Rating: 
Summary: There is a sniper loose....
Review: Beginning with the shooting ... of 11 year old Tasha Catchings in Bay View, California, this book captures your imagination. It is up to Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer to investigate, and hopefully find the murderer. Three days later the body of an elderly black woman is found, and then more victims, as though the perpetrator wants to be caught. Each time Lindsay becomes one step closer to the perpetrator, she then falls two steps back. Eventually, it becomes personal, as the sniper hits Lindsay and, luckily, misses. With Chief Mercer screaming for a suspect, the pressure on Lindsay mounts. Lindsay is on a mission that will make or break her career, or maybe even her life. A fascinating, adventure filled book.
Rating:
Summary: There is a sniper loose....
Review: Beginning with the shooting death of 11 year old Tasha Catchings in Bay View, California, this book captures your imagination. It is up to Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer to investigate, and hopefully find the murderer. Three days later the body of an elderly black woman is found, and then more victims, as though the perpetrator wants to be caught. Each time Lindsay becomes one step closer to the perpetrator, she then falls two steps back. Eventually, it becomes personal, as the sniper hits Lindsay and, luckily, misses. With Chief Mercer screaming for a suspect, the pressure on Lindsay mounts. Lindsay is on a mission that will make or break her career, or maybe even her life. A fascinating, adventure filled book.
Rating: 
Summary: Formulaic Police Procedural...but readable
Review: James Patterson has come up with a saleable new series starring a group of female protagonists. He's a good formulaic writer and this book is up to the usual standards of his best selling books. Lindsay Boxer, newly promoted from her rank in the first book of the series, is called to the scene of a church shooting where a child has been killed. It is the beginning of multiple murders that are difficult to string together as the subjects of a serial killer. It is only with the help of the Woman's Murder Club that Lindsay is allerted to the fact that several apparently unrelated deaths have the same perpetrator. Character development is focused more on the members of the Club rather than on the antagonist - - that's standard for this genre. Plot development is contingent on the interactions of the members of the club with a few character insites for club members thrown in. All in all, a police procedural that is light and entertaining. And that's what you read James Patterson for.
Rating: 
Summary: Second Series - Another Great Series
Review: I never thought James Patterson could write in a woman's voice, but he done so with Second Chance and succeeded. Second Chance is the second book in his series, Women's Murder Club. There is a big difference between this series and the Alex Cross series. But with Patterson's mastery of writing it another great series in its right. Lindsay Boxer is back, albeit somewhat bitter and disillusioned, but with the onset of what looks to be a new serial murder spree, she is ready, along with the rest of her cohorts, to find out who is murdering African Americans with contacts to her own police department. The chapters are short but pithy, each leaving you with a desire to read the next, and the next, and so on. It is a great book for Mr. Patterson, and I am looking forward to the next one in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful!
Review: Typically not a fan of Patterson writing as a woman, but I liked "1st to Die" so I wanted to read this right away. It was definitely a page turner. I liked the characters in the Women's Murder Club more in this book, they had more depth this time. All in all, worth a read!
Rating:
Summary: Fun and Inane
Review: Can't help myself -- I like Lindsay Boxer and the fast-moving plot. The conversations between the 4 women are either sickeningly cloying, too masculine or just plain ridiculous. I agree with the reviwer who said the characters were obviously written from a man's point of view. I just skip the contrived woman stuff and enjoy the mystery.
Rating:
Summary: The Women's Murder Club Battles a Serial Killer
Review: In 1st To Die, James Patterson introduced us to the Women's Murder Club - Lindsay, a San Francisco detective; Claire, a medical examiner; Jill, an assistant district attorney; and Cindy, a Chronicle reporter. Their combined skills caused the capture of a serial killer. In 2nd Chance, we meet the same women, but Patterson happily develops their characters considerably, and it adds much to the story. Again, we have a serial killer, but it takes time before we see a connection between the murders. We also have a more dangerous killer. When Lindsay and her friends get too close, the still-unknown killer turns like a rattlesnake and pursues them. This cranks up the intensity rapidly to a knockout climax. As usual, Patterson uses very short chapters - no more than scenes with a kicker at the end of each - to keep the action moving fast. If you like thrillers, it should keep you turning the pages.
Rating: 
Summary: TO TELL THE TRUTH
Review: I have enjoyed many of James Patterson's previous works, most notably, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. James is quoted as saying, "The Thomas Berryman Affair (which I have not read) represents his best writing thus far .... but the prose (apparently the colorful writing in that manuscript) got in the way of the story." I beg to differ. With 1st to Die and 2nd Chance, James whom I do respect, has gone too far, stripping the words of their more colorful friends. After reading eighty pages of 2nd Chance, I put it down. My senses of smell, touch, taste and hearing had been so overlooked as to become "sensory underloaded." My recommendation is that James get back to his roots. Today, I can hear the hissing sound as his later novels leak their needed atmosphere into the ozone, taking on the thin and uninvolving presence of comic books. What amazes me, is that the professional reviewers continue to give good marks, when clearly the hard working gentleman needs a wake up call. Respectfully,
WHD
Rating: 
Summary: Threadbare and cloying
Review: After a month spent reading all of John Sandford's "Prey" novels,
I found the plot and dialogue of 2nd Chance threadbare and I
hungered for something more substantial. I was also annoyed by
the unreal emotional relationships among the four women friends.
Rating:
Summary: Typicial Patterson.....Fast paced, cop finds the killer....
Review: Good, enjoyable and a very fast read....Not as many twists and turns as his earlier and better works, but fun anyway....
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