I’m not sure if its this particular patterson or not, but there is something different going on. I have read a good number of Pattersons now, and no doubt you are aware there are more than a good number in circulation. Numerous Alex Cross murders, Womens Murder Club, Privates, Michael Bennets, etc etc – (my favourite is still When The Wind Blows because it was just so unexpected)… and then theres the myriad of, well, how do i catergorize them…Stand Alone Thrillers? Aye that fits. And this is one of them. A simple idea, no ties to any other novel or series of novels (yet).
But i’m not a fan. I mean, it did its job; it filled the gap between my previous and my present read, but even as a james patterson it lacked that degree of OHMIGOSH that his genuinely entertaining novels usually possess. The pace tried to be quick and easy, but there every now and then popped up a cliffhanger ending to a chapter that smacked of ‘HOW ABOUT THIS!!’, as if it was trying to outdo itself and others, rather than actually follow a narrative path of sense. Example. One of the chapters actually ends with something like;
“and jake threw up his arms and shouted, YAY i’m king of the world!”
Then the boat exploded.
Sorry what? Okay so i may have paraphrased a little but don’t mark me down for it. Its still a reasonable example. The villain isn’t a surprise; its one of those stories where you always know who the killers are, you just have to follow the tense build up to their eventual capture / escape whatever.
Characters? Nah not really. Some cliche dysfunctional family with even a cliche wife in love with ex-husbands brother subplot, and some incredibly stereotyped ’emotionally damaged kids’.
In short, not really worth the read, i’m afraid. If you’re in the mood for a james patterson read one of his Alex Cross’, as i’ve never been disappointed by one of them.
I pictured Peter Capaldi as Peter Carlyle, though, just in case you were interested.
the FANGG of HORROR ROCK 