2009 Book 4: The Quickie

Book #:	116
Book Title:	The Quickie
Author:	James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date:	2007
Pages:	274
Started:	January 16, 2009
Finished:	January 20, 2009
Time to Read:	5 Days
Back Cover / Inside Flap:	"When she sees her husband with another woman, Lauren Stillwell's heart nearly stops beating. Their marriage is perfect, she has a great job, she loves her life. But his betrayal turns her into someone she never imagined she could be - a woman lusting for revenge. It was supposed to be a quickie, a way to even the score. But Lauren's night of passion takes a shocking turn when she witnesses an unexpected, unbelievable, deadly crime. Her horrifying secret threatens to tear her life apart, pitting her need to uncover the truth against her fear that the truth may be too horrible to bear. And whichever choice she makes could cost her dearly - her job, her marriage, even her life."
Stars:	***
Review:	Perversely, I like James Patterson far better than his typical fare when he (a) collaborates with another author and (b) writes from a female perspective. In this case, I still only halfway like him, but this story, on the surface, has some merit. The main character, Lauren, is actually fairly well developed for a Patterson character. The story line is actually fairly well flowing and doesn't overly depend on outlandish tricks to advance. Overall, it was a lighthearted read, but I'm still convinced that Patterson uses subliminal messages to get people to buy his books - why else would I continue to read him when he drives me nuts as a writer?

If you have read or are planning to read this book, please make sure to stop back by and leave me a comment to let me know your own thoughts!

From my library to yours,

Tiffany

2008 Book 88: Cross

Book #:	88
Book Title:	Cross
Author:	James Patterson
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date:	2006
Pages:	296
Started:	October 5, 2006
Finished:	October 6, 2006
Time to Read:	2 Days
Back Cover / Inside Flap:	"Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, D.C. police department when an unknown shooter gunned down his wife, Maria, in front of him. Alex's need for vengeance was placed on hold as he faced another huge challenge - raising his children without their mother. Years later Alex is making a bold move in his life. He has left the FBI and set up practice as a psychologist once again. His life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie, and little Alex finally feels like it's in order. He even has a chance at a new love. Then Cross's former partner John Sampson calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi includes threatening his victims with terrifying photos. Cross and Sampson need the testimonies of these women to stop the predator, but the victims refuse to reveal anything about their attacker. When the case triggers a connection to Maria's death, Alex may have a chnace to catch his wife's murderer after all these years. Will justice be served at long last? Or is this the culminating scene in his own deadly obsession?"
Stars:	**
Review:	This is typical James Patterson fare - moderately interesting story line mixed with a jumpy outline and barely fleshed out scenes that skip around and around and around. I'm pretty much done with Cross books, but this was part of a large lot I got and so I pushed through reading it. If you're a Cross fan, this is the book for you. If you're tired of Patterson's writing, move on. Personally, I only like Patterson when he's writing inspirational, like Sam's Letters to Jennifer.

If you have read or are planning to read this book, please make sure to stop back by and leave me a comment to let me know your own thoughts!

From my library to yours,

Tiffany

2008 Book 39: Sam's Letters to Jennifer

Book #:	39
Book Title:	Sam's Letters to Jennifer
Author:	James Patterson
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date:	2004
Pages:	263
Started:	May 8, 2008
Finished:	May 10, 2008
Time to Read:	3 Days
Back Cover / Inside Flap:	"Dear Reader, Have you ever gotten a letter that changed your life completely? It happened to me once. I can still feel the urgency that overtook me as I opened the envelope and the hunger I felt for whatever that letter would say. It seemed as if my entire life hung in the balance as I read. Sam's Letters to Jennifer is a novel about that kind of drama. In it, a woman is summoned back to the town where she grew up. And in the house where she spent her most magical years she finds a series of letters addressed to her. Each of those letters is a piece of a story that will completely upend the world she thought she knew - and throw her into a love more powerful than she ever imagined could be possible. Two extraordinary love stories are entwined here, full of hope and pain and emotions that never die down. I hope you'll enjoy this novel as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It's not often that you get a letter that changes your life. But it should happen to everyone at least once. Yours, (x) James Patterson (x)
Stars:	****
Review:	Nope, I didn't accidentally leave my finger on the star key for two long - here is an example of a Patterson book I truly enjoyed! It's odd, however. With this book, as well as when I read a borrowed copy of Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas a few years ago, I feel like this isn't even Patterson writing. Not only is the style markedly different, it's as though Nicholas Sparks briefly inhabits his body and forces him to put out something that's worth reading! Jennifer is beyond shaken when a phone call demands her return to the lakeside town where she spent her childhood. Her only remaining family, her grandmother and best friend, is on death's door, and this leaves her frantic to call on the ties they've shared in the past. But her grandmother has secrets to reveal - through a series of short letters - that could turn Jennifer's world upside down. All the while, romance comes to find Jennifer, originating most unexpectedly. But when that romance encounters a hiccup that threatens to turn into a hemorrhage, Jennifer faces the prospect of losing it all, all at once. How she pushes through and pieces together her own life at the end is what makes this story magical. Definitely recommend.

If you have read or are planning to read this book, please make sure to stop back by and leave me a comment to let me know your own thoughts!

From my library to yours,

Tiffany

2008 Book 38: Four Blind Mice

Book #:	38
Book Title:	Four Blind Mice
Author:	James Patterson
Publisher:	Warner Books
Pub. Date:	October 2003
Pages:	383
Started:	May 5, 2008
Finished:	May 7, 2008
Time to Read:	3 Days
Back Cover / Inside Flap:	"On the verge of resigning from the D.C. police force, Detective Alex Cross knows he can't refuse this case. His partner John Sampson has a friend who has been framed for murder and is facing the gas chamber. His accusers? The United States Army. As a new woman in Cross's life brings him hope int he face of a devastating loss at home, Cross and Simpson go up against codes of honor and silence and three ruthless killers. But a bigger threat lies in wait: their controller, a lethal genius who will introduce Cross to new depths of terror...the last of the FOUR BLIND MICE."
Stars:	**
Review:	It's like I just can't help myself, ya know? Despite the fact that I spend the entire length of a book shaking my head in 2 parts disgust and 1 part wonder, I keep reading James Patterson. Folks, go back up and look at the first line of the back cover text. Read it again - carefully. I'm going to spoil something in this book for you and give an example of why Patterson writes novels with plot holes as big as SuperWalmarts. Ok, it says that Alex Cross is on the verge of resigning from the DC police force, correct? (Good, I see nodding heads.) And then it says that he can't refuse this case, right? (You guys are so good.) So it seems as it they're drawing an if-then conclusion here - because the first is about to happen, the second is in play. So here's your spoiler - DC cop Alex Cross takes on this case that he feels compelled to dive into...but has zip, zero, zilch jurisdictional business being involved in. This case starts in the Carolinas...heads up to New York state...goes out West briefly...but in no part does it center around what the police force in Washington, D.C. has any business being involved in. For God's sake, man! Basic police procedures aren't even followed. I compare reading this book to watching an episode of CSI: Miami. You know that everything is going to get tied up with a nice pretty bow by the end...but along the way, not a damn thing is believable to anyone who has any basic understand of the law or of what police officers actually can and should do. As always with Patterson, I'd advise you to skip.

If you have read or are planning to read this book, please make sure to stop back by and leave me a comment to let me know your own thoughts!

From my library to yours,

Tiffany

2008 Book 36: The Big Bad Wolf

Book #:	36
Book Title:	The Big Bad Wolf
Author:	James Patterson
Publisher:	Little Brown and Company
Pub. Date:	2003
Pages:	390
Started:	April 29, 2008
Finished:	May 1, 2008
Time to Read:	3 Days
Back Cover / Inside Flap:	"Who's Afraid? Alex Cross battles the most ruthless and powerful killer he has ever encountered - a predator known only as the Wolf. Alex Cross's first case since joining the FBI has his new colleagues stymied. Across the country, men and women are being kidnapped in broad daylight and then disappearing completely. These people are not being taken for ransom, Alex realizes. They are being bought and sold. And it looks as if a shadowy figure called the Wolf - a master criminal who has brought a new reign of terror to organized crime - is behind this business in which ordinary men and women are sold as slaves. You're afraid. Even as he admires the FBI's vast resources, Alex grows impatient with the Bureau's clumsiness and caution when it is time to move. A lone wolf himself, he has to go out on his own in order to track the Wolf and try to rescue some of the victims while they are still alive. As the case boils over, Alex is in hot water at home too. His ex-fiancee, Christine Johnson, comes back into his life - and not for the reasons Alex might have hoped. Full of unexpected twists and heartrending surprisings that James Patterson delivers better than any other suspense writer alive, The Big Bad Wolf is an unforgettable thriller from 'one of America's most influential authors' (New York Times)."
Stars:	**
Review:	I've already shared my thoughts about James Patterson with you in my last review, so we won't dwell on that. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but as a suspense author, he doesn't exactly leave my knickers in a knot. On to this book in particular...I'm fascinated by the story-line. The news covers tales, from time to time, of various minority groups in America being funneled through an underground sex-slave trade. But it's always minorities and always women. This book delves into a world where demographics cease to exist - it's not any one grouping, it's everyone. And guys aren't safe from it either. The psychology of this story line is what kept me moving through the book itself. Cross annoys me as usual. He always thinks he can work outside of the bounds of anyone else in his position, be it DC Metro police officer or FBI Agent, and the fact that Patterson always paints his efforts with success would seemingly give credence to him being above the law. As a former student of the law and the wife of a police officer, this doesn't sit well with me. And reintroducing Christine Johnson? Beyond weak. It's meant to be heartwrenching, but instead it's annoying. Patterson fans will eat this one up...as for me, I'd advise you to pass.

If you have read or are planning to read this book, please make sure to stop back by and leave me a comment to let me know your own thoughts!

From my library to yours,

Tiffany

2008 Book 35: Pop Goes the Weasel

Book #:	35
Book Title:	Pop Goes the Weasel
Author:	James Patterson
Publisher:	Warner Books
Pub. Date:	October 2000
Pages:	461
Started:	April 27, 2008
Finished:	April 28, 2008
Time to Read:	2 Days
Back Cover / Inside Flap:	"Detective Alex Cross is back - and he's in love. But his happiness is threatened by a series of chilling murders in Washington, D.C., murders with a pattern so twisted they leave investigators reeling. Cross's pursuit of the killer produces a suspect, a British diplomat named Geoffrey Shafer. But proving he's the murderer becomes a potentially deadly task. As Shafer engages in a brilliant series of surprising countermoves, Alex and his fiancee become hopelessly entangled with the most memorable nemesis Cross has ever faced."
Stars:	**
Review:	I'll get this out of the way right up front: I'm not a huge James Patterson fan. And I'm even less of a James Patterson fan when he's writing about Alex Cross. I find his writing to be weak - insipid, really - and as such, he's not the first author I head for when I go to the bookstore. Truth be told, I have a total of about 5 James Patterson books - I have two by accident (bought them for a friend who loves JP but she already had them), two that were purchased secondhand when I was desperate for something to read, and one purchased purposefully and that I actually enjoyed. (More later - about 10 reviews from now.) What don't I like about his writing? Well, I do like the story lines. In this particular book, it's intriguing to look at the oh-so-twisted mind of the antihero, a prim and proper diplomat by day turned monster by night. Along the way, I build up a minor interest for Cross's personal life and the next on his list of girlfriends. The pace is iffy at best - slow/fast/slow/fast, but the ending is unsatisfying. All in all, I can see why Patterson's books translate well to the big screen. It's easier to mask weak writing with big stars who can infuse even the most banal of exchanges with strength. But on paper, I'd usually just give him a pass. It's easy reading when I just need to escape for awhile, but not my favorite.

If you have read or are planning to read this book, please make sure to stop back by and leave me a comment to let me know your own thoughts!

From my library to yours,

Tiffany