James Patterson

BOOK REVIEW: Murder Beyond the Grave by James Patterson

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Title: Murder Beyond the Grave

Author: James Patterson

Book Length: 295 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Nonfiction, True Crime

Read Start Date: December 28, 2022

Read Finish Date: January 4, 2023

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Two true-crime thrillers as seen on Discovery’s Murder is Forever TV series

MURDER BEYOND THE GRAVE: Stephen Small has it all – a Ferrari, fancy house, loving wife, and three boys. But the only thing he needs right now is enough air to breathe. Kidnapped, buried in a box, and held for ransom, Stephen has forty-eight hours of oxygen. The clock is ticking . . .

MURDER IN PARADISE: High in the Sierra Nevada mountains, developers Jim and Bonnie Hood excitedly tour Camp Nelson Lodge. They intend to buy and modernise this beautiful rustic property, but the locals don’t like rich outsiders changing their way of life. After a grisly shooting, everybody will discover just how you can make a killing in real estate . . .

My Review: I purchased this book at the library near my parents house in South Carolina for $1. I thought it was a pretty good deal, as James Patterson books are usually entertaining. Although this book was nonfiction / true crime, it had all the classic hallmarks of what make a James Patterson book a JP book. The prose was easy to read and the were stories engaging.

SPOILER ALERT:

Murder Beyond the Grave tells the story of Danny, a “reformed” drug dealer, who can’t handle the straight life. Where once he had cash to burn, he now has piles of bills with no way to pay them. One day he drives past the house of a rich man, Stephan Smalls. Stephan is living the good life. Family. Career. Nice house. Even a Ferrari in the driveway.

Danny is jealous. Worst of all, Danny sees the opportunity to make some cash. He hatches a plan to kidnap Stephan for ransom money.

Danny has a girlfriend. She knows he’s up to no good — but she stays quiet. She sees him building a wooden coffin. Still, she says nothing. Not to friends, family, the police. She never says anything when she picks up Danny in a remote location in the middle of the night. When Danny continues to act strangely for the following few days.

When Stephan is found dead, both Danny and his girlfriend are convicted of murder. This didn’t sit well with me.

Although this book read like fiction, this is a true story. I found it not only incredulous but absurd that Danny’s girlfriend was found guilty of murder simply for not telling the police Danny was “up to no good”. Put it simply, the jury did not believe that she didn’t know. Personally, I believe she had nothing to do with it. Yes she’s dating an ex-con, but that doesn’t make her a murderer. She seemed like a nice woman with a small child to care for. If her known drug dealer boyfriend was acting cagey, she probably thought he was dealing again. Why would she think he was kidnapping someone? And even if he was dealing again, did she have a legal OBLIGATION to turn him in? No. Does that make her an accomplice? I would argue also not.

I was really pissed off by her conviction and would have liked to hear more about why she was found guilty. For example, what persuaded the jury that she knew, and not only knew but PARTICIPATED? Isn’t it more likely that she just didn’t want to know what he was doing, so she didn’t ask questions? Is ignorance a crime? I guess, in her case, it was.

Murder in Paradise is the second story in the book about a woman who is shot and killed. Bonnie Hood is the owner of a lodge in the Sierra Nevada mountains. While renovating the place, she starts an affair with an employee. He was also shot but lived. The two had been sleeping together the night of the crime.

Speculation swirled — was it the husband? Did someone have a vendetta against Bonnie? Eventually, a suspect surfaced: Bruce Beauchamp, a construction worker of Bonnie’s husband, Jim. Without solid evidence, Bruce is acquitted but is later shot to death by Jim Hood. Jim claimed it was “self-defense,” but after a mistrial, Jim was convicted and sent to prison for 27 years.

This Jim guy sounds like a real “winner.” Not. Is it nice to be cheated on? Of course not, but that doesn’t make it all right to kill your wife and attempt to kill her lover. It also doesn’t make it okay to kill the guy you hired to do it…because, let’s be honest, that’s what he was doing, right? Jim was afraid that Bruce would implicate Jim in Bonnie’s murder, so he had to get rid of him. And that self-defense BS almost worked — there was a mistrial the first time around. He almost got away with it. Almost. I read online that this guy got out of jail in 2017. This totally blows my mind.

The woman in the first story goes to jail for life because of ignorance, and this guy killed 2 people and wounded another and gets out after 27 years? Ugh.

This is, of course, all speculation and my own opinion based on the limited facts presented in the book. I think, in general, I would have liked more facts and more details.

In conclusion: 1) this book is entertaining and at points, even thought provoking; 2) reads like a fiction book, although a nonfiction / true crime story; and 3) could use some extra facts and more about the trials.

Verdict: Fans of James Patterson will enjoy it.

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BOOK REVIEW: The 17th Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

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35212978Title: The 17th Suspect

Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Book Length (Audiobook): 7 hours 4 mins

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Thrillers, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Crime

Link: Goodreads

Brief Summary of the Plot: The 17th Suspect is the 17th installment in the Women’s Murder Club series by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. You don’t really need to read the other books in order to understand what is happening in this 17th book (the author gives a brief summary of the events relevant for the book, if necessary); however, I always like to read the books in order, but that is just me. Honestly, I am debating reading the books over in order to give a real review on them.

Generally, though, the Woman’s Murder Club is a group of women who are friends and get together to solve crimes. Per the James Patterson official website, the cast of characters is as follows:

Detective Lindsay Boxer: “a homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department. Lindsay is five foot ten. She was a sociology major and graduated from San Francisco State (to which she transferred from Berkeley when she found out that her mother had breast cancer). She loves beer and butterscotch praline ice cream. She has a border collie named Martha. She enjoys running, loves to read travel books and mysteries and her secret hobby is tai chi. Lindsay has been divorced once and is now married to long-time boyfriend Joseph Molinari. She has a younger sister named Cat and a father named Marty, who was also a member of the SFPD. Marty left Lindsay’s mother when Lindsay was 13.”

Cindy Thomas: “pretty, blonde and city cool. She’s a crime desk reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Cindy is a graduate of the University of Michigan where she was a sociology major. She loves yoga, jazz music and, like her friend Lindsay Boxer, loves to read travel books and mysteries—she’s even a member of a book club. She also has a tattoo, but unlike Lindsay, she has two small G-clefs on her shoulder.”

Claire Washburn, “Claire is black and heavyset; she always jokes, “I’m in shape… round’s a shape.” Claire is wise, confident, kind, and the Chief Medical Examiner for San Francisco. She is married to Edmund, a kettle drum-player in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Claire and Edmund have two teenage sons and a young daughter named Ruby Rose. Her tattoo: an outline of a butterfly just below her waist. She also goes by the nickname “Butterfly” and has it embroidered on her lab coat at work.”

Yuki Castellano: “an ambitious, young San Francisco district attorney who is passionate, brilliant, given to speaking at 90 miles per hour, and sometimes wears a magenta red streak in her glossy, black, shoulder-length hair. Her parents met at a graduate school mixer for foreign students and married within three weeks. Her mother is Japanese and her father Italian American. Yuki’s favorite drink, when out with the other members of the Club, is a Germain-Robin sidecar.” Yuki joins the Women’s Murder Club in book #5. She replaces another lawyer, Jill Bernhardt who was killed.

As with the other books, this book takes place in San Francisco and has two main cases. In the first story, a man is going around the city shooting homeless people, and Boxer has to investigate the murders (this story is more focused on the police side). The second case is about a man who has accused his boss of rape, and Yuki is prosecuting the woman for rape. It is a controversial case because usually women are not accused of raping men (this story is more focused on the legal side and the other girls are not really involved). Cindy and Claire only make cameo appearances in this book, as both stories are more focused on Lindsay and Yuki.

My Review: As with most of the James Patterson books, the writing is nothing special. Patterson’s books are classic beach reads. Quick and entertaining for a day at the beach. I read this book during the winter while running, but it kept me entertained, so that’s something. The stories remind me of Law and Order Episodes, as there are usually two stories, one focused on “the law”, and the other on “the order”. My feelings overall are rather ambivalent. As with most beach reads, the book isn’t meant to stir up any emotions, it is just there to entertain you.

The Audiobook Recording: Nothing to report.

Expectations/Recommendations: Since I have read many of Patterson’s books before, I knew what to expect, and I was not disappointed. I have to say though that the Patterson and Paetro collaboration is one of my favorite collaborations from Patterson. If you are looking for a quick read, and aren’t expecting anything intellectual, this is the right book for you.

 

BOOK REVIEW: The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

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Title: The President is Missing

Author: Bill Clinton and James Patterson

Book Length (Audiobook): 13 hours 5 mins

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Thrillers, Fiction

Link: Goodreads

Brief Summary of the Plot: US President John Lincoln Duncan has huge problems. When the book opens, he is rehearsing for an impeachment hearing (I guess Bill Clinton’s experience came in handy for these scenes). Duncan is being alleged both with negotiating with known terrorist Suliman Cindoruk, (the leader of a group called the Sons of Jihad), and then later calling off the assassination of Cindoruk. In addition to these personal troubles, the United States is facing an imminent threat from the Sons of Jihad, who plan to launch a devastating cyber attack (a.k.a. “Dark Ages”) against the United States.

Duncan becomes aware of this sinister plot against the United States when a woman with insider knowledge approaches Duncan’s daughter at school to deliver a message about Dark Ages. The message basically reveals that there is a mole in the White House (because no one outside of a few people knew of it). In an effort to save the day, the President doesn’t go “missing” as much as he goes incognito, disguising himself with the help of his deceased wife’s friend, who is conveniently a famous actress (doesn’t everyone have such a friend?). He isn’t missing because his secret service team figures out where he is going and follows him. Additionally, he remains in contact with various people in his cabinet.

As he remains in “undisclosed” locations, the cyber attacks on various locations begin, building up to the final event. Will President Duncan be able to foil the plot in time to save the country?

The Writing: As with most Patterson books, the writing has a “fun beach read” quality. I couldn’t really tell where Bill Clinton’s influence might have come in, except for the descriptions of the White House and some of the more political aspects. I felt it was written mostly by Patterson, but Bill Clinton was given a prominent by-line due to his famous status. It was clear that Bill Clinton wrote the last speech given by Duncan at the end of the book. Even though I have liberal leanings, the speech was a big turn off. Please don’t preach at me in my fiction book that I read for fun.

The Audiobook Recording: The Audiobook is read by several people, including Denis Quad (who plays the President). I find his impression of a Russian, Israeli and German to be flat-out hilarious. They do not even remotely sound correct (and I live in Austria and work with Austrians and Germans, so I know what I am talking about). The Israeli (woman) impression, sounds like a botched attempt at a Mel Brooks movie. Additionally, the classical music which was played during the assassin scenes was distracting, and often played over the words so it was actually hard to hear what was happening in the book.

Expectations: My expectations were met. Since I’ve read many Patterson books, I knew what to expect, and I knew what I was getting into.

Recommendation: Would I recommend this book? Sure, if you are looking for a book that is a fast, easy, and entertaining read. I usually read Patterson books on the beach, or on the plane. I read this book while running / walking, or doing chores around the house.