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1st to Die (Women's Murder Club, #1)
by James Patterson (Goodreads Author)
by James Patterson (Goodreads Author)
Zach's review
bookshelves: stupid-books
Jan 16, 08
bookshelves: stupid-books
Recommended to Zach by:
my mom
Recommended for:
almost nobody
Read in January, 2008
How in the world is he a best-selling author? His characters are shallow, his writing is mediocre, and when he writes about romance it feels mechanical and formulaic. This book had a twist at the end, but it was the worst sort of twist - the kind that you can't really predict because he probably didn't think to add it until after the book was already written - leaving out any traces of foreshadowing. I haven't read any of his other books and don't plan to now. When you have as little time for leisure reading as I do, you waste as little time as possible reading crap.
Also, he uses too much vulgarity and too much sex. It isn't even romantic sex, it's cheap.
I recommend this book only to people who have already read every other book in the world and would rather read something they haven't read then reread a good book.
Also, he uses too much vulgarity and too much sex. It isn't even romantic sex, it's cheap.
I recommend this book only to people who have already read every other book in the world and would rather read something they haven't read then reread a good book.
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Comments (showing 1-19 of 19) (19 new)
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Peter
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rated it 5 stars
Jan 28, 2008 07:36am
You ought to be shot in the head By Linsay Boxer.
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Yeah, I can't figure out how this guy sells so many books. Poorly executed. I could have taken that story and made it so much better-- and I'm not even a professional writer.
Other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe, who writes literate mystery/crime books? I'm not a great fan of Patterson's but it seems that if you want cheap, fast entertainment and don't care too much about intelligent reads . . . he's good for a distraction. That's about it.
Everything you mentioned in your review is pretty standard for Patterson books. There's always a twist at the end that had almost no foreshadowing at all. There's always cheap, inappropriate, awkward sex scenes (this book actually was pretty mild as far as that is concerned.) He doesn't write women well.
His writing style is horrid and I bet he doesn't even wright half the books that have his name on it. I agree with you
I too was disappointed by this book. The characters did seem poorly developed and there relationships were awkward. I'm going to try more in this series and in others to see if things get any better.
I agree, he has a stable of writters that are able to crank this junk out in quick writting sessions. And then he heads to the bank$$$$$$$$
The books are accessible and don't require much investment. And he puts them out on a consistent basis. That is really attractive to a lot of readers.
This is my first Patterson book, so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. If you like this type of book, but want to check out a better author, look at Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series.
I was caught up in this mystery, and read several more of the series. Having read them, I'm inclined to agree with Zach. The formula wears thin.
Aiken314 wrote: "Other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe, who writes literate mystery/crime books? I'm not a great fan of Patterson's but it seems that if you want cheap, fast entertainment and don't..."Lawrence Block and Walter Mosley, all day every day. Those guys are talented writers who happen to have a passion for the mystery genre. They are both consistently productive and actually write their own books.
I tried :Along Came a Spider" and thought how can a white middle-aged writer --write about a young black detective. I gave up 10 pages in, because I thought it was stupid!! Thanks for the heads-up on this one!!!
One of the best reasons to read is to escape, sometimes you want to go somewhere intellectual, and sometimes you want something light. There's nothing wrong with easy beach reads like this, just depends on your mood. Lighten up.
