2nd Chance

About time, Mr. Patterson, to get the formula right again! Lindsay Boxer, newly promoted to Lieutenant of the Homicide Division in San Francisco thanks to her work with the Bride and Groom killer ("1st to Die"), is confronted with the case of a seemingly-random shooting of a little African-American girl outside of a church. Someone with a rifle has opened fire on the young church choir, and with all the shots fired it seems a miracle there was only one fatality. That is, until Lindsays good friend and fellow Murder Club member Claire Washburn, the citys M.E., informs her that two bullets - one nearly on top of the other - ended the young girls life; and that the marksmanship of the shots was such that she feels the girl was the target all along . . .

So begins what seems to be a series of racially-motivated murders terrorizing San Francisco. Digging deeper, Lindsay discovers a second, disturbing connection the victims had to each other, other than race - each was related to (or was themselves) a city cop. Is there a serial cop killer loose? Why are all the victims black?

Further complications arise when Lindsays father comes back into the picture - and her life - after an absence of over 20 years. And as the body count gets higher, the shootings closer to home, Lindsay realizes she must get to the solution FAST - even when her own father seems to suddenly be connected to the case . . .

This book has all the action and gunfire and suspense typical of a James Patterson novel, but in all honesty this is the first book Ive read of his in awhile where I really cared about the characters. Lindsay, Claire, Cindy and Jill are all developed a bit more in this book, especially Lindsays personal life, and you get a better feel for their personalities and care a bit more about what happens to them. The identity of Chimera, the serial killer, is not entirely surprising but a nice twist since Patterson drops a few red herrings along the way to make you think it might be someone else. With Patterson you can expect three or four or even five twists in the plot before you get to the last page, there were only a couple here but the last 40-50 pages made me late for work, and thats always a good sign when reading a thriller. I am wary of the release of "Four Blind Mice" as it is an Alex Cross novel, but please Mr. Patterson, lets hear more from the Womens Murder Club soon!