..what would you give yourself?

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thoughts: What is really scary in Stop Me is its premise. Nowadays internet chain letters are such every day occurences that one cannot help but shiver at the reality of this happening: the premise of Stop Me is completely believable and could happen anyday to anyone.

The writing sets the scene as a script, you see the events play out, the characters live and breath on the scene. Due to the 3rd person narration the reader is a spectator of the story, looking on at what is happening.

The novel focuses on Leo and how he copes with the disappearance/kidnapping of his wife. Leo's struggles to wait while the police investigates to find his wife, his trying to go on with his life while not giving up hope that Laura is alive somewhere are described throughout the novel in a completely realistic and credible way. We can imagine any ordinary person would behave like this if someone close to them disappeared.

This is what I would like to highlight about Stop Me: the authenticity and realistic portrayal of events and human reactions and way of coping. Here you won't see the hero swing by and save the day, no, Leo is a completely ordinary guy, with no James Bond alter-ego. He is no superhero who takes matters into his own hands and solves the mystery. He is an everyday John Doe trusting the police and waiting home for them to bring back his wife or at least discover what has happened to her.

The end, the conclusion of the story was unexpected and shocking. Great way to finish and explain the mystery (I have to confess with the almost too realistic portrayal and approach I was afraid the story and the mystery would remain unsolved just as one can imagine it would be in real life). The end certainly elevated the story and was a worthy conclusion to the mystery.

The writing is detailed enough yet flowing and natural, Richard Jay Parker keeps the story from becoming dull or repetitive and makes it interesting even through Leo's painful struggles.

My only problem was that albeit gorgeous, the cover completely misled me as to what to expect from this story. Based on this cover I was expecting a fast paced, action packed, scary serial-killer chasing thriller, but Stop Me is rather a suspenseful mystery with drama. I enjoyed Stop Me and would recommend you to read it but it took me time to surmount my expectations and what the cover led me to believe. I feel the cover doesn't do justice to the story and doesn't represent what Stop Me is really about.

Verdict: The premise sounds exciting. The delivery is well done. But the cover leads you to believe it will be something very different than it is and initial expectations aren't easy to overcome. Would recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good mystery, but don't expect a superhero charging through and saving the day kind of action packed thriller, Stop Me is rather a suspenseful mystery novel.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 7/10
Ending: 8/10
Writing: 8/10
Cover: 4/10 Though the cover looks fantastic, I don't think it suits the story, and in my opinion does more harm than good...

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stop Me is relatively straightforward story, simply but competently told. This is both its strength and its weakness. The strength is it's a relatively easy read, well structured and paced, and adequately plotted. In some ways it felt like a one-off television drama fleshed out into a novel. The weakness is that story-telling lacks any real prose and for me, at least, it didn’t incite any deeper thinking about the nature of people and society, particularly about disappearances and abduction. The story essentially focuses on Leo and is quite reflexive, exploring his thoughts and how he comes to terms with his wife’s disappearance and his journey to discover her fate. This psychological exploration I found was mostly surface with only minor glimpses of any real emotional depth. I think my own ambivalence to Leo is that he’s essentially a weak character and I found it hard to warm to his task because the reader is never introduced to Laura. It's quite difficult to care about the fate of someone who’s a blank slate.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Leo's wife disappears from a restaurant, he doesn't have a clue what's happened to her. That's until he sees the newest email from the Vacation Killer, and is positive he has her. But when no jaw bone is sent to confirm she's been murdered, Leo's life falls apart. He is determined to find out what happened to Laura, and will stop at nothing to get answers...

It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel because it's just so well written. The story flows effortlessly and it's so easy to sink into Leo's world, even though his reality is so warped. I really loved Leo as a character, even though he was so messed up, there was just something so endearing about him. The ending completely surprised me, I would never have guessed how it played out, but I thought it was great. I would definitely recommend this to thriller fans, it's something you will certainly enjoy.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started really well - chilling and gripping storyline about a chain e-mail serial killer - but towards the middle I found myself skim reading until it picked up again. I did want to finish it though, and liked the twist and the ending.

[Fay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just had to put this book down, the story got boring and I just couldn't get to grips with it. Eventually when there is nothing else to read i will get round to it again but not just yet!

[Sally Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very fast moving, gripping tale. Some intriguing characters and a complex plot that keeps you wondering right to the end.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ondanks een vlot geschreven verhaal, zit er weinig spanning in. Op de helft vond ik het verhaal wat saai worden omdat er gewoon een lange tijd niks gebeurde en ik me nog lang niet kon voorstellen waar het heen ging. Uiteindelijk is het wel een verhaal wat niet aan je verwachtingen voldoet, maar er mist gewoon wat spanning.
Alleen vanwege het einde (wat wel een beetje abrupt was met een kort epiloog) heb ik een extra ster erbij gedaan.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was slow at the first few chapters, almost gave up . Glad I did not turned out to be a good read. Recommend to fellow readers. 5 stars

[Pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never really got going for me.

[Grainne O]

OK

[Sarah Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's too sad omg can stop myself from tears do read it!

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

One of the most ridiculous books I've ever read. This was nominates for awards? It started out interesting then died,.

[Brian Springett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[James Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

howdy doody,

on vacation

slim, attractive, dreadlocked babe with a fun sticky-out bellybutton, likes rabbit fur

forward this email to ten friends

each of those friends must forward it to ten friends

maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends

if this email ends up in my inbox within a week I won’t slit the bitch’s throat


can you afford not to send this on to ten friends?


vk

Most of us receive a ton of spam e-mail on a daily basis. We are told that someone has seen our photo and wants to meet up or perhaps to simply entice us with photos of their own; we’ve won some lottery and need to contact someone in order to collect the winnings; etc., etc. There’s so much of it that we don’t really “see it” anymore. What would we do were we to receive a notice from the Vacation Killer?

At the beginning of Richard Jay Parker’s well-crafted and original page turner "Stop Me", many did nothing but ignore the e-mails. “...However, despite the rapid proliferation of the email…a package with a local postmark arrived at the Wyoming Police Department. It contained a bedraggled rabbit skin scarf. Wrapped in it was the boiled jawbone of Cody Solomon.”

Leo Sharpe was one of those to receive an e-mail from the Vacation Killer, but was also one to simply delete it. A month later his wife Laura disappeared in broad daylight from the restaurant where they were dining. Three days later Laura was the subject of a new Vacation Killer e-mail, but thankfully none of her remains ever turned up, fueling speculation from her husband that she was still alive.

Soon, on the Internet, Leo begins a relationship with a purported nutcase from New Orleans who claims to be the one responsible for her abduction. John Bookwalter claims to be responsible for the Vacation Killer murders, but is dismissed by the authorities as one who is simply after the celebrity of it all. However, as everyone else in his life begin to speak of Laura in the past-tense, Leo begins to cling to the one person who speaks of her as being still alive.

Leo begins an incredible journey that takes him from the UK to the Unites States, into a dark world of espionage, breaking and entering, deceit, murder and the threat of death as he enters the very den of a potential serial killer.

As someone who has read a great many fictional killers, this was something new. Using e-mail was genius, and something that probably should have been thought of before now. The idea really gets the plot moving in this really good book. I found that I had a hard time putting my Kindle down. It took five days to finish, but that was due to my lack of reading time. Were it not for the crazy schedule that I keep, I might have finished it in a couple of days. It’s that good.

While less offerings simply would have started with the great of e-mail and then simply plowed through a series of action, Parker takes his time and goes in some different directions. Just when I thought I knew where he was headed, he surprised me.

One of my favorite touches was the notion of Leo’s compulsion over everyday occurrences being barometers for his wife’s well-being which began eleven days after her disappearance. During the first draft of this review I started to describe them for you, but decided against it. They are that good and I don't not want to spoil anything.

Another thing I appreciated was the author’s voice. With some, I find myself tripping over their prose, but not this. I found reading this to be extremely comfortable; no word seemed forced. Some authors describe little, leaving me wanting more; while others spend too much time doing so, leaving me skipping huge sections in my search of action. Not here. Parker really seems to know how to spin a story. If subsequent offerings from this author are like this one, he promises to have a lengthy career ahead of him

[Soho_Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spam E-Mails can be incredibly annoying, but most of us will have had to deal with them. Fortunately, we can hit the delete button and forget about them as quickly as they came. I certainly prefer not to torture my friends by sending such rubbish on, no matter how bad my luck is supposed to become if I don't. But I wonder how many of us would react if a spam E-Mail actually was a matter of life and death, rather than just claiming to be?

This is how a murdered known as the Vacation Killer works, sending an E-Mail stating that if it is returned to him then the victim will be spared. So far, this has happened on eleven occasions and each time proof of the murder has been sent to the police soon after. But when Laura Sharpe goes missing and an E-Mail follows, there is no proof, but neither is Laura returned. Her husband, Leo, drifts through life unsure whether to mourn her death or hope for her return.

The murder in prison of the man who had admitted to being the Vacation Killer seemed to draw a line under things, except that for Leo it could never be over until Laura was returned safely to him. Desperate for any information, he opens a dialogue with a man who had claimed to be the Vacation Killer, but who had been swiftly derided as a mere attention seeker. Against the advice of Laura's sister and her boss that he'd only be torturing himself further, Leo pushes on, needing some kind of confirmation either way.

I loved the idea behind ''Stop Me'', working on the basis that anything that could make spam E-Mails seem interesting had to be a good thing. For me, the idea is still an interesting one, but the execution of the idea was what let this book down. There's certainly nothing wrong with the plot itself, which expands wonderfully on the basic idea and pulls Leo all over the place.

The main failing I found was that Leo should have been on an emotional rollercoaster, frantically trying to find out what had happened to Laura and drawing on all his resources to get her back. But there was a distinct lack of emotion in the story and I never felt anything throughout the story. Leo didn't seem like a person so much as a robot for a lot of the time, automatically following leads rather than actually being involved. This is the kind of story that should have had a huge emotional impact on the characters, if not on the reader, but this was never in evidence.

This was particularly disappointing as the rest of the book was very well written. The changing aspects of the story were fascinating and although the lack of emotion made the pace feel a little slower than it otherwise might have done, the pages still felt like they were turning quite quickly. It's a story that moves along quite nicely, but never really draws the reader in, as it's so difficult to become fully involved with any of the characters, not just Leo. Even the ending, which you would expect to be the most emotionally charged part of any story seemed to lack punch.

Perhaps I was expecting a little too much, as I really wanted to like ''Stop Me'' and felt badly let down by it in the end. Richard Jay Parker is clearly a writer of great imagination, but lacking a little in the execution. However, in my mind this is better than being a great writer with nothing to write about, so he's worth keeping an eye out for in future and ''Stop Me'' isn't a bad novel by any means, lacking only the all important emotional impact to make it great.

This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk

[J.F. Juzwik · Rating 5 out of 5]

“howdy doody,

on vacation

slim, attractive dreadlocked babe with a fun sticky-out bellybutton, likes rabbit fur

forward this email to ten friends

each of those friends must forward it to ten friends

maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends

if this email ends up in my inbox within a week I wont slit the bitches throat

can you afford not to send this on to ten friends?

vk”

Ever get an email like the one above? Nonsense, right? Okay, so you delete it and forget about it. Except this time, eight days later, a package arrives at the Wyoming Police Department that contains a rabbit skin scarf and the boiled jawbone of a prostitute with dreadlocks and an inverted navel. Not so funny now, is it.

Emails like the one above aren’t just being sent to a selected few. They appear in home inboxes as well as in business networks and cross international borders. Leo Sharpe finds one in his inbox and gets spooked, so he reports it to the authorities. Of no concern, he is told, just delete it. Problem is, his mentioned capped teeth, and a week later, a package containing the jawbone of a woman is received by the police and, you guessed it, it had capped teeth.

Leo is troubled by these events, but tries to move past them by planning to surprise his wife with a trip for a Christmas present. They meet at their favorite bar and she excuses herself to the ladies’ room. She does not return. It’s as if she disappeared into thin air. Leo searches the building, goes across the way to his wife’s place of employment, but she is nowhere to be found. He receives another email like the one above, only this one mentions a particular scar his wife, Laura, has. Days pass, weeks, months, and no remains of Laura are delivered to the police or are ever found. Did the email end up back in the killer’s inbox? Is Laura still alive?

Stop Me is a novel that grabs you right from word one and hangs on tight to the very last word. As Leo tries to find out what happened to his wife, he finds that no one is what they appear to be. Police suspect him naturally, since he is the missing woman’s husband. The strain takes its toll on Leo and he loses his job, and finds that even friends begin to drift away. His family situation is beyond dysfunctional, and Leo finds himself drawn into a twisted cat and mouse game with a cyberspace psychopath.

This is a novel you will begin and seriously be unable to put down until the end, and even then, it will haunt you. What puts genuine fear into you as you read Stop Me is the fact that every event that occurs is possible in the real world. You will be accompanying Leo on his journey down a dark and frightening road seeking the truth, and what he finds will be far beyond anything he could have imagined.

I highly recommend Stop Me. It is a thriller in the true sense of the word. Also, I look forward to reading more by Richard Jay Parker.

[Martha Cheves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stop Me – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

On Monday, November 12th, 2007, Leo Sharpe received an email.

Howdy doody.
On vacation in the uk
Slim, attractive brunette with capped teeth
Forward this email to ten friends
Each of those friends must forward it to ten friends
Maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends
If this email ends up in my inbox within a week I wont slit the bitchs throat
Can you afford not to send this on to ten friends?
Vk

Apparently messages like this had made the rounds of the US, Germany and now the UK. After being passed on by some and deleted by others, the results always seemed to be the same in that it apparently never makes its round back to the original sender. And to prove that he is as good as his word, a portion of each victim’s jaw is sent to the police.

Leo received his message through his office computer. He was getting ready to meet his wife Laura to do some Christmas shopping so instead of forwarding it on to 10 friends he called the company’s IT. They handled it by simply deleting the message.

Leo met Laura at their special place, Chevalier’s Bar. Shortly after arriving, Laura told Leo she needed to go to the ladies room. She left and that was the last Leo saw of his wife. Then came his own email informing him that the Vacation Killer had Laura and would slit her throat unless he received his email back in his own inbox within a week. A week went by and unlike the other VK victims, no jaw bone was sent to the police. Leo could only hope that the email had made it back to the killer’s inbox giving him hope that she was still alive and could be found.

Leo’s search for his wife takes him to the United States where he meets with two men who both claim to be the Vacation Killer. But that can’t be possible since neither had been to the UK. And since Laura wasn’t the only victim in the UK area, it has to be someone else.

Leo’s chase had me turning the pages to see who and what would lead him to the next possibility. I had my own list of suspects and as each was marked off my list I found myself running out of killers. Finding out who the real Vacation Killer turned out to be was a total surprise for me. I think it will be for you too.

2009
Allison & Busby
ISBN# 978-0-7490-0713-3
328 pages

[Leanne Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I had no idea this was Richard Jay Parker’s first novel and look forward immensely to reading his next. Having read Stop Me on the back of Harlan Coben’s, Hold Tight, I was struck by the difference and yet the similarities between the two books. The difference: R J Parker utilises a single point of view, whereas Coben uses several, yet both writers pen utterly believable characters with the same excellent intriguing result. The protagonist in Stop Me, Leo, is immediately identifiable with as an ordinary man trying to cope with extraordinary circumstances. Rather than living, Leo is going through the motions of everyday life, while trying to cope with his wife’s disappearance where all the evidence says she must surely have met the same gruesome fate as other victims of a very modern serial killer who adds an extra sinister dimension to the threat behind chain mail.

Part of Leo is unable to accept that Laura has gone and move on – as people expect and hope, perhaps for their own comfort’s sake, that he might. He preserves the materialistic familiarity he and his wife shared – totally believable – and, as time passes, strives to connect with anyone who will talk about Laura and the dreadful circumstances surrounding her disappearance. I could say more, but I can’t. You have to read it (!), because when Leo does connect, becoming almost morbidly fascinated with the faceless man who claims to have answers, Leo can’t let it go. He doesn’t turn into Jack Bauer. He does what any mortal man in love would: sets out to authenticate the truth behind the claims. The plot is sprinkled with twists and turns, and the ending is hugely satisfying. LOVED this book. Would highly recommend it.

A quick note re the cover. For me it depicted a woman in trouble. Dead possibly? About to be? I flipped the book over. The blurb was intriguing and the first page – a bone-chilling email opening almost jovially… It hooked me, totally.

[Jess Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Howdy doody" is a salutation that won't ever be the same for me after having read this thriller debut novel. There’s a riveting/relatable opening to STOP ME, and e-mail which includes the following text:

Forward this email to ten friends...
If this email ends up in my inbox within a week, I won’t slit the bitch’s throat.
Can you afford not to send this on to ten friends?

Mmm...so it’s all very contemporary/timely/fast-paced. And all too familiar, so much so that nowadays (in real life), because I am so used to spam, I immediately delete these upon receipt (I’d be like johnnya@apex.com in the book). In our technological age (where everything can be known at the click of a mouse), it's easy to become indifferent to many things due to "information overload".

Sidenote: There’s also about 10 people who make their (virtual, or not) appearance in the first two pages, which was impressive to me (without it being too confusing/complicated at all).

But if “the bitch” was someone that I knew – yup, that turns things right around. Which is the situation the lead character, Leo, finds himself in, “the chicken pox scar” being “one of the distinguishing features Leo had mentioned when he’d reported (his wife, Laura) missing.”

One thing I liked about this serial killer (I know a serial killer isn’t supposed to be “likable” per se, but as far as villains go...) was his transatlantic-ness (he has brought his murder from the US and into the UK). It gives a scope to his crazed modus operandi, and gives him/the book edge and an extra dimension.

All in all, I think this is a book that readers of contemporary fiction would enjoy – there’s also a refreshing lack of “shock value” (sex/glorified violence/all that crass commercial stuff) which this reader here appreciates!

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was suggested to me because I enjoyed Dan Wells' I Am Not A Serial Killer. I'm glad it suggested it, because I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

The premise: We have a serial killer who kidnaps his victims and then sends out an email spam exhorting people to email it to ten friends, and they mail it out, and they mail it out . . . and if one of those friends of friends of friends happens to be one of his friends, he won't kill the victim. If he doesn't get the spam back, the local police receive a package: the victim's lower jawbone, boiled and polished.

Gruesome.

Now, on top of this, throw in a main character whose wife is taken by this killer, but the police never receive a jawbone. Neither, however, is she released, so of course, they police suspect him. And throw in a man who confessed to the murders, but who can't be the killer, because he's never left his hometown. And throw in another man who confesses, and ends up serving time for the crimes. And two seemingly unrelated murders. And family secrets. And betrayals. And a twisted cast of characters, any or all of whom are probably capable of being this Vacation Killer.

The pace is good, the characters are believable, and the situations are believable.

I can't say too much else without massive spoilers, and I don't want to do that because I enjoyed each new revelation too much to deprive others of that same sense of discovery. :)

I will say, however, that I did not figure out who the killer was until it was revealed in the text. But I wasn't at all surprised.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the idea for this story; a serial killer who sends out emails to multiple addresses instructing the recipents to forward the message to all of their friends. If their friends then forward the message to their own friends, maybe the message will arrive back into the killer's own inbox. If it does, he will spare his victim, if it doesn't, he will slit their throat. Sounds promising, quite unusual and has a glowing endorsement from author Simon Kernick.

The story starts well - it is fast-paced and suspenseful. As more and more victims of the so-called Vacation Killer are killed, and more and more hoaxers get in on the act, the Police are finding it increasingly difficult to solve this crime. When Leo Sharpe receives one of the Vacation Killer emails he deletes it, when his wife Laura disappears he begins to regret it!

Laura has become the Vacation Killer's next victim, but as the months pass and there is no evidence of her death sent to the Police, Leo's life spirals out of control. And this is where the novel spirals completely out of control and enters a world of pure nonsense! The majority of the middle part of the novel revolves around Leo's very odd online relationship with a guy in America who claims he is the killer, yet it's been proved that he can't be. Leo travels to the USA, meets this guy, gets himself caught up in some pretty ridiculous capers and then comes home again. Why? I've no idea - this adds nothing to the story, is hardly relevant to the plot and just made me sigh with frustration.

A great start, an interesting idea, but a real disappointment overall.

[Ally Atherton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 32 Stop Me by Richard Jay Parker


"Forward this email to ten friends if it ends up in my inbox within a week I won't slit the bitches throat....."

Leo Sharpe's life is turned upside down when his wife Laura disappears. Women are being gruesomely killed in America, Germany and the UK and Laura could be one of them but unlike the others, her jawbone hasn't turned up in a parcel ! A character called Bookwalter turns up claiming to be the killer but is he who he says he is and what is his purpose ?

This is a very good psychological thriller and it is for books like this that the term 'a real page turner' was invented. It is easy to read and the pages just seemed to turn themselves, the plot is intriguing and there are enough twists and turns to keep you wondering what will happen next. One of the things that helped was an original idea that started a chain of events leading from England to the United States.

I don't know if Richard Jay Parker intends to write many more books but from the evidence of "Stop Me" he can only get better and that is a real treat to look forward to.

If you want to read a decent thriller with some great twists, you can't do much better than this. I'm not sure if the title or the back cover actually do this great book enough justice but it is one of the best thrillers I've read for a good while.
Now I'll never be the same whenever I receive a dodgy email and I still can't get that Smiths song ( Stop me if you think you've heard this one before) out of my head !

Why not watch the trailer ?

8

[Nici's Buchecke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Cover dieses Buches hat einfach anziehend auf mich gewirkt. Dieser Roman dreht sich um das Medium Internet. Dadurch das es gut möglich sein kann, dass so etwas wirklich passieren könnte ist es ganz schön erschreckend für mich gewesen.
Leo Sharp stellte für mich eine schwierige Figur dar. Er war mir nicht so sympathisch wie ich es mir gewünscht hätte. Er ist Ende 20 wirkt aber viel Älter und auch ein wenig langweilig.Leo gibt sich ganz der Hoffnung hin seine Laura wieder zu finden. Er nutzt fast jede Gelegenheit, um diesen Glauben weiter zu erhalten. Seine Handlungen und Gedanken waren für mich teilweise verwirrend.
Die Grundstimmung in diesem Thriller ist düster und bedrückend. Dem Autor ist es hier gut gelungen, eine finstere Atmosphäre zu schaffen.
Gleichzeitig werden aber auch die Abartigkeiten der Spinner und Trittbrettfahrer sehr gut herausgearbeitet. Abgründe tun sich auf und wieder mal wird deutlich, man weiß nie wer wirklich vor dem Bildschirm sitzt.
Die Handlung hatte einen Spannungsbogen, ging es zu Beginn noch ruhig und langsam voran spitzt sich die Handlung immer mehr zu und teilweise hatte ich das Gefühl die Ereignisse überschlagen sich. Als die Handlung einen bestimmten Punkt erreicht, konnte ich dieses Buch nicht mehr weglegen. Als Leser legt man sich gerne mal eine eigene Theorie zurecht und auch dieses Buch lädt dazu ein. Man wird überrascht sein, wie man sich mal wieder irren kann.
Dieses Buch ist ein solider Thriller der alles hat, was man von diesem Genre erwartet und wird viele Thrillerfans nicht enttäuschen.

[Monie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure you've seen them. The emails that flood your inbox that say forward this to 10 people or something bad will happen to you. Well when Leo Sharpe gets an email from a man calling himself The Vacation Killer he deletes it just like most people do. What Leo doesn't know is that this email is real. The killer has kidnapped a woman and if the email doesn't get forwarded back to him within 10 days the woman will be murdered and evidence proving the death is sent to the police.

But when Leo's wife disappears and the police receive an email from The Vacation Killer, Leo fears the worst. When 10 days pass and the police don't receive further evidence from the killer that Laura is dead, hope flares in him.
Leo's life spirals out of control and he spends months searching for Laura. He even goes so far as to befriend a man who confessed to Laura's murder even though he's never left his home state of Louisiana. Will Leo ever learn the truth behind Laura's disappearance or will he become The Vacation Killer's next victim?

Stop Me had me feeling like one big ball of nerves. The anticipation of who the real killer was and what would happen to Leo was mesmerizing and I just couldn't stop reading. The beginning of the book is a bit scattered but everything tightens up after the first third of the book and things really heat up with the last third. I highly recommend this one for anyone who loves thrillers.

[M. Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good thriller that leaves behind any concerns about buying Indie Books.

Distraught at the disappearence of his wife, Leo continues to search years after everyone else gives up. The crime is blamed on a mysterious serial killer but doubt remains because his calling card (a jawbone mailed to the police) is never delivered.

Though the book felt a little slower than expected at first, shortly into the story, the main character takes a trip to the United States. From here, the pace is fast, befitting any good thriller. His encounter with the real serial kill could be further developed. At that point in the story, I would have loved to see more on the Vacation Killer. Perhaps a chapter or two from his perspective.

But still the critical question remains is Leo's wife alive or dead? I won't be a spoiler, but it's fair to say, Parker does an admiral job of keeping the reader hanging an preparing them for the book to logically finish either way without feeling like a disappointment.

The ending much like the meeting with the serial killer could be more detailed, but then it would like lose pace. Overall, a great book if you enjoy the thriller genre.

[Sandra Valente · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Jay Parker's debut novel has received great reviews and is in four Amazon Bestseller Charts. For those who love thrillers mixed with suspense, then this one's for you! As with many readers, I too had my list of suspects and missed with every single one!

"howdy doody

on vacation

slim, attractive, dreadlocked babe with a fun

sticky-out bellybutton, likes rabbit fur

forward this email to ten friends"

each of those friends must forward it to ten friends
maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends
if this email ends up in my inbox within a week I won’t slit the bitch’s throat
can you afford not to send this on to ten friends?
Vacation Killer
How many times have we received similar emails? They irritate us so we mostly ignore them or immediately delete them! When Leo Sharpe's wife goes missing from right under his nose, the questions and hunt begin to find Laura. Who took her? Where is she now? Is she alive, is she dead? Who can you believe and/or who can you trust? An awesome read! Wonder what's in store for his next book!

[John Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, I admit I downloaded this book because others on twitter talked it up. And they were right.

But I feel I have to warn you: if you read at nite in bed with a kindle, like I do, be prepared to suddenly look at your alarm clock and say "dang, I'm getting no sleep tonight".

What you should know about this book is the main character is likeable, even if you mentally scream at him "NO! DON'T DO THAT!" quite a bit. But not in the cheap horror drive in movie sort of way where the actor is monumentally stupid and walks down to the basement because he's an idiot.

What Parker does is present a plausible undercurrent of compulsion that adds to, rather than detracts from the three dimensionality of the main character.

I'm not going to give anything away, but there are a lot of twists that make this a hard to put down read.

[Sharon Louise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stop Me by Richard Jay Parker actually has a really good premise - A killer sends a random email to a random person and says it has to be sent on to ten of their friends or acquaintances - they in turn have to send it onto another ten people each and if it ends up back in the killers email by way of maybe a mutual friend, then he won't kill a person he has taken hostage. Great original idea. I have no idea why but after a gripping start I suddenly became bored with it and as I decided to abandon reading any further, I skipped to the last chapters and thought I hadn't really missed much. Shame.