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 - 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...