Season of the Machete

by James Patterson

From the bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author James Patterson comes a classic thriller.

Cool and glamorous, they could be a successful couple on a holiday. But Damian and Carrie Rose are psychopathic murderers for hire. Their new venue is a picture-perfect vacation island. Their adversary will be Peter Macdonald, the dashing young American who forsakes a life of leisure for a confrontation with cold-blooded terror. And risks everything only to discover that he alone suspects the hideous truth about the...Season of the Machete.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Ebooks

341 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 12, 1977

About the author

Official US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Brett Tompkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simply dreadful. I read a bunch of reviews on this book and none of them were very good, so I can't say I wasn't warned. But like so many others, I am a completist, and I can't read all of Patterson's books without reading the bad ones as well. I don't know exactly why this book was so bad; it was just boring. There were times when I had read 20 pages and could not remember a single word, but I had planned out my entire evening. The character development was almost non-existent. About 150 pages into the book I was asking myself, "who the hell is Peter?!" Turns out he was one of the main characters.
This is the third of Patterson's first books that I have read, and two out of the three were terrible. The other one was re-released 10 years later so maybe it was revised to make it good? I'm beginning to wonder whether it was experience that made his novels better, or when he started letting other authors write for him? I'm sure glad I only paid a quarter for this book at the library book sale. On the good side, I've got this one out of the way and I can now say I've read it.

[Kris · Rating 1 out of 5]

My least favorite Patterson book.

[Holly]

This is another JP novel that I did not enjoy. It had a similar style to the Thomas Berryman Number, that I didn't like, and I wasn't impressed as I began. Again, I was going to make myself finish it and then I realized how silly that was. It was a library book, so I had no money invested. Reading is supposed to be fun - why torture myself??? So, I stopped. Anyway...wouldn't recommend it, but that's just me.

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Characters weren't really fleshed out but I still found myself rooting for one character and wanted him to survive so badly. This was a thriller so I was fine with these kind of characters.

I love isolated settings so much!! This wasn't an exception. This had a nice thrilling atmosphere.

This was quite complex but I still enjoyed how several twists surprised me or someone was douple-crossed.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all Patterson stories, this audiobook was tightly written and well plotted. It wove a tale of CIA involvement in a tumultuous and volatile tiny Caribbean/ Latin American island country, San Dominico. The writer weaves a picture of greedy Capitalists versus native socialist fervor- spawned by a local warlord... but is it? The CIA had hired a rogue assassin husband and wife team (The Roses) to stir up a revolution. Our hero attempts to stop the killing and the killers. I won't go further- so I won't spoil it for you- but there are plenty of twists, turns and "oh my goodness" moments leading into the conclusion. As in nearly every Patterson novel the ending seemingly rewards the villain and leaves a foggy and nebulous feeling at the conclusion. I guess he figures you can just think what you will as the curtain closes.

As always vivid descriptions and tight writing are as expected as is the rather shallow character development of nearly every character- even the protagonist. His novels seem to be getting formulaic and predictable.

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this audio book for $1 on clearance, and never having been much into James Patterson, figured I'd give this one a try. Plus, it's narrated by Lou Diamond Phillips! I went into this one blind, not reading the back, or doing any research before popping in the first disc.

Incredible. Ab-so-lute-ly INCREDIBLE. This was the worst writing I've ever been witness to. I have described it to my friends as an 8th graders creative writing homework assignment, but really, I think an 8th grader would have done better. It was as if someone said "Hey, uh, James.. this is pretty boring, you really need to spruce this up with some adjectives or something.." So, James found a thesaurus and WENT. TO. TOWN. I only wish I had a paper copy so that I could give you an example verbatim. This paraphrased sentence will have to suffice: The tall, young, blonde guy got out of bed, took a fast shower, then dressed in a maroon Razorbacks sweatshirt, bell-bottom jeans, and blue and white sneakers. Other times the overdone adjectives went on and on about something COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO THE STORY, like this one: The hotel maid dropped off his room service dinner, while wearing a crisply ironed uniform and a shiny bracelet given to her by her dead grandmother's first husband. Or how about the line describing the people around town with faces the color of pretzel sticks. WTF.

After only 10 minutes of listening, I contemplated ejecting the disc not only from my CD player, but right out my car window as well. And then LDP started in with the sound effects. He actually ca-cawed like a seagull, and sliced like a machete, and pew-pew-pewed like a BB gun. I give him mad props for going all out, and I decided to carry on, just to see how bad this whole thing could get.

I saw a movie once about a murderous tire. That little gem at least had a plot that made sense. One solo star for Lou Diamond Phillips.

[Christine F. Dargon · Rating 1 out of 5]

My last James Patterson book. I usually really enjoy his books hence why I have read so many. this book was awful and torture to get through. I wanted to be intrigued by the psychopaths. instead all of the characters were boring and lacked life. it isn't that they weren't real it is that we learn nothing about them so we don't care.

[Corbie Mumford · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read several James Patterson books. this one was definitely in the bottom 3. I thought it was boring. The characters were very bland.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

So racially insensitive it was hard to read.

[Vikas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The initial few books by Mr. Patterson weren't that good and probably this opinion is due to the fact that I read it in 2019 and these were written way back but other reviews tend to agree. It looks like the actual good books started since Mr. Patterson found Alex.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

better than the last
some technical research shines through

my copy has got a fair number of ocr errors

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The island of San Dominica, a popular Caribbean tourist destination, is thrown into chaos when a series of brutal slaying on the beaches start to take place. Each victim is brutally murdered and slashed by machetes.

A mafia family with the hopes of adding some excitement to the island have hired Damian and Carrie Rose to commit the murders. Each is designed to look like the work of local rebels hoping to overthrow to government. The use of the machetes is supposed to help that image.

What has made the crimes so difficult solve is the total lack of witnesses. This changes quickly with an American hotel worker whose girlfriend becomes a victim is able to identify some important identifying details that will help tie the crimes to Damian.

As the story progresses the rate of the murders increase, even bringing some examples to the American mainland. This quick-tale is typical Patterson when it comes to writing style, but there is no strong narrator that helps tie the plot together. Instead, the reader is rushed from one murder to the next from the perspective of each victim, with the events tied together with a mysterious series of journal entries about the times. As a result, it is hard to really build a connection with anyone.

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, James and Patterson fans but this story was awful. Long and tedious, gruesome crimes that I doubt could progress and continue for so long.

I listened to it on MP3 and the narration by Lou Diamond Phillips was excellent--no problem there. He was great with character accents and personalities and his regular voice is quite pleasant to hear.

I guess this is an oldie but goodie but not for me.

[Heather Weihberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book Ever!

[Susan Kilbride · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my bag

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't really care for this book...

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

First James Patterson. Last James Patterson.

[Donald Peschken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe this book was Patterson's 2nd novel and it was better than his first which I didn't enjoy at all. This is a story about a couple who are brutal murderers who kill at a rapid pace on a Caribbean island. Good plot and fast moving but writing not yet up to Patterson's usual thrillers.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

AUDIBLE BOOK
Couple on vacation , but they are vicious murderers

[Tyson Rauch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just, alright. I had a tough time getting into it. It was a solid 3 the whole way through. Definitely written for the 70's with references I just didn't get.

[Shawnté Salabert]

Ridiculous vacation book #3 😐😐😐

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first James Patterson book, I can't say I was impressed with it however. It was not horribly bad, I did give it a 4 star rating after all and that is only because of the last hundred pages or so. Towards the end of the book the excitement picked up a whole lot and that's the only reason it has a 4 star rating. All the way through the book I was thinking that this is going to be a 3 star book but I like I said the ending changed that. I have heard great things about Patterson, I've heard that he's a great writer; but I'm not really sold on that idea of him being that great. Granted yes this is only his second novel he wrote, but it wasn't so bad that I wouldn't give him another shot if I ever got a hold of another one of his books. My grandmother is a huge fan of him so I would like to like him but I'm just not sure. I may get a hold of another one of his book one day and try him out again but that would be only if someone gave me the book to read I wouldn't go out and buy one.


The writing style in this book wasn't to my liking all that much. It could have used a little bit more detail and it jumped around a lot. I like to be able to picture what I'm reading and I was not able to do that very well with this book. It was a grainy photo for me. And on top of that I found two or three grammar errors in the book and that just throw me off a little bit.

[Ginger · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had this book picked for me for a challenge. I love this author and this book has been on my TBR and Kindle for way too long. I also was excited because I could use this for 2 more challenges. Those are the positive things.
One can tell this is among James Patterson's first books, it just didn't have the punch he is so known for. Way too many characters to keep track of, editing issues, not to mention far more violence than necessary. Far, far below his standard of writing. I'll put it this way, if I had read this before I read any of his other books, I never would've picked up another book by him.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is hard to believe that a crime/thriller writter like Patterson turned out this book. A choppy writing style, back and forth snippits, and predictable plot twists made this a book that was almost painful to get through. The last third did pick up a bit, which helped (at least enough for me to plow through and finish). I did like the ending, but despite being left open for a potential sequel, it looks like Mr. Patterson (thankfully) has not opted to write. With the proper writer and director, it may not be a bad movie however. But I'm sure Hollywood would just turn it into another lame slasher film.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good James Patterson book. However, there is a about 5 pages before the prologue in this book. Most of the chapters are dated in this book to keep a timeline going. This section is also dated, but a year after the rest of the book. What happens in this first part contradicts things that happen later in the book. And since I obviously read that part first, it confused me later. I am hoping it was a typo on the date.

[Sharon Bowen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like most of James Patterson's books, but this one was definitely not a favorite. I very rarely stop reading a book part way through, but I couldn't stomach this one past about 30%. The brutal murders were senseless and the story never seemed to connect or have any real point. I have better things to do with my time than to fill my mind with this kind of novel. I do know that this was one of his early books and he has most certainly improved over the years.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing book! Mafia wanted to open casinos on Caribbean island and were told no. They met and hired two killers (Damian and Carrie Rose) for $1.2 M to unleash terror on the island. There were supposed to be no witnesses to their brutal murders but Damian had been seen. He doesn't go after Peter MacDonald, the witness, but kills his girlfriend and Peter swears to kill him.

[E Fialla]

Is not up to the quality of his writing. Grammar not correct, spelling poor, definitely not proof read before release or not proofed by a native speaker. Very disappointed, as I look forward to reading his works.

[Kandice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This seemed a lot meatier than his usual offering, but was still a super-quick read!

[Desislava · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not of my likings. Actually found it boring and eventually started reading between the lines.