Reviews

1st to Die by James Patterson

nicetory_99's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

3.75

bzbookbee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

muninn972's review

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emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thepagelady's review

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4.0

As a woman this is a fantastic series! Each character is easy to like, admire and easy to find a connection with each one of them! Their bond and friendship is one of my favorite things about this book! I love following this story and seeing how Each character has changed and developed in each book! It's a large series and each book could be read as a standalone but you will miss out on some interesting facts! The Women's Murder Club is definitely worth reading!

cr4nkyp4nts's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed the story and the nice twist
Spoileralthough the twist in the twist seemed too much and obvious to see coming but the final twist bumped up gave it an extra 1/2 star.
Nice!

I didn't care for the narrator. She sounded too harsh and gave nearly all the characters a very gruff, hard edge. Some aspects of her reading were very good but she could have softened the tones and voices in many places.

brendalovesbooks's review

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3.0

The thing I most disliked about this book was the woman's murder club. It was so unnecessary to the plot, and I just found it annoying.

klippy's review

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5.0

This book kept me guessing until the end. I did not think I would enjoy this series of books until I watched the TV series. I can hardly wait to read the 2nd one.

cbear's review against another edition

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mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

oumaima_mekni's review

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4.0

This book was excitingly good as I expected, although I didn't quietly dig the end, seeing that after everything that happened and the excellent climax of the story, it was kind of disappointing and it killed my bubble of excitement. Nevertheless, Im giving 4 stars for the plot twists that sent me on edge everytime.

book_concierge's review against another edition

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2.0

Book on CD read by Suzanne Toren
2.5**

From the book jacket: Debut of The Women’s Murder Club. In San Francisco newlyweds are being stalked and slaughtered. Enter four unforgettable women, all friends … Lindsay, a homicide inspector in the city’s police department … Claire, a medical examiner …Jill, an assistant D.A… and Cindy, a reporter who has just started working the crime desk. Joining forces, pooling their talents, courage, and brains, they have one goal to find, trap and outwit the most diabolical and terrifying killer ever imagined.

My reactions
Patterson definitely knows how to write a fast-paced mystery thriller, with plenty of plot twists to keep the most avid amateur (reading) sleuth guessing. That being said, I did figure this out way ahead of the Women’s Murder Club, but it was still a good ride.

What I liked most about the book was how he portrayed the four women who form the Murder Club. Cindy, in particular, was a pleasant surprise. A young, untried reporter stuck on the features desk, she more than rises to the occasion and shows a great deal of imagination, tenacity and courage. She is the one who grows the most, I think during this novel. The other three start out as crime-solving professionals and certainly show their own strengths. I did get a little tired of the emotional roller coaster Lindsay is suffering – she has a health problem and is juggling a possible romantic relationship in addition to trying to solve the case and catch the killer. The book opens with her contemplating suicide and then backtracks in time to explain how she got to that very low point. I found the subplot of her health issue to be somewhat manipulative and really unnecessary padding. Besides, given her health, I found it unrealistic that she resorted to Margaritas so frequently.

The audio book was performed by Suzanne Toren, and her gross over-acting lost a half-star (well, really lost a full star, but then I reconsidered and gave a half-star back). She “growls” or turns on a particularly “smarmy” voice when performing the bad guy. She “agonizes” when performing Lindsay’s emotional struggles. She’s simultaneously annoyingly smug and irritatingly chirpy when voicing “girl-reporter” Cindy. And she’s given to taking “meaningful” pregnant pauses to ensure the reader gets the significance of certain phrases.

I am not a big fan of Patterson, but I was reasonably entertained and I’ll probably read another in this series … emphasis on READ … not listen (especially if Toren performs all of them).