A while back I read the first collaboration by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, HONEYMOON, and thought it was pretty good, so I was willing to give this one a try. It has the usual twisty Patterson plot – nanny/aspiring photographer Kristin Burns is having an affair with the husband of the wealthy couple she works for, with a lot of deception and potential murder thrown in – but the book has some elements in it that smack of horror fiction, too, such as the ghosts who keep showing up and the thousands of cockroaches that invade Kristin’s apartment. The authors keep this one racing along in the usual fast-moving style with ultra-short chapters and lots of surprises. However, despite those surprises I wound up feeling that the book was missing a vital twist or two that should have been there, so at the end I said, “That’s it?” I enjoyed it enough that I’d read another one by Patterson and Roughan (and it’s already out, a novel called SAIL), but I’m not going to get in any hurry to do so.
Braddock’s Gold
47 minutes ago
4 comments:
I recently read one by he and a different collaborator that was so godawful I'll never read another. Sounds like maybe the co-author is the key, though, which is about what I figured.
I don't enjoy Patterson as much as I used to. I've come to realize that, for me, working with a co-author is a signal to avoid.
His Alex Cross series is still tolerable, as is his Maximum Ride series. It's a kind of horror/SF mix.
I get most of what I read these days from the library or wait a few months until the used book sites have them at almost giveaway prices.
I've found that I don't like the Alex Cross books or the Women's Murder Club series, which are his most successful books. I just read the stand-alones, and I start some of them that I don't finish. Haven't tried the Maximum Ride books yet. A lot of what I read comes from the library. I'm there picking up research books anyway, and I have a hard time passing up fiction . . .
My mother loves the Alex Cross mysteries, though I've never tried one. I'll probably give one a try the next time I'm at the library. Or maybe a standalone.
Ed Lynskey
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