Audiobook Review - 20th Victim

• Title And Author: 20th Victim by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
• Publisher: Century
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed from local library via BorrowBox
• Length: 432 Pages or 8 Hours 26 Minutes

I have a weird love/hate relationship with James Patterson, something I always talk about when I do a write-up for one of his novels. I find him a light, fun read, something I would be ok reading on a sunny beach (almost perfect for me to read/audiobook at the current moment with my brain not ready to cope with Corona-Virus and something heavy), but he never offers anything of substance. 

And yet, I seem to always go back to reading him after a few months/years. And I have a soft spot for his Women’s Murder Club series as Third Degree was my first James Patterson novel and I always like reading about the ladies. 

So, when I saw 20th Victim, I was excited and intrigued. After trying to read 19th Christmas and DNFing it after a few chapters (and I seem to be not the only one to do that), I was intrigued to see how James Patterson and Maxine Paetro would celebrate 20 books in this series. Is it going to be something similar to how TV shows Eastenders and Neighbours celebrate 35 years and celebrate with a big bang, or is it going to be fall a bit flat? 

Three simultaneous shootings happen at 8:30am one morning. And of them is at San Francisco on the Women’s Murder Club patch. Sergeant Lindsay Boxer is involved in investigating and reporter Cindy Thomas is reporting the crime. The shootings are precise and exact, the  victims chosen with great care as each victim are involved in drug selling. As more shootings happen, the public debate wonders if the shooter are villains or heroes?

Murder Month 2019 - The First Lady

• Title And Author: The First Lady by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
• Publisher: Century
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed via Local Library & BorrowBox
• Length: 368 Pages or & Hours 15 Minutes

Do you have one of those authors? You know the authors I mean. The ones where you know you shouldn’t read as you and they don’t get on, but every now and then, your resolve weakens and you go “One last time. I will try that author one more time”?

This is my relationship with James Patterson. I find his audiobooks fun, fast and great beach reads, but I find them quite predictable. I know the beats of each of the novels I listen to or read and, though I do have fun listening to the audiobook (I went through a small blitz when I was in my teens with his novels and I find, because of that, I can’t really physical read them any more) and I have a soft spot for the Women’s Murder Club, I always feel a little let down by the stories. 

So, when I first started to think about doing Murder Month, I thought I would give one or two authors a second chance. The first was Patrica Cornwall’s Kay Scarpetta and I found, after nearly two or so hours of audiobooking All That Remains, I frankly didn’t care and I DNFed it. But the second was James Patterson. Now, originally, I decided to do The President Is Missing as that had a lot of hype and noise when it was coming out. But I changed my mind. I’m not sure why, but I decided to try The First Lady instead. 

It’s four weeks before the next Presidential Elections and the President is riding high in the polls. So when he is ambushed walking out of an Atlanta hotel with his mistress, President Tucker is desperate to get the scandal under control, and the first step is the get the First Lady by his side…

Expect, she’s not in the White House. She walked out of the East Wing after the scandal broke to ride her horse outside the capital and, within moments, she loses her security detail lose her. 

The First Lady is missing. Did she run away? Is she dead? Either way, she must be found and, all the while, things are happening behind the scenes… things that will protect the President at all costs.

Murder Month - 15th Affair

Let's start this month with a bit of a bang, shall we?

15th Affair is the fifteen volume in the Women's Murder Club series and it follows Detective Lindsay Boxer who is now juggling married life, being a mother and her career within Homicide within San Francisco Police Department. But life can change in an instant, as Lindsey knows.

When she is called to the Four Seasons Hotel, Lindsey is shocked at what she sees. A man in one hotel room, shot at close range with no form of ID on him. In the next room, a young man and woman are shot as well, but they are surrounded by high tech surveillance equipment. Who were they spying on? And with a house maid dead down the hall, the murders are connected. But how?

But before long, the case takes two shocking twists. How far will Lindsey and her fellow Women's Murder Club members will to go to the truth?

As you guys know if you follow my blog for a while, I have a weird love/hate relationship with James Patterson. I think this is because I read quite a bit of him when I was a teenager and after a while, I just had my fill and it's taken me quite a while to return to him, and even then, it's seems to be the Women's Murder Club that I'm happy to return to.

Which is nice as 3rd Degree, the third book in the Women's Murder Club series, was my first James Patterson novel.

As someone who is rediscovering this series, I enjoyed myself with this story. I was on the edge of my seat while listening and I sped through this. It was a fun thriller, a story I could have read while on the beach one summer's day.

But if you are a James Patterson fan, you might not be blown away with this plot. It's very much sticks to the James Patterson's brand with short, punchy chapters and a plot that will feel the same as other plots within this series or in any of his others. Plus, there is one tiny plot twist that might make readers go "That's one step too far..." It's like a repeat of the Yuki plot within Unlucky 13 (oh, that plot was a jump the shark moment, wasn't it?)

Another thing is that this story very much stays with Lindsey. This is Lindsey's story and the other members of the Women's Murder Club are very much supporting characters. With the story and the direction it takes, it makes sense to focus on Lindsey but I like the other characters and feel that a little more screen time wouldn't have hurt that much.

If you want a fun, fluffy thriller, this series is the place to go. Just don't expect it to get heavy and intense. That's not the James Patterson way.

GoodRead - Unlucky 13

As you guys know, I do like listening to audiobooks. It's a rare treat, but if I can, I would try. So, when Teresa from Midas PR asked if I fancied reviewing an audiobook on behalf of Audible.co.uk, I jumped at the chance and looking over her email, I saw the latest James Patterson and I picked that.

Now, as you might be aware, I have a weird love/hate relationship with James Patterson. Years ago, when 3rd Degree was first released, I bought it on impulse and devoured it! Then, I went on a small James Patterson reading binge. But then, I got half way through a book (I can't remember which. I know it wasn't Mary Mary. Was it Cross?), I suddenly realised that James Patterson was, basically, repeating the same plot over and over again. Plus have you seen how many co-authors he works with? I stopped and when I tried to him, I felt myself getting angry and force myself to stop reading. But I have always had a soft spot for the Women's Murder Club series. So when I saw that the latest, Unlucky 13, was up for review, I had to go for it. Give the series one try and because 13 is my lucky number.

Two bodies are discovered in a wrecked car on Golden Gate Bridge, Detective Lindsay Boxer knows it's isn't a simple car accident. But what she sees shocks her: both victims died of belly bombs. As Lindsay tries to make sense of these belly bombs and the scary threat that a belly bomber is on the loose, Lindsay gets a phone call from her police buddies with shocking news: former colleague turned mass murderer Mackie Morales has been seen. She's come out of hiding. As Women's Murder Club member, Cindy, does her crime reporter digging, she discovers that Mackie's on the move... she's heading their way, back to San Francisco... And it's not a social visit...

Now, like I said before, I have a weird relationship with James Patterson. So imagine my surprise when I started listening to this audiobook and I was gripped within a few chapters! A tiny part of me thinks it's because of the narrator, January LaVoy, who just made the story gripping. Was it the music and sound effects (yes,there was sound effects and they were used to heighten tensions)? Was it that I found a James Patterson that I just worked with or was it because it was a Women's Murder Club.

But I was on the edge of my seat with some of its tension. Barring one of the three storylines within this not exactly being needed (it really kicks off just over the halfway mark), the book gets tense within the last 2 hours! I had to listen to the last few hours in one day!

This might make me go back into the books of James Patterson, but I might stay within the realms of the Women's Murder Club (or the story where Mackie Morales first appears. I want to know more about her twisted back story). But this was a good thriller that might make me not look at a hamburger in the same way again...

GoodRead - Bloody Valentine

Before I go anywhere with this quicky of a review, I want to state something about James Patterson and me. I kinda have a love/hate relationship with him. I used to really like this books. I read several of his Women's Murder Club and one or two of his Alex Cross books. But, after I read Mary Mary for a quick holiday read, I fell out of favour with him. I began to find his books very repetitive (if it aren't broke, don't fix it), and I was always questioning how much James Patterson wrote when he co-authored a book with someone (who would always appear on the book cover in a much smaller font). Then, I read Cross and I couldn't even get halfway through. It was such hard work!

So, when I saw Bloody Valentine in my local WHSmiths and read the back, I thought I would give him another try...

So, the story. Jack Barnes and his second wife, Zee, are very much in love. However, their Valentine Day's plans are torn apart by a violent, possible evil, murder. Who would do something so evil? And why? Is it someone who lives in the block of flats Jack's own? Is the murderer one of Jack's relative? And whoever it is, why would they do such an evil, twisted act?

This is very much a James Patterson novel. It doesn't require much thinking over – it's very much crime-lit for the brain. The chapters aare short and they always end of a cliffhanger. And for a short story, it's ok.

But it's very much a James Patterson story in my eyes. There was no substance to it and I didn't relate to any of the characters. And as for the murder/s themselves, I have some doubts over that myself. If it was the reason that I read, then why do go to the extremes they did? Just kill the person, not do what they did to the person body...! IT MAKES NO SENSE!

So, if you want a fast crime-lit book, this might be for you. As for me, it looks like I might still be in my “Love/Hate” relationship with James Patterson. Sorry.