The 5th Horseman (Women's Murder Club)
by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.18 You Save: $25.77 (92%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The 5th Horseman (Women's Murder Club)
Book Review: Fine fluff
Summary: 4 Stars
Gee, have you noticed how many reviews have the word "fluff" in the title? I think it's because we all know that if you started reading this series, you'll probably keep on reading it, but we all know that it's not exactly great literature.
This is a fast, fun, fine installment in an easy-read series, perfect for brainless beach reading. A good friend of mine noted that she was able to read it in half the time it usually takes for a book this size, because many of the chapters are about a page and a half long, and the chapter title pages start in the middle of the actual page. The book could have been easily printed in about half as many pages, so it's not even as "weighty" as its actual weight.
But, come on. We knew that going in. You're probably not going to start reading this series on the fifth book, so we all know what we're getting by now. Enjoy it! Wait for the paperback or go to the library if you feel cheated by the fluff in hardback form. Granted, this is not the James Patterson of Along Came a Spider, but again, you should expect that in this series by now. If you already like the series, you'll like the book - if you don't like the series, there's nothing new for you here. If you haven't read the series yet, start at the beginning and then decide.
Book Review: Borrow Don't Buy
Summary: 2 Stars
I am huge James Patterson fan but I felt he blew it with this book. There are too many subplots that distracted from what the book purported to be about. A serial killer in a hospital but we are given plots about young female escorts being killed. What in the hell did this have to do with the hospital murders. NOTHING!! They could have further developed this story for another book and made it more interesting instead of solving it so quickly.
The story about the doctor and the lawyer was interesting but which one the two writers came up with such a lame ending. After they had wrapped up the case with the two aforementioned characters, they probably found out they forgot about letting the reader know who the person was doing the killing and gave us some crappy ending in an attempt to let us know whoduit without ever really giving us a reason why. I had to go back and reread the chapters about this person to try and get a clue. How did this person get out of jail so quickly and move on to another hospital? And how did Lindsay Boxer know she would be there? Too many holes that needed to be filled in. I expected more. Next book I just wait until I can borrow it from someone else or wait until the paperback version comes out and get it at a discount store.
Book Review: Above average Patterson
Summary: 4 Stars
James Patterson knows how to write a zippy thriller/mystery. Nothing too deep, the stories always move along at a rapid pace, in fact some times they read like the screen play for the next hit movie (big surprise). His legion of fans know what they are getting and are usually satisfied. The 5th Horseman is typical Patterson; I would rate it higher then his most recent work, but lower then say Kiss the Girls.
This one starts off like a rifle shot, when the mother of the newest member of the Women's Murder Club, Yuki Castellano, dies a mysterious death at a San Francisco Hospital. When detective Lindsay Boxer starts to investigate she soon finds out that there have been other suspicious deaths at the hospital? Hmmm. . .sounds like a case for the Womans Murder Club! I won't ruin any of the surprises, though most of them you will see coming. Still, Patterson's trade mark short Chapters while annoying to some, I find quite addicting. Its kind of like eating popcorn, once you start you can't stop, but too much can become cloying!
In conclusion, the typical Patterson fan should be pleased with the 5th Horseman, it's a solid 4 effort. Those that don't care for Patterson's style should not bother.
Book Review: Written on auto-pilot.
Summary: 2 Stars
Through the other reviews, you're likely to know the plot by now. Newest Women's Murder Club member Yuki Castellano is devastated by the tragic, seemingly accidental death of her mother. As it happens, her mother is actually the victim of a killer who likes to play God with the lives of others. Running concurrently with this is a storyline in which call girls are showing up dead in abandoned vehicles.
"The 5th Horseman" is fiction-lite. The two story-lines have nothing to do with each other, and are probably only included so that the book can reach some designated word count. And it's already pretty brief as it is. I almost felt like I was watching an episode of CSI - two plots so that short attention spans can be kept alert, but no character development, nor any substance whatsoever. A nice clean wrap-up, with the knowledge that there will be more excitement in next week's episode. And considering how ridiculously quickly Patterson is churning out these books, it almost feels as if there's a new one every week.
But I enjoyed "The 5th Horseman" for what it was: empty, brainless entertainment that you can have fun with while it's there and forget it ten minutes after you've finished it.
Book Review: Are you a female reader who likes serial pulp fiction? Welcome...
Summary: 2 Stars
Finally took the plunge on reading a JP book. Had heard about his penchant for turning out novels by the bundle, with a formula and with ghost writers doing some heavy lifting in "assisting" with drafting. Sounded a bit mechanical to me.
Actual experience? No surprises. Another beach novel with little new to offer. Plug in some trusty characters and a storyline possibly plucked from Tv (ER?), and out comes yet another tome for the grocery store racks.
Sound harsh? Sorry. Feel free to write my review off as the jaded musings of an author (shameless plug, or fair disclosure, search for "Las Cruces", by JT Fisher, published 2005) who tosses up far fewer works, and is a bit put off by those who recycle characters extensively and fail to even attempt to bring forth any story elements worth remembering or capable of helping one see or understand or challenge their views of the world around us.
As a final comment, I'd offer to direct you to more compelling writing and thinking by people who can claim they actually wrote the full text themselves (see anything by Martin Cruz Smith, Neal Stephenson, or Edward Rutherford, for example).
Best of luck.