A review by saritaroth
4th of July by James Patterson

5.0

This book is the fourth in the Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson. I have to say that it was probably my favorite. It centers around Lindsay Boxer, the main character/narrator of all of the books, although she is accompanied by the other members of the murder club, her friends Claire and Cindy. In this book, Lindsay is investigating two different sets of crimes and, one night, while she is off-duty and drinking with her friends, her partner Jacobi lets her know that they have a lead in one of the cases. Even though she has had a couple of margaritas, she says that she is okay to go with him, with Jacobi driving. They engage in a high-speed car chase at the end of which the other car gets in an accident. When they realize that the occupants of the other car are two children, a fifteen-year-old and a thirteen-year-old, they approach the vehicle to lend some assistance to the children. The children are helped out of the car and, before they can do anything to stop it, the two children open fire on Lindsay and Jacobi. Both Lindsay and Jacobi get shot, but Lindsay is able to return fire, killing the fifteen-year-old girl, Sara, and severely wounding her brother, thirteen-year-old Sam. Lindsay, Jacobi, and Sam are taken to the hospital. Lindsay finds out later that she is being sued for $150 million dollars for the wrongful death of Sara and excessive force used on Sam, despite the fact that they were the prime suspects in the rash of electrocution homicides of children. The majority of the book concerns Lindsay trying to get herself out of this tough situation; I won't mention whether or not she is found guilty. I will say that the rest of the book concerns Lindsay trying to apprehend those responsible for the other cluster of homicides.

I really enjoyed it; it kept my interest until the end, and I found myself really rooting for Lindsay, hoping that she would be found innocent in the end. Once I got about two-thirds in, I couldn't put the book down and was finding any opportunity I could to continue reading it. I would say it is probably my favorite James Patterson book so far, and, as I've said, this is the fourth book I've read in this series, and I've also read the first two books in his Alex Cross series. If you do read it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.