15th
Affair
by James Patterson
The first half of this Women’s
Murder Club story drew me in from page one and I had a hard time putting it
down. When a disturbing double murder takes place in an exclusive San Francisco
hotel, Lindsey Boxer is drawn into a case with far-reaching, even global
implications. While investigating the murders on a surveillance tape from the
hotel, Lindsey sees a man who looks remarkably like her husband and becomes
personally drawn into the case.
Before I was halfway through the
book, I lost interest in hearing about Lindsey’s devotion to her infant
daughter: the detailed descriptions of the child’s every expression, diaper
change, and mood, became extremely tiresome. Patterson claims to write this
series for women. But as a woman and a mother, I don’t need a reminder of
maternal love and the cuteness and demands of babies on every-other page.
Enough is enough. I read suspense for the plot, not to read a detailed account
of Lindsey's motherly devotion in every paragraph.
The reader need not be a rocket
scientist to figure out that despite the many clues to the contrary, Lindsey’s
husband would turn out to be on the side of the good guys. (How could he
possibly be a villain when he had fathered such an adorable baby?)
We don’t see much of the Murder
Club in this book. It was mainly all about Lindsey and her frustration with her
husband’s (possible) betrayal and her dedication to a case that put her child
constantly in the hands of an always-available sitter.
Yes, the second half of the 15th
Affair was a letdown and the ending predictable.
Hard to recommend this one.
What other authors can learn from the 15th
Affair:
1.
Readers do enjoy subplots that tell them about
the main character’s family life, but it’s important to find a balance. Every
chapter does not have to include family drama.
2.
Keep things unpredictable. The sitter shouldn’t
always be available, the husband always perfect, and the plot does not have to
always end up being part of a global conspiracy; unless, of course, your book
falls into the thriller genre instead of suspense.
3.
If you’re writing a series that includes more
than one main character as the Women’s Murder Club does, try to keep a balance
of the characters in every book. Readers do complain when one is missing from
the action.
Dear Readers,
I am definitely a Patterson fan,
but not necessarily a fan of every one of his series. I don’t care for suspense
books that go into too much detail about the personal lives of the characters
unless their families are somehow involved in the plot. That is why I don’t
read Patterson’s series about the New York detective who is a single parent with
about 10 children. I quit reading them after one of the books had scenes in
every chapter describing the children’s stomach flu and how much they threw up.
That is not to say that every
reader feels the way I do. I’m sure there are many who enjoy a lot more family
drama included in a mystery/suspense book than myself. But as authors, we would
like to satisfy both group of readers, wouldn’t we?
Finding the right balance can be
tricky, but worth the effort.
Have a wonderful summer and Fourth
of July,
Marla
