Rating: 
Summary: First novel or deadline+lousy editor?
Review: This book is a fine example of what happens to authors to 'make it' as recognized names. First, they can publish their first attempts, which were too lousy to publish then and still are.Second, their editors push them to put out more books, and quality goes to hell. This is a simply terrible book: the writing is poor, the characters weak and the plot is so think as to be laughable. This could not be published by anyone except a well-known author. The fact that it was says a lot about the modern publishing industry.
Rating: 
Summary: To me, it's disappointing.
Review: it is probably not very appropiate for me to write a review on this book, not when i have not really finish it...but i don't think i will...so i will just say what i want to say about this book. What prompted me to write sth about it and also deter me from finishing the book is that the author had not really done much research before he started writing.....despite the book is meant to be a thriller, not a medical textbook...i found it hard to accept that the author was giving some wrong medical information to the public. First, aplastic anemia is not diagnosed with an X-ray....and he didn't specified which part of the body the X-ray is taken for...anyhow, X-ray just won't give one any information of the blood, and then there is the splenectomy the doctor in the book suggested to perform for a stage 3 aplastic anemia......that's when i decide to put the book down......
Frankly, i don't know why many praise the book and the author so much...,maybe i haven't get the excited part yet...but i don't think i am going to continue anyway...
i hope i didn't offend the others who obviously think so high of the book in terms of a thrill though.
Rating:
Summary: Rarely Have I Been This Angry at an Author
Review: The book starts out promising...you like the main characters and wonder where it is going. Then you get to 3/4 of the way through --
1. Did the author forget about the scenes he wrote about the killer in the beginning? (his end just does not fit and was directly contradictory to the chapters he wrote in the beginning)
2. Did he find a likeable male lead just didn't fit the mold of the "Women's Murder Club"? That must be the case because he killed off a likeable main character with no reason or advancement to the plot.
Rarely have I read a book where it was so obvious that the author was having trouble making his deadline. It's a shame because the promise of an excellent book was there. Hence, the only thing I felt at the end of this book was anger.
Rating: 
Summary: After the disappointing Violets Are Blue, 1st To Die shines!
Review: If there is one thing that is virtually a given in the literary world of authoring books its this: Some are better than others...sooner or later, no matter HOW long you've written, you are eventually going to produce one that by lack of a better term, just stinks. I have long been an Alex Cross fan ever since I picked up 'Kiss The Girls' some 6 years ago, and I've grabbed each and every one of his novels since...some better than others, but after 'Violets Are Blue' I began to wonder if Patterson had hit a terminal slump in his writing. This was my thinking when I cautiously picked up a copy of '1st To Die'. I am happy to say that Patterson writes we renewed vigor with this first installment of the Womans Murder Club. Already you can pick up the next novel, '2nd Chance' and you can bet I am certain to grab that one quick. Patterson certainly doesn't choose the easiest people to write about...first he picks a middle aged black man to lead his Alex Cross novels, and he pulls this off with ease making him an extremely well-written and likeable character. Now he picks a group of woman. I gotta hand it to Patterson for even making the attempt to write from not just one woman's perspective, but multiple characters. Aside from all that the story is vintage Patterson at his best.
A great plot dotted with short chapters (Patterson's M.O.), an evil character who is truly EVIL, and clues opening up which allows each of the female characters to use their particular skills to help solve crimes that are disrupting an entire city.
Tension mounts in such a successive manner that before you know it you are doing one of those, 'I'll stop after the NEXT chapter' routines because you are SO caught up in the plot. I just LOVE short chapters, especially when I'm busy but still want to get in a few minutes of reading on an otherwise busy day. If you were getting a little burned out on his writing style, and especially if you were considering dropping him after his last attempt (Violets Are Blue), give '1st To Do' a chance, and you will be amazed how you will fall in love with his books all over again. Kudos to a great story well told. I very much look forward to '2nd Chance' which I plan on buying later this afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: "1st to Disappoint": Formulaic, Sappy, and Silly
Review: I really don't understand the hype and popularity of Patterson's "thrillers". While some of the early Alex Cross novels were creative and interesting, "1st to Die" is a disappointment in virtually all respects. The premise of the "Womens' Murder Club" is silly, stereotyped, and boring. The characters are thinly developed and uninteresting; the dialogue - sappy and predictable - was not worthy of a junior high essay contest. The subplot of our heroine's medical problem was an unnecessary and maudlin distraction - perhaps inserted to fatten the page count. And, while set in San Francisco, Patterson made no effort to capture any of the flavor or feel of the city: change a few street names and it could easily have been New York, Chicago, or Des Moines. But worst of all was the villain: straight from the cartoons, yet never as despicable as Patterson tried so hard to make him. I guess the reader was supposed to be blown away by the double- twist ending, but both were so completely unbelievable, and so far removed from reality, that it was almost humorous. What's good about 1st to Die? Only that is was bad enough to remove any temptation of buying the sequel, or any more of Patterson's Womens' Murder Club "mysteries".
Rating: 
Summary: More than worth your time...
Review: I have not read too many James Patterson books but I did find that this one was very good. I thought that Patterson did a great job developing and writing from Detective Boxer's voice. It's very unpredictable, which is why I liked, has many twists, which is another good point. Except for the few forced twists at the end I thought it was very enjoyable. I still enjoyed the ending though...
Rating:
Summary: Are You Writing A Movie Script or What?
Review: Sir, you just can't write every of your books like factory products with same format, in short sentences, short pages, tasteless plot, murder after murder and most of the time woemen were victimized,...with movie production in mind. Novels should not be spoiled by such bad habitual writing and tried to cash in one after another. Of course, writing with laptop is easy, but put into publishing with tons of paper wasted like this time after time is really a shame.
Rating:
Summary: A NEW, GOOD TWIST TO PATTERSON.
Review: This is a super book; what a group of women! What an ending! If you haven't, check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: First non-Cross Novel
Review: This was my first non Alex Cross novel by Patterson. A devoted afficionado of Detective Cross, I was disappointed in that I failed to appreciate any depth to the characters. Unlike Cross, I didn't develop an empathy for Detective Boxer. I probably just got used to Cross and expected more. It was a pleasant if not totally unpredictable read. I felt the ending had one too many force twists for my tastes.
Rating:
Summary: A TRUE MYSTERY
Review: HOW DID MR.PATTERSON EVER MAKE THE GRADE? WHY DID I BUY THIS BOOK? I FEEL FOOLISH AND VICTIMIZED.
| 
