Rating: 
Summary: The Patterson Brand
Review: I have been troubled about this book ever since I read it. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong...until I read the May 14, 2002 Wall Street Journal. The book itself is an enjoyable piece of fluff, quite unlike the dark steamy thrillers of Michael Connelly, a true master.My discomfort about Patterson and his "co-author" Andrew Gross seems to have been well-founded. As Gross told the WSJ, "I don't want to go into what I do, but we both add value." Added value is not a literary term; it is the language of business, of marketing, of advertising. And it should sound like it, since it turns out Patterson is the former CEO of J. Walter Thompson USA, one of the largest ad agencies in the world. This book, and by implication the inchoate series of which it is a part, exist to sell more books on the West Coast, according to the Journal. Other audience grabbers that do not add at lot of value to the plot is the continuation of "The Women's Murder Club." This sounds like some Nancy Drew type grown ups playing detective, not the improbable convergence of female cop, prosecutor, reporter and coroner. None if this seems to trouble Patterson, who expressly likens his books to cereal brands. As he told the Journal, "The key to a brand is trust...The trust is that I will deliver a very commercial book that you won't find disappointing." Well Jim, Andrew, whoever, I am disappointed. And I feel a bit used.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: The book read smoothly and quickly for me. Although, I found myself turning page after page there were a few annoying aspects about the chartacter Lindsey. Patterson set her out to be a hard nose detective ... that was always wearing pumps? I have to admit that Patterson was able to get the "real" killer past me which at least made the book enjoyable for me. It appeared Patterson was trying to hard to make a "womans point of view" book from a man's point of view. It seemed that he added every "woman" thing he could think of to make it appealable ... for example, the obvious pregnancy problems. And what's with woman meeting for a beer ... like men? I know woman drink Corona but there was something to macho about how he set the scene ... over and over. The book was not consistant with woman I know. I have friends that are officers both male and female. I really think he needs to improve his potrail women detectives. I hope if there is a third in this series, Patterson will develop his chartacters a little more.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written mystery
Review: James Patterson and Andrew Gross have produced a winner in "Second Chance", part of the Women's Murder Club series. In this installment, the 4 women crimesolvers are puzzled and appalled at the shooting of a young black girl in her church. Soon police lieutenant Lindsay Boxer begins connecting this killing with others which have occurred and which follow a particular pattern. She and her 3 cohorts begin to track down the killer, while dodging a few bullets themselves. In addition to the mystery of the murders, the book details a budding romance, a miscarriage and a reunion with a long-missing father for different members of the group. This book hits all the right notes and keeps the reader guessing until Patterson and Gross choose to reveal the identity of the murderer.
Rating:
Summary: 2nd Chance
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed First to Die but this second book in the Women's Murder Club series was even better. I had tremendous empathy for the characters and experienced a great deal of anticipation about what was to happen. He had me hooked from the first few minutes. I have enjoyed all of Patterson's books but this one really was a "thriller"
Rating:
Summary: Second Chance
Review: A Second Chance was an excellent book. It is one that would make you want to stay home on a Saturday night and read. It was a god book that you could read over and over again. It is one that you could never put down. I would highly recommned this to book to anyone of any age. Detective Lindsay Boxer must track down a serial killer that is keeping the city of San Fransico in a state of terror. Lindsay must use everything she has to track down this ruthless killer before he strikes again. Everytime the killer strikes he strikes closer and closer to somene who is very important to her. This book is a page turner that anyone of any age could enjoy. It would make a great gift for that special someone who is extremely hardto shop for. I would read this book over and over again until I got sick of it.
Rating:
Summary: OK reading
Review: After reading 1st to die and loving it i couldn't wait to get my hands on second chance. It doesn't have as many twists and turns as the first one but is right up there. I read this book in one day and that is the first time ive ever done that. I felt that the plot was kinda not there or something, i don't really know. I hope his next one is better imho.
Rating:
Summary: Getting better
Review: A vast improvement on 1st to Die, I couldn't put it down, we are slowly getting to know the characters, building snippet by snippet, yes I guessed "who done it" but it didn't matter, looking forward to "3rd to ??????".
Rating:
Summary: Again
Review: I thought James Patterson was losing his touch especially with Violets Are Blue and I continued to think that through the first half of the book, due to its more sentimental and less thriller attitude but then the suspense resumed in the second half to combine the sentimental aspects of the book with a show-stopping ending. The ending was one of the best in the series. I don't know why but this book felt like it was a screenplay and could make a very good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: One of his Worst!
Review: I cannot believe he wrote this book! If I could give it less than one star I would. The chapters are one and two pages long with dialogue that is predictable and stilted. There is no real plot line. It did finally interest me about twenty pages from the end, but even the ending leaves you wondering how the killer developed his hatred. Save your money!!
Rating:
Summary: Not worth my time
Review: I was so disappointed with this book for so many reasons. After reading 1st to Die, I was hopeful that perhaps James Patterson could fill out his characters and improve his story the second time around. No such luck. First, as a woman, I was highly irritated with Patterson's one-sided characters and flat dialogue. These ladies simply do not sound like real women sitting around together; rather, they sound the way men probably THINK women talk. I don't really feel as if I know these women at all, and I really don't see how they can possibly know each other very well either, based on their conversations. At one point, Lindsey makes a very irritating assumption about Jill's husband, even though Patterson has not established anything about him as a character, and I can't recall any time in either book where she and Jill have talked about him. I was also incredibly frustrated with Lindsey's weak character; Patterson tries to make her hard-nosed and tough, but someone is constantly having to bail her out of poor decisions. A perfect example of this is the scene (mentioned by several others) where she goes sneaking after a whole crew of bad guys with no backup, no cell phone, etc. There were also several instances where I kept thinking that *I* was a better detective than Lindsey. The killer's phone number shows up on Claire's caller ID, yet nobody thinks to check it out. Aaron spots a glimpse of the killer in a mirror, yet nobody asks him to describe the person. And worst of all, I knew the killer's true identity immediately after Lindsey interviewed him. Finally, I was somewhat put off personally by the character of Aaron. As the wife of a minister, I know that it's nearly *impossible* to please everyone, and yet somehow Aaron manages to pull it off. It's nice to see Patterson treating a minister's character with a bit of respect, but Aaron never mentions anything about his faith, even in a sermon delivered at a memorial service. I would have been so impressed if Patterson had really done his homework here and created a more three-dimensional character. Overall, Patterson really blew his 2nd chance to create a real winner of a series.
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