Lifeguard
by Andrew Gross, James Patterson
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Book Reviews of Lifeguard
Book Review: Fanciful Lightweight Read
Summary: 4 Stars
The story begins in Palm Beach, Florida. A buddy heist gone wrong. Slightly reminiscent of Harlan Coben's recent novels...a basically decent guy caught up in circumstances beyond his control, fighting to redeem himself. There was a misspelled word and a grammatical error on the very first page, and I was worried the book would be unreadable. But, the story took off and if there were errors, I didn't notice them. I think a lot of people read books like this for a peek into the highlife and there is a bit of that here. The pace moves along at a good clip. The plot is a good one and leads to a very exciting conclusion. At times, the story becomes a little too cute, especially where FBI agent Ellie Shurtleff is concerned. This is a fanciful lightweight read. Perfect for summer.Book Review: Unbelievably bad...
Summary: 1 Stars
I have enjoyed many other Patterson novels so was expecting another good read. However, I was totally disappointed in this shallow and unbelievable story. To me, there was no depth to the characters and the plot was unreal. I couldn't believe the book was a Patterson novel! I was also amazed at the number of mistakes in sentence structure, typo's, etc. Mr. Patterson definitely needs to find better proof-readers/editors. In my opinion, the errors were so bad and so noticeable, I laughed out loud at times. I was surpised that a book written by such a well known author could contain so many errors and then still get published! How could this be a bestseller??? Overall, a great disappointment. I will be very hesitant to buy another book by Mr. Patterson and his co-author, Mr. Gross.Book Review: LIFEGUARD NEEDED SAVING
Summary: 3 Stars
Have not read James Patterson for a few but this was entertaining. Brockton Massachusetts is indeed a city with shabby clapboard houses with sagging porches, most of them 3 story. I got the feel of the city and Florida as well. Ned Kelly was an adorable loser but I wouldnt want my daughter to marry him. Ellie was sweet. I liked her character very much except her judgement of men! :D
I loved the short chapters for which JP is noted. It makes you think you can read just a few more and before you know it, the last chapter is before you. Story was entertaining. Most of the male reviewers are seemingly demanding more. However, this story intrigued me enuf to finish to the end, which was over the top. Oh well, all's well that ends well.
Book Review: Is this really Patterson?
Summary: 2 Stars
The key elements of the plot have been covered by others. Indeed, the overall plot is pretty engaging. The book is quite short -- fairly large type and a lot of white space. I read it in a single day.
While the plot is entertaining, the writing is pretty sad. Some of the writing is so amateurish that I found myself physically cringing as I read it. I'm assuming that the book was actually written by someone else. Patterson seems to be trying to cash in by putting his name on this stuff. I'm not looking for great literature here -- just a good, entertaining read. I really don't blame Patterson for trying to maximize his return from his reputation. For me, though, this is bad enough that I probably won't bother with his future work.
Book Review: Surprised.
Summary: 5 Stars
Guess I'm writing because I'm not a typical patterson fan. At least, not recently. I go more for Alan Furst and Robert Wilson. Still, my wife gave me this book with the ultimatum to read it and, you know what... I was 100% entertaied. Lifeguard is basically un-put-downable!
I'll let others describe the plot-- it involves art theft, muder sex, betrayal, Palm Beach-- that's not why I'm writing.I'm doing so out of surprise and satisfaction. If ther are others like me out there you can take a chance on this book. It's swift-paced, amusing, doesn't take itself too seriously-- as several reviewers seem to-- and delivers a suprising emotional punch at the end. Whoever Andrew Gross is, it's a partnership that's worth continuing.