2nd Chance by James Patterson

2nd Chance reconvenes the Women's Murder Club, four friends (a detective, a reporter, an assistant district attorney, and a medical examiner) who used their networking skills, feminine intuition, and professional wiles to solve a baffling series of murders in 1st to Die. This time, the murders of two African Americans, a little girl and an old woman, bear all the signs of a serial killer for Lindsay Boxer, newly promoted to lieutenant of San Francisco's homicide squad. But there's an odd detail she finds even more disturbing: both victims were related to city cops. A symbol glimpsed at both murder scenes leads to a racist hate group, but the taunting killer strikes again and again, leaving deliberate clues and eluding the police ever more cleverly. In the meantime, each of the women has a personal stake at risk--and the killer knows who they are.

I must say, I am enjoying this reading thing I have been doing lately... I think I have read more books in the last week than I have read in some of the previous months, so I am pretty happy about that. I am reading like I used to is what I am really saying! It's great!

Anyway, James Patterson is not an author that I would normally read, but I enjoyed the previous book in this series, 1st to Die, and decided that it was about time that I saw what happened next in the series. It is a nice, quick read, so it was good to throw that in to the mix. I finished it late at night, and I have to say, it was perfect late night reading. I will probably continue on with the series. (It is up to book seven, now.) I don't love the books, but they are good, nonetheless.

The main character in the series is Lindsay Boxer. After the events in the previous novel, she has been promoted to Lieutenant. The events of the last case were tough on her, though, so she hasn't really got back in the game yet. This is the case that brings it all back; and it is not a case that is any easier on her. Teaming up with three other women, The Women's Murder Club is back in session. Lindsay might also find this case just a little bit too personal, though, and at times, a little hard for her to handle.

The other three women add some interesting subplots to the story. We have Cindy who is a reporter for the Chronicle. The events of the past sky-rocketed her career and she is always the first to have an exclusive, but, at the same time, she is very good at getting to the bottom of things when the police find themselves stuck. Claire is Lindsay's best friend, so they go way back. She is the sort of woman that is always in control, but at the same time she is a lot of fun to read about. She is a medical examiner and one of the finest in her field. Lastly, we have Jill. Jill is a very driven Assistant District Attorney. They are all very typical working women, though, balancing their life outside of their careers with the very demanding positions that they hold. I can see why this series works for so many people.

As to my thoughts on the book. I enjoy them. They are fun reads, but not exceptionally written. I own second-hand paperbacks of them. I don't think they are the sort of books that I would rush right out and buy, that's for sure! If I read the next book, I read the next book. If I don't, well, I have plenty of series on the go that I enjoy a lot more. That being said, I own the next book, so I am sure I will get to it eventually!

Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb

Completion Date: May 2007
Publication Year: 2004
Pages: 368
Owned Prior to 2007
Book Ten in the In Death series

This post will be another buddy review from me and Marg from Reading Adventures. I am in blue and Marg is in black.

#1 New York Times bestselling author J. D. Robb's phenomenal series has captivated readers with it tantalizing blend of romance, suspense, and futuristic police procedural. Now, New York cop Eve Dallas returns to face her most ingenious foe -- a "secret admirer" who taunts her with letters...and kills without mercy.

LOYALTY IN DEATH An unknown bomber is stalking New York City. He is sending Eve Dallas taunting letters promising to wreak mass terror and destruction among the "corrupt masses." And when his cruel web of deceit and destruction threatens those she cares for most, Even fights back. It's her city...it's her job...and it's hitting too close to home. Now, in a race against a ticking clock, Eve must make the pieces fit—before the city falls.

Eve Dallas seems to really attract the interest of all the crazy people in New York City. They have a personal interest in taunting her and staying one step ahead of her. They are determined to be the ones that are going to bring down New York's top cop. Dallas has still not fully recovered from having her badge taken away from her, so she is determined to do whatever she can to redeem herself. There's no question that Eve is a target for many reasons, but it is a tribute to her skill that Robb manages to still keep each book fresh, and without becoming too cliched.

This book starts with a case that seemed open and close, a woman kills her boyfriend and admits to it. It is a simple case compared to other books involving her. (Which in itself should have been a dead giveaway - nothing is ever that straight forward in Eve's world!) Then, things start to heat up and it is really a different book from the other books in the series. She finds herself involved in an organization that is determined to wipe out a entire city, not the normal serial killers that she is normally hunting down. This time it is serial destruction with taunting messages to test whether Dallas can get to the bottom of the case before they bring another building down and kill a lot of people. In some ways I found it quite poignant that Robb suggested that the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre could become a target of terrorists, especially given that this book was originally published in 1998, and interesting that some of the other locations that are well known in New York could also be targeted in such a way.

One of the things that bothered me about this book was I sort of found Roarke annoying. He just always has to be in the middle of things. I suppose that is what happens when he owns most of the world's buildings, but I just found his meddlesome qualities annoying in this book. It was like he is going out of his way taking care of Eve in this book and that she is not capable of taking of herself. She gets to the bottom of the case and I really enjoyed it for a nice light read, but Roarke annoyed me. I think it might have something to do with this not being my normal genre and I think Robb goes too far to have Roarke involved. At least he was not a suspect, but sometimes it would be nice to just have a character and not always someone involved in every case. I actually thought that Roarke's presence was more real in this case than it has been in the last couple of books, and certainly didn't find it annoying. I like that Roarke knows when Eve is pushing herself too hard, even before she knows it herself, and takes steps to ensure that she does take care of herself. Yes, he is sometimes domineering, but to be honest, I think he has to be, because otherwise Eve just would not listen, and would push herself to the point of collapse on a regular basis.

What I really liked about this book was that there was more going on than in her regular books. Normally she is just hunting one person, but in this book there is a lot more going on and the messages that the organization sends to her will get your brain thinking. There was a lot going on in this one, and I enjoyed the subplots in this one as well as the main story. The sexual tension between Peabody and McNab fairly crackled off the page, and provided much needed comic relief as they tried to hide their feelings from each other, and from those around them, and helped balance the seriousness of the main plot.

Another interesting book in the In Death series. I look forward to reading the next book. This is right up there with my favourites of the series that we have read so far! When are we reading the next one? Whenever you are ready, I own them, it is you that has to get them from the library. :)

Marg's Rating: 4.5/5

Ceremony in Death - J.D. Robb [August/06]

I found this Robb novel harder to get into than the previous ones we have read. It is the fifth book in the series, and the beginning didn't draw me in as others had. Once again, Marg and me are doing a joint review.

Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics before personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every step she takes makes her question her own sense of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil...

Marg is in black, I am in my trademark blue.

Anyway, this book opens at the funeral of a fellow police office...a man who has seemingly died of natural causes in the prime of his life. When his granddaughter passes Eve a note to arrange a meeting, Eve starts to get suspicious about why. When the granddaughter ends up dead shortly after she talks to Eve and then another person is killed not long after talking to her as well, Eve is gradually drawn into a world where there are good and evil, witches and wiccans, power and sex, and ultimately danger and death for many people. It sounds like a good beginning, huh? A lot seems to happen in the opening pages, but I started this book, read the beginning and then put it aside for a while. I think Eve annoyed me in this book more than any other. I understand she is supposed to be tough and independent, but she does not back down at all in this book. Sometimes you just want to tell her it okay to believe in something. Her need to fight every thing gets a bit tiring from time to time. It hasn't been bad in others that I have read, but for some reason, she annoyed me in this book. Maybe because she breaks writing conventions and is not open-minded about what happens in this book at all.

It was obvious that there had been a lot of research done into the various practices and rituals of both the Wiccan's and the witches and I guess there were times during this novel when there was a hint of info dump, but for the most part it was well paced and interesting enough. In other words, zoning out periods.

There were a couple of stand out scenes in this book - I nearly cried my eyes out when Eve and Feeney had a falling out. I loved the fact that Eve is gradually realising that despite her terrible beginnings, it is possible for someone to build a family around them. I am not a "cry my eyes out" sort of person (no offense), but I agree that this was an interesting scene. By this point in the book I am getting over being annoyed with Eve's character and have started to once again enjoy the story. I think this is actually touching, with the argument, Eve's reaction to it, Roarke's reaction to it, and then the making up part.

The other interesting development for me in this story was the inclusion of Jamie, the younger brother of the young lady who is killed. He is an interesting character, with his ability with electronics, even being able to short circuit Roarke's security system. I wonder if he will continue to make appearance throughout the series, as there definitely would seem to be some scope for him to be included. He was an interesting character. You were never really sure what to make of him, but the kid has brains. If it wasn't for him, some very bad stuff might have not been prevented. He was determined to get the people that hurt his sister, which made for some interesting scenes. My favourite was when he broke into Roarke's yard, my there were some scenes as a result of that where you got to see other sides of Roarke.

Overall, I would say that whilst this wasn't the best of the series, it was still remarkably consistent in terms of it's quality. Not my favourite by her either, but enough that I will read more of the series. Every series has their slight faults, Robb is no exception. I must say though, was it just me, or does there seem to be even more sex scenes in this book than normal? I hope that doesn't become the norm...

Rating 4/5
Rating 3.5/5

Immortal in Death - J.D. Robb [June/06]

Following quickly on my review of Glory in Death, me and Marg (from Reading Adventures) decided that we were going to do a review together as we are both reading the In Death series. It is sort of fun to have similar tastes with someone, even when I prefer fantasy to her romance novels, we still have read many of the same books.

My thoughts are going to be written in blue, whilst Marg's thoughts will be in black! First, about the book:

It is 2058, New York City. Lieutenant Eve Dallas uncovers a world where technology can create beauty and youth, but passion and greed can destroy them.

She was one of the most sought-after women in the world. A top model who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted -even another woman's man. And now she's dead, the victim of a brutal murder.

Police lieutenant Eve Dallas puts her life on the line to take the case when suspicion falls on her best friend, the other woman in the fatal love triangle. Beneath the façade of glamour, Eve finds that the world of high fashion thrives on an all-consuming obsession with youth and fame-one that leads her from the lights of the runway to the dark underworld of New York City, where drugs can fulfill any desire, for a price.

I am happily working my way through this series slowly, and in this the third book in the series, I was pleased to see that this time Roarke was not a suspect!! Mainly because we could not have the perspective groom in jail on the wedding day! Or because people like him too much to keep having to bite their nails, and hope that Eve leaves the poor man alone.

This time Eve is called in to investigate the death of one of her weasels, someone who is willing to give her information about what is happening on the streets.

Not long after there is a seemingly unconnected death of a beautiful, high profile model, Pandora. She has a power that has gotten her to the top, a love of the high life and a poster girl for the one-night stand. She comes across as glamourous, but Eve quickly learns that there is more to her than meets the eye, especially when it seems as though her best friend Mavis is the prime suspect and Eve is called in as a friend and the primary investigator. When Mavis finds the dead body of Pandora, a beautiful woman who no one really likes, it seems inevitable that the clues will all point towards her - a classic set up. One of those predictable scenarios found in the most gripping cop novels.

When Eve has no choice but to arrest Mavis, she has to deal with her feelings in relation to betraying one of her few true friends, or as Roarke points out, her family. But Eve is a determined cop and with her battling it out for her friend, we know that justice will be served.

All of this is going on whilst Eve is trying to get ready for her wedding to Roarke. Roarke is taking care of most of the details, but there are a couple of things that Eve is determined to choose herself, and pay for herself, including the wedding dress… and all the things that her designer, Leonardo, seems to think that she needs. Since Leonardo is the one that connects Pandora and Mavis, being lovers to both of them, he turns out to be important to the novel in more ways than one.

As more bodies turn up that are brutalized in the same horrific manner, it becomes clear that there is a connection. It appears to be a new illegal drug, that is actually poisoning the addict slowly. A drug that is that is very pricey to produce because one of the ingredients is only available off-planet. Before destroying the user, though, it makes them appear and feel younger and sexier - definitely attractive to the masses, especially if they don't know about the side effects! Good for the significant other too because it offers a heightened sex drive! Watch out for the mood swings that follow, though.

In this novel, Lieutenant Dallas gets Officer Peabody added to her office, and we get to know the wise cracking officer who seems to be quite a good foil to Eve's apparent seriousness and troubled self, once you get under her stiff, cop-like exterior. We also begin to understand the relationship between Roarke and his butler, Summerset, when in a rare moment Roarke reveals an aspect of his ‘shady’ past to a very troubled Eve. If that is not enough deep psychological dealing for you, it is also the novel that Eve finally figures out the past that she has tried to forget for over twenty years, and then deal with the emotion that stirs up.

As far as the villain goes, as soon as he came onto the scene I didn't like him, but it didn't really seem as though we were really provided with all that many clues to point at him until all was revealed right at the end! But everyone knows that it is better to be in the dark than have the mystery solved in the first two pages. The whole fun of a Robb novel is the fact that there are usually twists and turns at every flip of the page.

My rating: 3.5/5
Marg's rating: 4/5

Glory in Death - J.D. Robb [June/06]

Welcome back to the life of Lt. Eve Dallas in the second book in the long-running series. As the blurb about the book states:

The first victim was found lying on a sidewalk in the rain. The second was murdered in her own apartment building. Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas had no problem finding connections between the two crimes. Both victims were beautiful and highly successful women. Their glamorous lives and loves were the talk of the city. And their intimate relations with men of great power and wealth provided Eve with a long list of suspects including her own lover, Roarke. A a woman, Eve was compelled to trust the man who shared her bed. But as a cop, it was her job to follow every lead... to investigate every scandalous rumor... to explore every secret passion, no matter how dark. Or how dangerous...

It is not all the time that I find an author I can read so close together, I normally like to have some variety, but I find myself enjoying this novels enough to read them frequently. I am already started on book 3 of the series. It is interesting to watch Dallas deal with cases that many times hit close to her own dark and damning past. Her father treated her cruelly and now she is watching women die for much the same reason. Men and their need for power over women. In a crime novel Robb is pointing out that even in the future, if things don't change, men will be killing women because they believe that women have too much power. That is what this novel boils down to, power.

Eve also has to keep trying to work out her personal and professional life. Roarke is involved in most things that happen in the world and off it, so she finds herself constantly up against the man that she loves without even meaning to. It tests her again and again to understand that not everyone out there is going to hurt her, there are people she can trust. When she slowly starts opening herself to the world around her, the reader gets a chance to not only see her bring the bad guys down, but also come to terms with herself as a person.

3.5/5

When the Wind Blows - James Patterson [May/06]

This is only the fourth time a James Patterson novel that has appealed to me. He is not a writer of the literature I am generally drawn to, but this book, and its sequel, The Lake House had something appealing about them for whatever reason. I read these books backwards, of course, but I enjoyed them. This one states on the back:

Frannie O'Neil is a talented Colorado veterinarian haunted by her husband's murder. But the course of her life about to change again. After another bizarre killing, Kit Harrison, a troubled and unconventional FBI agent, arrives on her doorstep. And late one night Frannie stumbles upon a strange, astonishing phenomenon.

Her name is Max. Only eleven years old, she will lead Frannie and Kit to uncover one of the most diabolical and inhuman plots of modern science.

I gained info on this book when a new novel was released by this author about something along the same lines. Thinking it looked interesting, my friend lent me these two. I at first thought it was sort of a science fiction type novel, but is actually a very possible near future. For all anyone knows, something not so different than it can be occuring in today's world.

It is a novel of genetic manipulation and engineering. Max, and her friends, were born in the matter of science. Altered so as to be "superhumans", their parents were told they were dead and thought never to see their children again. In the meantime, these children were locked up in a School where they were tested constantly. If a child did not match up to the scientists and doctors ideals, they were put to sleep. Something that Max and her friends worry about constantly. But one night Max and her brother, Matthew, risk everything for a chance at freedom and drastically change their life as they know it.

It was an interesting novel, not just for how disturbing it is, but because these children are delightful. They have amazing intelligence, but at the same time they have lived such a sheltered life. Ever moment spent on the outside is one new experience for them. Just in case that doesn't appeal to you, they can fly.

3.5/5

The Lake House - James Patterson [May/06]

This novel is the sequel to When the Wind Blows. I borrowed this one, but the person that lent it to me was not aware that there was another book to go with it. She has it now. I read this one and then bought the other for really cheap. She collects Patterson, though, so I gave it to her to add to her collection.

This novel takes place after the children have been returned to their biological family. When "When the Wind Blows" finishes, the children are over-joyed about being returned to their parents, but now the reality of the situation has set in. This children may not have had much during their captivity, but they had each other and now they find themselves alone. They believe that in the world today where they are obviously different, it is time to be brought back together.

Their parents claim to love them, but you can safely see that they do not have the first idea how to raise "different" children. The youngest of the children are being pushed into acting careers, the press follows them everywhere they go, and the world pretends to understand while making fun of them at the same time. They believe that it is best for them that they end up with Kit and Frannie, the FBI and vet that saved them from the School in the first place, so they find themselves at court wishing that they are given what they want out of the world.

At the same time they are not completely safe from the world at large. Max was used at the School to do the work of some of the scientists because she could do it much quicker. Therefore, she knows a great deal that she was never supposed to be set free with. We find Max still frigtened of the idea that she will be put to sleep and trying to keep her "family" together. She had been ingrained with the idea that to tell meant death, but when once again her family is threatened she has to make the decision that will mean that everyone will be safe and they can be together as a family. A decision that goes against everything that she was taught in her dreaded School.

These novels are light reads with dark subject matter. The reviews on Amazon make them look like horrible novels, but Patterson gets the point across without being too hard to take. It is a couple hour read, but in a world where science is making advances, not a totally impossible novel.

3.5/5

Naked in Death - JD Robb [May/06]

I finally back-tracked and read the first of the "In Death" romantic suspense novels from J.D. Robb. I don't know what it is with her. I have found many of the later novels in the series, but have yet to see anything between two and seven second-hand. I ended up buying book 2 new because I wanted to see how the story continued. Plan to read that book this weekend.

Anyways, this review is a little easier to write. With Seduction in Death it was later in the series, and I know someone reading this series from the beginning, so didn't want to give anything away.

This novel is described as:

Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In more than ten years on the force, she's seen it all - and knows that her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire - and a suspect in Eve's muder investigation. But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about - except the addictive hunger of needing his touch.

Having known a bit about this series from reading a later novel first, I found it sort of interesting. A lot of the characters that Dallas meets in this first book as contacts are still present in the later novels. She had been a cop for ten years and she was only now working out a group of people to rely on. I found that a bit unbelievable, but Robb likely wanted to have Dallas as seasoned and then be able to introduce all the characters properly.

Roarke is a recurring character, though. I liked reading about him in the beginning, see where he came from and what he was like. He reminds me of Jean Claude, the head vampire in the Laurell Hamilton novels. Only Roarke is alive, while Jean Claude is the living dead. They just have similar mannerisms about them. Likely because they are both the lead romantic interests and have to be characters that female readers can believe in and fall for.

Anyways, in this book Eve is faced with the murder of the granddaughter of a powerful senator. In this world, as I mentioned in my other Robb review, guns are not used anymore. So when a 1980's gun is found at the scene as the murder weapon, it adds a new dimension to the investigation. Dallas is called in as the chief investigator, following a very disturbing case where a little girl was killed by her father. Dallas has violence in her background, so her last case is still giving her nightmares. Eve is a very determined investigator, even when the senator puts pressure on her and tries to limit her activities to save the family reputation she manages to get the job done. When other women are killed in the same manner and notes left to imply that there will be six victims by the time the killing is through, Dallas begins a race against the clock to insure that the killer does not make it to six.

It is interesting, so far in these novels the killer turns out to be a female hater or a man that believes that women should still be in a subordinate position in society. All of the murdered women in this novel are prostitutes, the man controls them and then he kills them. One of the victims even reveals that he likes to be called "Daddy", a very controlling form of seduction and then murder. The good thing about this murders, though, is that Roarke is believed to be a suspect because he collects rare guns and owns a large percent of the world, including some of the locations where the murders take place. If he hadn't been suspected, he would not have been added for the female readers enjoyment.

I like this series, I like how Dallas is not just your typical crime/suspense character. She has a past, it is not all about solving the cases that present themselves.

4/5

Seduction in Death - J.D. Robb [May/06]

This is a very odd reading choice for me. For those that don't know, J.D. Robb is also known as Nora Roberts who is not someone that I would normally read. People on a forum I belong to were discussing her books, and when I learned they were set in the future, I was intrigued. This is book 13 in the series, but since it was available to read at my house, I decided to start with it and see if I liked it. I did, actually, so much so that I purchased more of the series at the second hand store the other day.

The novels follow the life of Lt. Dallas, a police officer in a world quite different than the one that we are living in now. While the books are only set about 50 years from now, technology has made many advances that I find myself wishing we had now. Guns have been outlawed, which I found very interesting. It is a gizmo age.

I think the thing that most attracts me to the novel is the character of Lt. Dallas. She had a rough childhood that has turned her into the character that we witness in these novels. She has a deep understanding of the degragation of women, having been sexually abused herself. As a result, many of her cases have a personal feel to them that makes them not just cases to her, but a chance to take down terrible men one at a time and slowly make the world a safer place. The added addition of her past makes the novel more than just a murder mystery, it is a personal experience.

In this particular part of the series, Dallas is investigating the murder of women who think they have found love in internet chatrooms. The man woos her and then he drugs her to death so that he is the last man to touch her. It is a disgusting idea, but these are men that have always gotten what they wanted out of life and have a deep hatred for women. Why this is becomes known as Dallas comes closer and closer to cracking the case. In this particular book, we know who the killers are. Robb has made it so that we see all sides of the case as opposed to being just as in the dark as Dallas. It makes it more interesting because we get to know all the central characters before the bad guys are brought down.

A really interesting series, I can't wait to read more about Dallas and her adventures.

4/5