7th Heaven (Women's Murder Club)
by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
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Book Reviews of 7th Heaven (Women's Murder Club)
Book Review: More sadism
Summary: 3 Stars
James Patterson apparently has a lengthy list of sadistic methods to kill people and a roster of fictional sociopaths willing to carry out the process. That makes putting a book together easy: start the murders, keep killing until the right number of pages are filled. Then, mail it in.
Oh, and use lots of rhetorical questions, exclamation points, and bold type for entire sentences. Never trust simple words to convey the meaning. And above all, don't trust the reader with subtlety. In summary, it is the recipe for the best seller. Patterson is not the only one to use the basic idea. Movie makers also use it, e.g., "No Country For Old Men."
That said, this is actually one of Patterson's better books. It has a fairly good ending, but not one that I didn't anticipate. The basic plot is about two young men who worm their way into the houses of fairly rich people, tie them up, steal their money and jewelry, then set fire to the place and cook the people. The young men do this several times. The sub plot involves a pretty, young prostitute and the ex-governor's son, who has a congenital heart defect. The sub plot is the better part, although the hooker is too articulate for, well, for words. She's described as having a learning defecit disorder, but she speaks and writes as least as well as James Patterson.
The major problem with James Patterson's novels is that they are all the same--with switcheroos. This time the sadistic killer cuts throats with a surgeon's scalpel. Next time, burning alive. And so forth. This makes it easy and possible for Patterson to turn out several sub-standard novels each year. And make a whole lot of money.
Book Review: Just What The Fans Want
Summary: 4 Stars
Detective Lindsay Boxer just landed the lead of her career in the disappearance case of Michael Campion, the teenage son of California's former governor. Not only has she found a suspect, but she has the murder confession to boot. Just when everything falls into place the suspect recants the confession throwing the trial into a downward spiral. Meanwhile, two arsonists are preying on wealthy rich couples and Lindsay and her partner, Rich Conklin, can't seem to keep ahead of these sadistic murderers on the loose. Once again Lindsay Boxer leans on her cohorts in the Women's Murder Club to try and save the day.
This seventh installment of James Patterson's bestselling Women's Murder Club series gives fans just what they want: more mystery, more murder, more romance, and thankfully a better story than The 6th Target. Lindsay, Claire, Cindy, and Yuki are as engaging as ever and Patterson and Paetro do a great job of giving each character a fair share of the story. This series seems to be developing a pattern of following multiple cases with each new offering and this time it really works. Both cases are interesting throughout and there's even a great little twist in the end that I never saw coming.
The only thing not working for me in this series is the relationship turmoil Lindsay continually finds herself in. I do realize these scenes were not necessarily written for my demographic, and I suspect Lindsay's romantic entanglements are exactly why millions of other readers keep coming back to this series. However, for me the mystery and fast paced storytelling are all I need and are enough to bring me back for more.
Book Review: Lackluster Entry in the Series
Summary: 3 Stars
I see I'm in the minority here, but I was terribly disappointed in this entry in the Women's Murder Club series. I did not find it "gripping," as one review said, although I always love to read these books, and I can't in all honesty say I didn't like the book.
I think my problem is that I never engaged. As many reviewers have said, there are two plots here: One about the disappearance of the ex-governor's son, Michael Campion, who is the state's "golden boy" (a la JFK Jr.) with a scary heart condition; and a series of brutal arson/murders that we know are being conducted by two arrogant college students.
The book reels between the two plots, sometimes confusingly so. Our women are all involved in one way or the other: Yuki is trying the case of the young and naive prostitute Junie Moon, who confessed to having Campion die in her arms and subsequently chopping up and disposing of his body. (I found this character completely unbelievable throughout, especially at the end!)
Very pregnant Claire is performing autopsies on the hapless murder/burn victims. Cindy is writing about the Campion case, but is not really a presence in this book. And Lindsay is involved in both cases at once and is being so annoying with her love life, I wanted to throw the book across the room!
I would never say not to read this book, but don't expect the adventure and spine-tingling thrills of some of the others. It's just not here.
Book Review: Patterson Still Delivers on WMC...Could Use Improvements Though
Summary: 3 Stars
I have read most of Patterson's books (about 95%). Patterson really dissapointed me with his most recent Cross books (my husband jokes that the latest Cross novels have been entirely written by the lesser-known co-authors).
The problem I have is that Patterson is using this huge font size and what is supposed to be 300-and-some pages, is really more like 150 pages using huge font size. Is Patterson dumbing us down? This last installment of the WMC, while engaging, seemed more like one of those mystery short stories you find at the end of a magazine more than a novel or book. Has Patterson become a magazine short-story writer? Guess the next book will answer that-In the meantime, I suggest reading novels by John Kellerman. The man is amazing with details and with telling a gripping crime story-Kellerman does not cut corners. You can finish a Patterson novel within 24 hrs but a Kellerman book will keep you more busy and if you want to look at it this way, you get more bang for your buck-Patterson's style has become a boilerplate recipe which is nowadays enlightened by the talent of young new writers who co-author his most recent works (in other words, Patterson may truly be fishing while the co-author does all the work as my husband believes). For now, I am reading Kellerman's "Gone" which I recommend and crossing my fingers that Patterson delivers a more substantial novel next time.
Book Review: 7th Heaven
Summary: 4 Stars
James Patterson whips up thriller after thriller, some are good - very good, and others are not so great. This one, for me, fell somewhere in-between. I gave it four stars for two reasons: Because it was better than I anticipated, and the ending had a twist that I didn't predict.
Reading a JP book, for me, has become a lot like sitting down in front of the TV on a Saturday morning with your kids to watch an episode of Scooby Doo. Do you learn anything? Does it make you think? Are you a better person because of it? No, but in some strange way it feels right.
Although this novel was fun and easy to read, JP's plethora of novels is starting to get old. Like watching Scooby Doo on Saturday mornings, you grow out of it eventually. 7th Heaven was less than thrilling and the dialog was corny at times, yet it was seven times better than, The 6th Target.
James Patterson's short chapters make reading in two minutes increments not only possible, but also enjoyable. His books are great for people who have little or no time to read, you could literally read a chapter while waiting for a red light to change to green. However, if you are somebody who seriously makes time to read, you may want to be more selective.