22 Seconds

By James Patterson & Maxine Paetro https://www.jamespatterson.com/

Published by Century (an imprint of Penguin Random House) https://www.penguin.co.uk/

359 pages ISBN 9781529125320

Publication date 28 April 2022

22 Seconds is the twenty-second novel in the Women’s Murder Club series.

I was sent a paperback uncorrected proof in exchange for a fair review. I would like to thank Sarah at Harwood PR for arranging that, and of course the authors and publisher.

From the blurb

22 seconds… until Lindsay Boxer loses her badge – or her life.

Synopsis

The ‘Women’s Murder Club’ comprises Lindsay Boxer a homicide detective at San Francisco PD, Clare Washburn the Chief Medical Examiner for San Francisco, Cindy Thomas a journalist and Yuki Castellano a lawyer.

New gun laws are aimed at removing the most dangerous weapons from the streets. Elements of the gun owning public are rebelling and a backlash is expected. While the SFPD are trying to execute a gun amnesty with shopping vouchers in exchange for illegal weapons some are refusing to give up their guns and are actively seeking more.

There are rumours of a big arms and drugs shipment coming up from Mexico and Lindsay gets a tip from one of her confidential informants. It would be a significant bust if his information is correct, but can he be trusted? He is demanding a budget busting fee for the information.

Former cops are turning up dead, some with their lips stapled together and the message “You talk, you die” attached. They are being murdered for talking but who is silencing them and what is it that they are trying to keep quiet?

Lindsay is certain that the guns and drugs smuggling run is real, and the murders must be in some way connected to it. She persuades her superiors to act on the informants’ tip which places her families lives in danger.

My thoughts

I was aware of this series of novels, as most crime and thriller readers are likely to, but I never realised it was up to the twenty-second instalment of which I have read the total of zero. Of course, I’ve read other novels by Mr Patterson (some of the Alex Cross ones) but his output, along with his collaborators is truly astonishing. I generally would start reading a series towards the beginning, it’s not ideal starting so late but quality can vary on some long running series which can become a bit stale, so a fresh view is sometimes a good barometer.

As one might expect the writing is polished and well honed. This is quality thriller writing the result of years of experience.

The plot is well worked out and certainly credible. The mass shootings in USA mean there will always be a push for stricter gun controls and there will always be a push back from the NRA. Any smuggling of these bulky weapons is going to be a major operation and so adding narcotics to it would be likely. Tunnels under the border have been used before though now they are probably used for smuggling people.

The pacing is excellent with a nice blend of background and description to balance the action scenes and keep the reader engaged throughout. The chapters are short which helps to keep the story moving along but they didn’t always result in a change of character perspective. There seemed to be chapter breaks in odd places which gave it a staccato rhythm which broke up the natural flow.

The characters are engaging, the plot centred around Lindsay, but the rest of the ‘Club’ were included even if some parts were somewhat tangential to the thrust of the plot. We see Lindsay’s home life with ex FBI husband Joe, daughter Julie, neighbour Mrs Rose and even her sister. These interactions were nicely judged adding depth and background but without becoming ‘soap opera’.

So, this novel has all the constituent parts to make it great, but for me there was a little something lacking, the sum of the parts producing less that the whole. Certainly, I enjoyed reading it sat in the spring sunshine of my garden (would have been better poolside in the Canaries) but I didn’t get a complete buy in. It is hard to put my finger on what was missing for me, a bit of soul or heart perhaps? It had all the quality ingredients but felt a bit like painting-by-numbers at times. This could be down to starting so late in the series, it is one I will revisit but I think I will go back towards the start and see if it grows on me.

Fans of the series are no doubt going to enjoy this novel and for them it is going to be exactly what they expect. It will be a major best seller, which is no doubt, and you don’t get to be a top tier worldwide best seller without understanding your reader and giving them what they want.

22 Seconds can be purchased direct from the publisher here