Unlucky 13 (Women's Murder Club)

So I have read the first 12 of this series but took a break for awhile because I felt like the writing was getting continually worse.I don't remember much about book 12, but as for book 13, I feel like James Patterson is writing less and less of his books. The style was confusing - parts were third person, parts were first. It just makes it somewhat hard to read. Also, procedurally, some parts were just epicly wrong.There were also too many stories going on in this one. I think maybe the book wasn't "long" enough so they added in the story of Brady and Yuki's honeymoon which, although intriguing, seemed misplaced.I'll keep reading though, mostly because I want to find out what happens with Cindy.

Actually I'm glad to read some of the negative comments on this book as I thought I may be too picky. I have been a long time fan of James Patterson's books and have read all of the Womens Murder Club. The last couple of books haven't been that great and this one in particular left me a bit "miffed" enough to write a review. I'm starting to feel like the series is a bit of a "puppy mill"...crank them out as fast as you can. But there is no real material. This had 3 story lines going, 2 of which I felt were unresolved. The belly bombers plot had no real resolution as to what happened to the perps or the last box or burgers. Plus why was Yuki's ship taken over...no explanation as to who Jackhammer was and what his goal was by taking over the ship except to give Yuki a story line. To be honest, I'm not feeling comfortable that Mr Patterson is even writing any of this material but only acting as a liason to the other writer. This book is no near the quality of his earlier works without the co-writers...just sayin.

Unlucky !3 by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro is the 13th installment in the Women's Murder Club series of books. I've read them all and I must confess that the earlier books written by Mr. Patterson himself were the best, but that old suspense of what's going to happen to Lindsey Boxer, Joe her husband, and baby Julie as well as the rest of the group keeps me reading.In this book, Yuki and her fiance finally take the plunge and get married in a very hurried ceremony that is beautiful. I could imagine Yuki in her beautiful wedding gown and holding a lovely bouquet. She and her new husband were then off to a wonderful honeymoon on an Alaskan cruise ship and they couldn't wait to get away.In the meantime, Lindsay is horrified by what is happening to people in the San Francisco area. Somehow people are ingesting small bombs in hamburgers from a chain of fast food restaurants and are literally blowing up in front of horrified bystanders. The police at first have no clue as to how the perpetrators are doing this, who they are and why they are doing this to innocent people.Claire does the autopsies and finds that is what is causing people to actually explode.In the meantime, Cindy has run across a dangerous and old nemisis who she wants to interview for the "interview and story of her life" for her newspaper job but it is a dangerous undertaking that Cindy doesn't tell the others about .The book is full of suspense, but the ending leaves a bit to be desired. I think it might be because...I hope!...it picks up in the next book, the 14th in the series.

A chemist and her demented brother killing people with "belly bombs."The wedding and honeymoon of the attorney in the group, and the cruiseline ship their on gets hijacked, and the return of a pyscho bent on killing the detective of the group makes for compelling reading.The journalist becomes the heroine in a the twist at the end of the book.The author spins a delicate trail throughout the book of the three stories. The reader doesn't know what to expect when they put the book and return again.An exciting book to read that can be read by itself or as a continuence in the series

This is the first detective novel I have ever read and also my first book by James Patterson. To be honest, I didn't even look at the author name when I purchased the book. I am an indie author and have written two science fiction and one zombie novel. I am about halfway through writing my fourth book which is a detective murder mystery and I thought I should read a best selling mystery book to get an idea of the tempo that readers like. I went to Amazon and downloaded this book.First off, I enjoyed the story. I personally really like that there are several plot lines contained in the same novel. Since this book is a part of a series with multiple main characters, it gives you more bang for your buck. It's almost like several short stories that are intertwined with each other that come together to give you a satisfying conclusion.If you like a mystery where every nuance of how the murder was solved is laid out for you, this story is not for you. Likewise, if you like police procedurals, this isn't your book.This book was very focused on the relationships between the characters and how those interactions helped to solve the crime. There were "ah-ha" moments where a large piece to the puzzle was found and then they followed up on that lead. But all of the minutia that happened between those moments was left out.I mentioned that I didn't look at the author when I purchased the book. I honestly thought I was reading a novel written by a woman based on the characters and their ties with each other. If you're not familiar with this particular series, there is a group of women who work in different but related fields. They are all friends and use their positions to help each other with solving murders. There is a detective, a prosecuter, a criminal journalist and a medical examiner. They are a part of what they refer to as the "Murder Club".Maybe a woman reading this book would know right off the bat that the author was a man trying to write from a woman's first-person perspective, but I had no idea. I think that is a good indicator of the author's writing ability.One other thing I liked about his writing was the realistic way the story read. Some novels should be filled with flowery writting, interesting prose and the author trying to wax poetic. But other stories should read like they are actual events that the reader can believe happened. The reader can think, this is how people really talk and act. That's what I got from this book. There are a couple of things that were slightly unrealistic but still not impossible to believe.Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It inspired me to download the sample of his latest work, "Invisble". I will definitely be buying that book when I have more time to read a full novel.**NOTE: All of my novels are professionally edited but my posts and reviews aren't :)

Not the best Womans Murder Club book (but the last one annoyed me even worse when Boxer went back to work when her baby was only 2 weeks old. Then the baby had a cancer scare and Boxer was nipping out to visit crime scenes in between hospital visits - seriously, come on!!) Also felt like the main story didn't quite wrap up at the end of the book.

I do like this series about The Women's Murder Club but they've getting weaker with every new story. The dynamics are drying up and the plots are not so credible. I love James Patterson but I wish he would go back to writing his own books and not with a co-writer because the writing is losing Its' hard hitting lines. This book was quite weak and disappointing. The Women no longer have any 'edge' Like the first few stories.

I have to agree with many other posts that this certainly wasn't one of Patterson's finest. I wonder what the relationships are with his co-writers? Do they write them & he puts his name to them as this one certainly lacked any real depth. Too many stories that were totally unconnected and rushed. Particularly hated the Yuki honeymoon scenario, stupid & pointless plot. I read this on my Kindle and, at the end of the book, skipped backwards as I was convinced it can't have ended where it did with no real conclusion to the main story in my opinion. The book is easy to read and I've already bought the next book so I'll give it a try. If it doesn't improve the WMC books will go the same way as Martina Cole & Patricia Cornwell and will remain unpurchased.

This is the weakest of the Women's Murder Club novels and I have read and enjoyed all the others. The writing is simplistic and childlike with poor plot development and outcomes for each of the three plots which were fairly predictable. Patterson is best when writing alone as in the Alex Cross novels. His co-authors who I imagine do most of the writing are less consistent and sometimes downright poor as in this case.This book gives the impression of being churned out without much thought and checking by Mr Patterson. Seemingly Miss Paetro must have been engrossed in "50 Shades of Grey" as we even have the "Oh my " additions to love scenes! Oh dear!I think Mr Patterson et al need to concentrate more on quality rather than quantity in the future.

My last few books in this series have been something of a let down. However, this latest instalment has somewhat restored some of my previous faith in these Patterson books. It seems that Lindsay Boxer has returned somewhat to her previous personality. What at first appears to be a routine accident on the Golden Gate Bridge, actually turns out to be the start of a disturbing case. The victims look like they have ingested bombs. Lindsey and Richie need to work out who and why.In addition to this, we see Yuki (2nd of the 4 WMC) get married to Brady (who also happens to be Lindsay’s boss). As they go off on their honeymoon, it appears that another thread to the story emerges with an attack on their Cruise ship. If that wasn’t enough then the return of Mackie Morales is the thread to complete the lot. Mackie was an ex-colleague of Lindsay’s who turned out to be a ruthless killer. She is now back and looking for her revenge. It seems that while Mackie is back, Cindy (the 3rd in the 4 of the WMC) is chasing her right back to give her, hopefully, the biggest story of her career in journalism. It appears that Clare (the 4th of the WMC) didn’t want to make much of an appearance.The writing style is the usual short and sharp affair, which always maintains my interest. Although there are three threads to the story the downside was that it at times appeared a little disjointed. That aside, I thought it was pretty pacey and the reintroduction of Mackie Morales made for a pretty exciting story too. I think the series is a far cry from being where it was in the early days, however this latest book I think is a big improvement on some of the others.