Audiobook Review: 4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Book 4 in the Women's Murder Club Series

Unabridged, 8 hr.

Hachette Audio

Carolyn McCormick (Narrator)

February 5, 2005
★★★★☆

Genre: Mystery/Thriiller

Source: Borrowed from Library

"In a deadly late-night showdown, San Francisco police lieutenant Lindsay Boxer fires her weapon and sets off a dramatic chain of events that leaves a police force disgraced, a family destroyed, and Lindsay herself at the mercy of twelve jurors. During a break in the trial, she retreats to a picturesque town that is reeling from a string of grisly murders-crimes that bear a link to a haunting, unsolved case from her rookie years.Now, with her friends in the Women's Murder Club, Lindsay must battle for her life on two fronts: in a trial rushing to a climax, and against an unknown adversary willing to do anything to hide the truth about the homicides-including kill again?"

Detective Lindsay Boxer is in for the fight of her life. A seemingly routine police chase ends up with her and her partner shot and two kids critically injured. She now must face the trial and hope that her actions don’t come back to haunt her. While waiting for her trial, Lindsay goes to visit her sister and gets caught up in a local case that sounds very similar to one she had worked on in the past.

I quickly got sucked into the court trial, looking at how different aspects could be perceived for the benefit of both the prosecution and defense. While I was sure I knew what the outcome of the trial would be, there was such suspense that I wasn’t totally sure. I also NEVER saw the resolution of the local case that she worked while awaiting her trial.

One thing that bothered me was that these two stories seemed to run parallel to each other but not integrate together well. Only one story was focused on at a time and by the time we got back to the local case I had forgotten what had happened when it was last discussed. I enjoyed both of the stories, but I think they would have been better off on their own.

I also am not sure how I feel about the newest addition to the Women’s Murder Club. I guess I will have to see how well she is integrated in the next book.

★★★★★

The only comment that I am going to make on the audio - thank God for Carolyn McCormick. I did not enjoy the narration of the first two quite as much. So glad she is on this one.

You can listen to a short segment of the audiobook (links to Audible)

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Fervent Reader
• A Little Home...Amidst the Chaos

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by James Patterson:

James Patterson has penned many mystery/thriller novels, the other books in the Women's Murder Club series include:

1st to Die
[My Review]

2nd Chance
[My Review]

3rd Degree
[My Review]

5th Horseman

6th Target

7th Heaven

8th Confession

 

9th Judgment

10th Anniversary

11th Hour

12th of Never

 

Unlucky 13

14th Deadly Sin

15th Affair

(Releasing Feb 2016)

Find James Patterson: Website | Facebook |Twitter|Pinterest | Instagram

Copyright © 2009 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: 3rd Degree by James Patterson

3rd Degree by James Patterson and Andrew Gross
Book 3 in the Women's Murder Club Series
Unabridged, 6 hr. 30 min
Hachette Audio
Carolyn McCormick (Narrator)
May 8, 2007
★★★★☆

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Audiobook

Source: Personal Collection

"The Women's Murder Club returns in a shockingly suspenseful thriller. Plunging into a burning town house, Detective Lindsay Boxer discovers three dead bodies...and a mysterious message at the scene. When more corpses turn up, Lindsay asks her friends Claire Washburn of the medical examiner's office, Assistant D.A. Jill Bernhardt, and San Francisco Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas to help her find a murderer who vows to kill every three days. Even more terrifying, he has targeted one of the four friends. Which one will it be?"

Lt. Lindsay Boxer has faced the Bride and Groom Killer as well as Chimera so far on the job but when terrorists strike San Francisco it is a whole different ball game! The terrorists are demanding action for crimes against humanity by the political and economic head honchos of the global community. People start dropping like flies, about every 3 days – and one of these deaths hits close to home for the Women’s Murder Club! Lindsay and the girls take the case and chase after the man in the wind known as August Spies. Will they stop whoever is doing this before the whole city come tumbling down?

I feel that this book takes a little bit more of an in-depth look at the lives of the ladies in the Women’s Murder Club. You find out more of the back story for Claire and Jill especially. I also am pleased that small events and story lines from the first two books haven’t been forgotten like sometimes happens in series. The characters still continue to grow and develop. Even though this series is told from the view of Lindsay Boxer it is nice to get to learn more about the other ladies and find out what makes them who they are and how they can do their jobs.

I would rank this book in 2nd place overall for the first three books in the series (my ranking: 1st to Die, 3rd Degree, and then 2nd Chance). I really enjoyed how the mystery was resolved. I think it also shows how easily people can be manipulated for a cause.

I am already halfway through 4th of July and enjoying it even more than I did this one. This series is definitely growing on me!

★★★★ ½☆

I also really like the narrator, Carolyn McCormick – so far this is the third narrator for this audio book series, but it looks like she is the narrator for all of the ones that are out so far after this one. She has a voice that won’t put you to sleep and keeps you interested – great for when you are driving because I have found some that could easily induce a coma.

You can preview a short selection from the audiobook (links to Audible)

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Fervent Reader
• Reading the Evidence

Buy the Book:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by James Patterson:

James Patterson has penned many mystery/thriller novels, the other books in the Women's Murder Club series include:

1st to Die
[My Review]

2nd Chance
[My Review]

4th of July
[My Review]

5th Horseman

6th Target

7th Heaven

8th Confession

9th Judgment

10th Anniversary

11th Hour

12th of Never

Unlucky 13

14th Deadly Sin

15th Affair
(Releasing Feb 2016)

Find James Patterson: Website | Facebook | Twitter|Pinterest | Instagram

 

Copyright © 2009 by The Maiden’s Court

Women's Murder Club Reading Challenge

I am so excited to be taking part in the Women's Murder Club Reading Challenge - hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews. This is the perfect challege for me right now. As you may know I read 1st to Die and 2nd Chance earlier this summer after having them on my TBR pile forever. Also having started my job and having an hour commute each way I have taken up an interest in audiobooks. So I will probably be listening to these on audiobook.

Here are the rules...

1. All books need to be read between August 15, 2009 and August 15, 2010. That's a year to complete whatever books you haven't read in this series. Books read prior to August 15th don't count for this challenge.

2. If you want to participate, just post about it on your blog with a link back to Socrates' Book Reviews. Make sure you list the books you need to read.

3. Audio and Ebooks are acceptable. You can also use these books for other challenges.

Here are the books I have left to read:

3rd Degree - Complete 11/10/09
4th of July - Complete 11/17/09
5th Horseman - Complete 8/3/10
6th Target - Complete 8/6/10
7th Heaven - Complete 8/13/10
8th Confession
9th Judgement

As I read them I will update this blog.




Copyright © 2009-2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: 2nd Chance by James Patterson

2nd Chance by James Patterson with Andrew Gross
Book 2 in the Women's Murder Club Series

Unabridged, 8 hrs.

Hachette Audio

Melissa Leo, Jeremy Piven (Narrators)

March 1, 2002

★★★★ ½☆

 

 

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

 

Source: Personal Collection

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.

This is my second read in this series in the last month. I am very happy to be reading these on audio book; I think that hearing these stories is more effective than reading them myself.

Lindsay and her 3 best girl friends are back on the case again. Lindsay has been promoted to the position of Lieutenant after the success of the last murder case. This time a string of murders are occurring that appear to be racially motivated and by someone with amazing aim with a firearm. As with all major murder cases a nickname is given to the killer – Chimera – from the symbol that is left behind at the scene as a calling card. While Lindsay is wrapped up in this case her father walks back into the picture – after being gone for 20 years…

I enjoyed this book just as much as the first one. It surged ahead at a great speed and changed direction a million times. I wish I could jump right into the next one – but I think I’m going to have to get it through interlibrary loan, which will take a little time.

★★★★ ½☆

Two well-known actors were the narrators of this audio book – Melissa Leo narrated the main part of the novel (about the girls and investigation) and Jeremy Piven narrated the parts from the perspective of the murderer. It was effective to have the different parts narrated by different people, different genders, because it helped to differentiate between the stories. Both people did a great job.

You can listen to a short sample from the audiobook (links to Audible)

Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by James Patterson:
James Patterson has penned many mystery/thriller novels, the other books in the Women's Murder Club series include:
 

1st to Die [My Review]


3rd Degree [My Review]


4th of July [My Review]


5th Horseman


6th Target


7th Heaven


8th Confession


9th Judgment


10th Anniversary


11th Hour


12 of Never


Unlucky 13


14th Deadly Sin
(To be released in May 2015)

Find James Patterson: Website | Facebook | Twitter |Pinterest | Instagram

Copyright © 2009 by The Maiden’s Court