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adamrshields's review against another edition
5.0
Short Review: Book Review: Pattern of Wounds by J Mark Bertrand (Roland March #2) - police procedural. If all Christian fiction were this good, I would read more of it. Second in a trilogy. Well worth reading (especially if you have a kindle, first book in the series is free).
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/pattern/
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/pattern/
auntieg0412's review against another edition
5.0
The first book in the Roland March series was good, and this one is better. What a cliff-hanger! I had already planned to buy the third book in the series, but the ending of this one guarantees I will do so very soon. Good writing, good characters, good plot, good everything. And it's simply wonderful to find an author who can tell a good story without a single word of profanity. Thank you, Mr. Bertrand. Hope you are busy writing your next book!
catrev's review against another edition
5.0
Pattern of Wounds by J. Mark Bertrand is the second book in the Roland March series about a disaffected Houston police detective. March has recovered some since the events of the previous book, Back on Murder. His marriage is back on track, although he's a bit worried about wife, Charlotte's newfound faith, and he's working murder cases again. This time it's a young woman found stabbed to death in a swimming pool that opens up March's old wounds. When this new murder appears to be connected to a decade old murder that March become nationally famous for closing, his life as he knows it is about to end. Bertrand is such an intelligent writer; his are the type of books I recommend to people who insist that they hate Christian fiction and that it's all cliched or badly written. Bertrand's March is angry and hurting at the world because of his scarred childhood as well as the darkness he sees daily through his job. He can't believe that there could be a loving God who could see all of this pain and refuse to act. His refusal to believe is so sympathetic, readers will find themselves empathizing with him, even when he is so very, very wrong. March is a poignant and intelligent hero and anchor to the series. Bertrand uses him to expose culture's obsession with serial killers and the frustrations of being a police officer and seeing only the worst in humanity. The story is complex and unpredictable, but it's March who really pulls readers into the story, making it feel very real and personal. Bertrand smartly reveals more of March's personal history and demons in this book, as well as shaking up what readers thought they knew about him. This is the rare series that will get better with each book.
getlitwithmegan's review against another edition
2.0
2 1/2 stars. I bought this book from Goodwill as a Christmas gift for my dad last year. I read this to get a feel for the character Detective Roland March, since I plan on reading Nothing to Hide right after this. Honestly, I caught on to who the true killer was early on in the novel and I haven't read a murder mystery in years. Either my gumshoe days never really ended or this mystery wasn't so mysterious, after all. That being said, the novel itself was still an enjoyable quick read.
ericwelch's review against another edition
4.0
Roland has a chip on his shoulder. Still devastated by the death of Jessica, his daughter, in an accident committed by a drunk driver, he has made a legal form of revenge his mission. If someone gets off, or fails to intervene when something bad is happening, March works out a way to discover some dirt or malfeasance for which they could be punished. His job suffers as a result. He’s also lost whatever faith he had. “ If the Almighty was gonna sit back and let it all happen, somebody had to step up. There’s no such thing in my book as an innocent bystander.” Charlotte, his wife, enlists their renters, overtly religious types, to pull him back into the fold, with little success.
“Carter, listen to me. You mean well, I realize that. But there’s no magic formula or platitude they taught you in seminary that’s going to turn me into one of you. It’s not gonna happen. You have no idea what I’ve seen and what I’ve done. Trust me, if you did, you’d be like me, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” “I don’t think I’m deceiving myself.” … “People don’t. That’s the whole point. But they go on believing what they’ve been told, they keep voting and buying and praying, they live good lives surrounded by good people in a good world where everything is good. And they think when it’s not good, that’s the aberration. That’s the exception to the rule. But underneath, Carter, if you could turn this city upside down, you’d see it’s all rot down there, all corruption.”
Despite some platitudinous religious overtones (ones that were much less evident in the first book of the series,) there’s a good mystery. A woman has been found floating in a swimming pool, cut up in a rather bizarre pattern and the murder scene has been choreographed to closely resemble the murder scene in a case March had closed and about which a book had been written. The photographs in the book of the floating body were identical to the ones of the current case.
As I noted in my review of the first Roland March, I was puzzled by the Christian label attached to it. March has a very cynical view of the world and has little time for the religious, but perhaps some form of over-the-top redemption will take place later in the series. That would tune me out for sure. In the meantime it’s a good series although this one can tend to be a bit confusing mixing up characters. And what’s with the overuse of present tense?
“Carter, listen to me. You mean well, I realize that. But there’s no magic formula or platitude they taught you in seminary that’s going to turn me into one of you. It’s not gonna happen. You have no idea what I’ve seen and what I’ve done. Trust me, if you did, you’d be like me, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” “I don’t think I’m deceiving myself.” … “People don’t. That’s the whole point. But they go on believing what they’ve been told, they keep voting and buying and praying, they live good lives surrounded by good people in a good world where everything is good. And they think when it’s not good, that’s the aberration. That’s the exception to the rule. But underneath, Carter, if you could turn this city upside down, you’d see it’s all rot down there, all corruption.”
Despite some platitudinous religious overtones (ones that were much less evident in the first book of the series,) there’s a good mystery. A woman has been found floating in a swimming pool, cut up in a rather bizarre pattern and the murder scene has been choreographed to closely resemble the murder scene in a case March had closed and about which a book had been written. The photographs in the book of the floating body were identical to the ones of the current case.
As I noted in my review of the first Roland March, I was puzzled by the Christian label attached to it. March has a very cynical view of the world and has little time for the religious, but perhaps some form of over-the-top redemption will take place later in the series. That would tune me out for sure. In the meantime it’s a good series although this one can tend to be a bit confusing mixing up characters. And what’s with the overuse of present tense?
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