9th Judgement - A Book Review

9th Judgment by James Patterson with Maxine Paetro, Published by Century, ISBN: 9781846054815, RRP: $32.95, Paperback

This is the 9th book in the Women's Murder Club series. Kelly did a quick review of this book over on her blog, and I have to say, I totally aggree with what she says. I read this series, for the characters, I really like them. Having said that, Patterson novels just seem to get slimmer and slimmer, the chapters even shorter (if that's possible!) and the text bigger to hide the fact there is less story. I must say I am starting to feel a little ripped off buying these books so I may wait until they find their way to the book exchange in future.

What B.o.B says -

A young mother and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down while returning to their car in the garage of a shopping mall. There are no witnesses, and Detective Lindsay Boxer is left with only one shred of evidence: a cryptic message scrawled across the windshield in blood-red lipstick...The same night, the wife of A-list actor Marcus Dowling walks in on a cat burglar who is about to steal millions of dollars' worth of precious jewels. In just seconds there is an empty safe, a lifeless body, and another mystery that throws San Francisco into hysteria...Before Lindsay and her friends can piece together either case, one of the killers forces to Lindsay to put her own life on the line - but is it enough to save the city?

Patterson always has good characters. The thing that lets it all down is those characters aren't really explored enough. In trying to produce fiction that is suitable for the hordes, it's dumbed and watered down so much that the characters, especially the periphery and secondary characters are never really given a chance, and some of them would be really interesting to read. And that's a shame, coz that is one of the things I enjoyed about his earlier books (the ones he actually wrote!).

If you're a fan of light crime-fiction or looking for a quick, easy read, then this ticks all the boxes.

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