Don't Pay Full Price For This Chance
2nd Chance by James Patterson
James Patterson knows how to write an entertaining whodunit that keeps you guessing until the end. James Patterson doesn't know jack about how women actually think, feel and behave. Combine his whodunit ability with a near laughable perspective on the inside of women's heads and you have 2nd Chance.2nd Chance is Patterson's second chance to get his female characters right. His first chance was in the first book of the "Women's Murder Club" series, 1st to Die. Both books kept my feelings mixed the entire time I was making my way through the pages... I couldn't stop turning the pages... I wanted to know what happened next.....and then at least once a chapter, I'd hit a plot or dialogue spot ringing so female-false, I'd start to throw the book across the room...and then....I'd keep turning the pages....needing to know whodunit. Kinda like crack. You know this stuff isn't good for you, but you just can't stop.
Meet The Women's Murder Club
Our heroine, and first person voice, is San Francisco P.D. detective Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer. She's Tough as Nails on the outside, a rebel, a rule breaker, and Soft Hearted on the inside. (Think Kinsey Malone, only Tougher and Softer.)Her gal pals are San Francisco Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas, Assistant District Attorney Jill Bernhardt, and medical examiner Claire Washburn. They meet over big glasses of wine and earfuls of gossip, combining forces to do what none of the men around them can do - solve big murder cases. The men get it wrong; they get it right.
While the set up of the Women's Murder Club is contrived, that's not really a flaw in this genre' -- most detective/thriller series feel a bit contrived on some level. Alex Cross, Patterson's famous series hero, is a widower who lost his young wife to a drive-by shooting, haunted by the case forever unsolved. Conceiving a Women's Murder Club is not more contrived than creating a Batman-like hero who calls himself the "Dragonslayer" and volunteers in soup kitchens in his spare time.
The flaws in the Women's Murder Club, in my eyes, stand out boldly when the "girls" get together. The female subplots border on the absurd, or even insulting. In this book, the ADA, Jill Bernardt, carries a subplot where she gets punished by the gods of fertility for working too much and too hard and too long. I saw red when the final fertility blow came crashing down on her in blood and tears and regret. I threw the book clear across the room, cursing transparent male stereotypes of women of my generation....only to pick the book up a few minutes later, so I could continue to turn the pages and find out whodunit.
The Plot
The plot is a twister. Sensationally brutal murders are rocking San Francisco. Looking at the surface, they appear unrelated, but from the outset of her involvement, our heroine Lindsay knows that there must be some way to connect the dots.Once the dots start to connect, the layers begin to appear. There's nothing I love more than a good detective thriller with layers, except one with dots, and twists and layers. Patterson has them all here, including an ending twist that is unexpected, although somewhat forced (if I wanted to quibble, which I don't).
The murders appear unrelated. Then they appear racially motivated. Then they appear to be connected in another manner entirely. Then the villain is identified.or is he? At some point, it all becomes personal, and each of the women in the club has to fear for her life as the true villain puts his sights on her. When all is finally revealed, the last page turned is indeed satisfying.
Don't Pay Full Price For This Book
2nd Chance makes for lightening fast, quick, page turning reading, (especially fast when you skip through the annoying subplots).While the book is technically 416 pages, it is full of two and three page chapters, and tons of white space. There can be no more than 250 pages of actual plot-intensive reading here. It was a one shot read for me, taking no more than a few hours to get from start to finish, even allowing for the times I put the book down in order to roll my eyes or ponder what's become of the talk of male enlightenment.
All that said, this is still a nice summer read. Borrow 2nd Chance from a friend, buy a cheap copy from eBay, check out the library copy, and you won't feel cheated. My husband bought 2nd Chance hardcover on release. After both of us have read it, we figure Patterson owes us about $15 change.
2nd Chance is worth the minor time investment. It's not worth the money. Suggestion for Mr. Patterson: You've added an associate writer to the cover credits of 2nd Chance. I'm sure Andrew Gross is a fine person and an excellent writer, but you and the gals would be better served to seek out a female associate writer for the 3rd Opportunity. Give Lindsay and her friends a chance to breathe life.
