Return of the Spider by James Patterson

Description from Amazon:

Along Came a Spider introduced Detective Alex Cross to readers around the globe and delivered an unsurpassed rivalry: Cross—named the “human superhero” by The New York Times—versus Gary Soneji, who the Lexington-Herald Leader called the “most deliciously wicked character since Hannibal Lecter”. But that wasn’t their first meeting ...

Police discover that Soneji kept a murder book, Profiles in Homicidal Genius, detailing his transformation from substitute teacher to hardened serial killer—including clues that imply missteps that Alex Cross may have made a rookie homicide detective.

Now, Alex must retrace the steps of that long-ago investigation and face ... the Return of the Spider.

 

I decided to try an indie book again and picked one randomly on my Kindle. On the first page a character bashes a cat against a wall to see if they have psychopathic tendencies. Well that book got closed quickly. So I thought I’d see if James Patterson was still writing (and I say that tongue in cheek) mass-produced generic stuff. I used to love Patterson and thoroughly enjoyed his books until they became predictable as he churned them out so quickly. Even the Amazon description seems to have an error in it!

 

I didn’t read the back of the book, just picked it up as it was new. Oh dear. It seems it was a prequel of sorts to Along Came a Spider, which was written way back when. It doesn’t start off as a prequel though, so I felt cheated when I was expecting a new story and it lands up taking you back to how Gary Soneji started his reign of terror; and since we know how it ended, it felt like a backstory that was not necessary.

 

Sure there were clues here and there that were quite clever to have used to frame the guys he managed to make the fall guys, but there were also timing issues. If I remember Along Came a Spider correctly, Alex was a well-established detective by then, but according to this he was a rookie and making a lot of mistakes. Plus I think he mentioned an iPad in the 90s? Yeah, no.

 

I read it, closed it, and then said no more Patterson for me. Once upon a time they linked and had good ideas in them. Now they just follow a formula where it feels like drop-down menus to fill in the blanks.

Just finishing off a Michael Robotham and enjoying that one a lot more. Review up soon.

When She Was Good by Michael Robotham

Description from Amazon:

Criminal psychologist Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac return in this “powerhouse of a novel” (Booklist, starred review) from internationally bestselling author Michael Robotham, a writer Stephen King calls “an absolute master...with heart and soul.”

Who is Evie, the girl with no past, running from? She was discovered hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a terrible crime. Her ability to tell when someone is lying helped Cyrus crack an impenetrable case in Good Girl, Bad Girl. Now, the closer Cyrus gets to uncovering answers about Evie’s dark history, the more he exposes Evie to danger, giving her no choice but to run. Ultimately, both will have to decide if some secrets are better left buried and some monsters should never be named...

 

I loved the first book in this series and was hoping for all the answers here. We did not get them as it turns out there is another book (or two)! But a lot of questions were answered and Evie certainly got some vindication.

 

Evie is back at Langford Hall and elsewhere Cyrus is brought in to a suspected suicide that is anything but. And the more he looks into it, the more connection there is with Evie’s past. Cyrus manages to convince Sasha, the police officer who found Evie as a child, to team up with him. She is rather reluctant to do this but she eventually agrees, and what they find out leads them to organised groups who find pleasure in using children for sick deeds. It’s heartbreaking to hear what Evie went through as a child, and what Terry endured to keep her safe was quite something.

 

As usual the writing is compelling and you keep wanting to read just one more chapter. Evie wants Cyrus nowhere near the case as she is worried about him, just as he is worried about her. If they had managed to be open with each other a lot sooner much could have been averted. But this all adds to the tension and the author’s way of showing us vulnerability yet courage.

 

I was annoyed that not everything was ended off but at least I know there is more to come. And more of Poppy, the black Labrador, I hope! Just make sure, Mr. Author, that someone is there to look after her and feed her when your characters decide to go wandering off, please...

The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz

Description from Amazon:

In the year since her son Danny’s tragic death, Tina Evans has suffered incredible heartache. But now, with her Vegas show about to premiere, Tina might be ready to put her grief behind her and start over.

Until a shocking message appears on the chalkboard in Danny's room: NOT DEAD. Those two words send her on a terrifying journey from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the cold shadows of the High Sierras, where she uncovers a terrible secret.

 

I knew Dean Koontz had written under the pseudonym Leigh Nichols before, but I hadn’t read any of them or realised how old they were. This one had been rereleased and updated and the story worked relatively well.

 

I found it very quick and easy to read and the story felt more solid, as though the older works focused on the plot itself and didn’t need bells and whistles. It almost felt like the seed for so many new books today that have tried to twist exactly this.

 

When Tina gets the message, she thinks someone is out to deliberately spook her and initially blames her ex-husband. She still misses her son immensely, but is in a better space in her head and her work is going well, so when the messages start, she is torn between going forward or back to the bad place in her life.

 

At one of her shows she meets Elliot and they hit it off. When she shares with him that she thinks Danny might be trying to get hold of her after a few more odd coincidences occur, he refuses to believe it. Until two men show up at his house with nefarious intentions.

 

Using any methods they can, they are able to locate an area they think Danny might be and head off. Where they find coverups and secrets galore.

 

This is a bit dated in that it’s a simplistic plot but it feels like an “original” and a precursor so was just putting the bones out there for the time. The ending was the ending but could have been done so much better. There was scope for so much more yet it was abrupt. And yes, there are questions – which would give away a lot of spoilers, so I won’t go into them. The tie-in with the 2020 worldwide disaster is ominous considering when this was written, so having read it now, I guess back then it wouldn’t have made the same impact.

 

I did enjoy the book. Wasn’t fabulous and I wouldn’t read it again, but it delivered a simple story with a supernatural lean to it and a good take on never giving up.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

Description from Amazon:

On a plane bound for Sydney the unassuming woman from seat 4D walks down the aisle making unsettling predictions about the passengers.

And six strangers find their lives unexpectedly crossing.

Each tries to put the experience behind them. But, just weeks later, they can't any longer.

Because not believing a prediction is easy, Until it comes true . . .

 

I had seen some of the adaptions of her books and enjoyed a few, so was hoping this would have the same appeal. Unfortunately even though it started with a great premise, it fell really flat. This book took a lot longer than it should have taken to read because it felt like a slog to get through.

 

So the “death lady” on the plane predicts how people will die and at what age. Once they land, the book splits into each person’s story and how they cope with the prediction. Obviously many don’t want to believe it, but when a few people start dying, they now want to take it seriously. It’s a case of do I want to live my life fullout if I know I’m going to die, or do I take the predictions to heart and do all I can to avert them. So it’s really a morality issue and not a fabulous new concept.

 

It gets a bit confusing switching between so many characters, and while the death lady’s history was interesting, it was a lot of info, and it would have been more fascinating having leaned to the supernatural. I suppose in the end the point she is trying to make is that fortune telling is more of a case of what people need to hear not what they want to hear and is done through subtle suggestions.

 

I was hoping for an amazing ending that tied it all up, but it petered out and left you feeling rather unsatisfied. I’ll try one more of her books, but there are so many more authors to discover!

 

One thing that was odd was that the title of the book was printed in such a way that in a certain light, if you moved the book quickly, the title would “jiggle” as one image. Spooky!