Fiction Addict

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication Date: April 27th, 2009

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Someone is killing Bay area socialites and they are leaving no clues behind. Because of the high society spotlight, Detective Lindsey Boxer is feeling pressure from on high to track down this ruthless killer. M.E. Claire Washburn is just as baffled as the police when she is unable to find anything wrong with the bodies that are piling up. This is one case that might just be too much for The Women’s Murder Club to handle.

So here we are with round eight in James Patterson’s wildly popular series. 7^th Heaven gave me hope that Patterson and Paetro still had some tricks up their sleeves for these beloved characters. Unfortunately, The 8^th Confession left me scratching my head at the total lack of mystery that has been such a strong cornerstone of this series. The only real sense of whodunit comes in the side tale of a murdered homeless man that feels both out of place and contrived.

There is one romantic twist in particular that is over the top, tasteless, forced, and gimmicky all at the same time. I’m shocked that Patterson and company would for a moment consider this a great story element. Unreal. If this series has come to the point where it needs gimmicks to grab readers’ attention, then perhaps it’s time to end it. I’ve truly enjoyed these characters for the most part, but I’m slowly losing hope that the Women’s Murder Club will ever be as engaging as it once was.

The good news? Well, it’s James Patterson. Even if you aren’t swept away by the story (and I wasn’t) you will find it hard to stop reading. Patterson is the master of fast paced storytelling making even his most uninteresting novels easy to swallow. Too bad this one is just as easy to forget. Next please.