Summary: At the start of the gripping seventh Women's Murder Club thriller from bestseller Patterson and Paetro (after 2007's The 6th Target), San Francisco is still haunted by the disappearance of Michael Campion, the much-adored teenage son of a former California governor, three months earlier. Following up on a tip that Michael was last seen entering a prostitute's house, homicide inspector Lindsay Boxer and her new partner, Rich Conklin, are shocked when the hooker immediately confesses that Michael, who had a heart defect, died during sex and she disposed of his body. Lindsay's ADA pal, Yuki Castellano, is sure she has a slam-dunk case, but the trial soon takes a bizarre turn. Lindsay and Rich also scramble to track down a serial arsonist responsible for murdering a string of wealthy couples. Lindsay races to put the pieces together before the fires hit too close to home. In true Patterson style, the reader is privy to Lindsay's thoughts as well as the killers', ratcheting up the suspense an extra notch. Fans won't be disappointed with the twist at the end that not even Lindsay sees coming.Review: Besides the Alex Cross books, the Women's Murder Club novels are pretty much the only James Patterson books I look forward too. 7th Heaven (The Women's Murder Club)
is a good book in the series, but not the best. I have to say I like the novels better when they focus on one crime than two. When there's two crimes going on one always seems to get sloppy in plot. This is the case with 7th Heaven (The Women's Murder Club), the story of Michael Champion gets dropped and pretty much unresolved until the last 5 pages of the book, while they concentrate on the fires in wealthy neighborhoods. There's also the subplots of Lindsey/Joe; Claire and her pregnancy; Yuki and Jason Twilly. So there's a lot going on but neither storyline is connected in any way, which is disappointing. I wouldn't mind two crimes so much if they intersected.I'll continue to read Women's Murder Club books but I would suggest that they stick to one crime per novel from now on. I'm saddened that the tv show got cancelled before it really found it's "legs". Even though Lindsey is blonde in the books, I will forever picture the gorgeous Angie Harmon as her.
Final Take: 3.5/5
The Women's Murder Club books are the only ones I'll read by Patterson now. I might give his others a try--Sail was pretty good--but never his forays into romance after the disappointment of Sunday's at Tiffanys. I like when they do one case as well, though not so much when you know who the culprit is from the start and the book is only about how and when they'll catch him.
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