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A review by athravan
Eden in Winter by Richard North Patterson
3.0
** 3.5 Stars **
Eden in Winter is the third part of a trilogy and Richard North Patterson spends a good deal of the first few chapters introducing readers to the background of the previous two novels. Those that are fresh to the series will get the backbone of the story, whilst readers coming fresh from the previous book may be a little frustrated with the time spent on information already known. Within a few chapters we start moving on, focusing on the psychological aspect of Adam, a man coming to terms with some startling family secrets and his damaged relationship with his murdered father, Benjamin Blaine.
Whilst using his background with the CIA to protect his family from being charged with murder, he enters into a friendship with Benjamin's mistress, who also happens to be carrying his child. This strains an already fragile relationship with his mother, who has been harboring some secrets of her own. Of course, the media is interested, the DA is angry and the pressure is on, sending Adam to his therapist - who actually ends up being a very well written character who draws out Adam's character wonderfully. He's hard to relate to, but then this is a family with a lot of issues, so no wonder.
It's more of a family drama than anything else and quite frankly, a little soap opera at times. Although murder may be the center point; this is not suspenseful courtroom drama that you might expect from Richard North Patterson - but neither are the previous two books in this series. There is some action in the form of Adam's covert operations in Afghanistan in between all the drama, but it didn't feel that realistic to me. That being said, if you enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy - you'll definitely want to see it through to the conclusion.
I did feel bored at the start. Since I've read the previous novels it felt like I had to slog through some boredom to get there, but thankfully it does improve dramatically towards the end, so I'm glad I stuck it out to enjoy the full depth of Adam's character, although some loose ends from the trilogy are simply never tied up. I think I'd give it a 3.5 stars realistically. If you like psychological family drama with a little bit of action then this book will be for you, but I'd strongly recommend reading the first two books and then skipping the first three chapters of this one to get the full story.
Disclaimer: I received a digital review copy of this book from NetGalley.
Eden in Winter is the third part of a trilogy and Richard North Patterson spends a good deal of the first few chapters introducing readers to the background of the previous two novels. Those that are fresh to the series will get the backbone of the story, whilst readers coming fresh from the previous book may be a little frustrated with the time spent on information already known. Within a few chapters we start moving on, focusing on the psychological aspect of Adam, a man coming to terms with some startling family secrets and his damaged relationship with his murdered father, Benjamin Blaine.
Whilst using his background with the CIA to protect his family from being charged with murder, he enters into a friendship with Benjamin's mistress, who also happens to be carrying his child. This strains an already fragile relationship with his mother, who has been harboring some secrets of her own. Of course, the media is interested, the DA is angry and the pressure is on, sending Adam to his therapist - who actually ends up being a very well written character who draws out Adam's character wonderfully. He's hard to relate to, but then this is a family with a lot of issues, so no wonder.
It's more of a family drama than anything else and quite frankly, a little soap opera at times. Although murder may be the center point; this is not suspenseful courtroom drama that you might expect from Richard North Patterson - but neither are the previous two books in this series. There is some action in the form of Adam's covert operations in Afghanistan in between all the drama, but it didn't feel that realistic to me. That being said, if you enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy - you'll definitely want to see it through to the conclusion.
I did feel bored at the start. Since I've read the previous novels it felt like I had to slog through some boredom to get there, but thankfully it does improve dramatically towards the end, so I'm glad I stuck it out to enjoy the full depth of Adam's character, although some loose ends from the trilogy are simply never tied up. I think I'd give it a 3.5 stars realistically. If you like psychological family drama with a little bit of action then this book will be for you, but I'd strongly recommend reading the first two books and then skipping the first three chapters of this one to get the full story.
Disclaimer: I received a digital review copy of this book from NetGalley.