2nd Chance (Paperback)

Character development has really been lacking in some of his latest books, but with this book the character development is very good. it's subtle so that you're not really aware of it, but it's definitely there. This time around the four women are much more rounded and believeable characters. His subsidiary characters are also drawn very well and effectively. They add weight to the story.

In Violets Are Blue there were far too many killings, practically one every ten pages. Here he has wisely cut down on the deaths. This adds much more emotion to the book, and we get time to feel sad at the character's deaths. As well as there actually being some real investigation, which makes for compelling reading (especially when Lindsay goes to visit Weiscz in the prison, a la "Silence of the Lambs").

The inclusion of Lindsay's father into the complex plot is good, and again gives weight to the story and Lindsay's character. It makes it more personal and interesting to read.

Overall, this is a very good thriller. Everything has been improved upon since his latest efforts. the plot is exciting, the book is a pageturner, full of emotion (which Patterson is undeniably very good at evoking). This new series is definitely going to shine...

In First To Die, Patterson introduces a new series of novels based around 'The Women's Murder Club', at the centre of which we find our heroine, Lindsay Boxer.

Second Chance is the second (obviously) in the Women's Murder Club Series and it is as much of a page-turner as the first. It's definitely not the best thing Patterson has written, however, and the 'twist' in the story doesn't shock as much as that in 'Along Came a Spider' or in some of Patterson's other work.

Definitely worth reading but if you've never read Patterson before, head back to his earlier work like 'Along Came a Spider', 'Kiss the Girls' & 'Jack & Jill' before trying this one.

The book is a quick read. Most chapters are 2-3 pages so there's a lot of white space.

Those who like action and fast-moving stories will find this book especially attractive. Those who like complex, constantly evolving characters will be disappointed. If you read 1st to Die, you know that the book has four female characters are part of its lead. I think it's hard for many male writers to tell stories that are convincing about female characters. I kept imagining how Sue Grafton would have handled the same story, and I missed the nuance and texture that her novels provide.

Lindsay Boxer from 1st to Die is now a homicide detective who's having a hard time adjusting to "normal" life after the events in 1st to Die. When a horrible shooting at a ghetto church happens, her old partner, Jacobi, asks her if she wants to take it on again. She decides to go ahead. Soon, there's a second death and Lindsay begins to suspect that their might be a serial killer involved . . . but she cannot make sense of the pattern except that it may be racially motivated.

The book uses a tried-and-true technique for stories about serial killers. The narration alternates between what the serial killer is doing and the police investigation. That leaves you comfortably ahead of the police, but not quite up to the serial killer. The story unwinds in a complexity and intimacy that are a rewarding variation on the usual "psycho" serial killer scenario found in so many books.

Mr. Patterson and Mr. Gross also manage to raise some good questions along the way about what the balance should be between one's commitment to work and to one's family and friends. Think about that as you read this story.

Be sure to start early in the evening . . . or you may miss some sleep due to this page-turner.