8th Confession - James Patterson

I've always loved reading and the crime/horror genre is one of my favourites. James Patterson is one of my favourite authors and he's wrote many best selling crime hits including a few that have been sent to our screens.

One of his most famous series to date is the Womens Murder Club series - so far with nine books, although I haven't read the ninth one yet! It's next on my list. I've recently read his 8th book in the series 8th Confession and I really enjoyed it.Let's Get Up To Speed.

So far in the series we have followed the life of homicide seargant Lyndsay Boxer and her friends solving high profile murder cases. The Women's Murder Club consist of the four female protaganists of the series Lyndsay alongside Jill Bernhardt, Dr Claire Washburn and Cindy Thomas. The series is later joined by Yuki Castellano an assistant district attorny.

8th Confession.

In this 8th book we are hooked into the case of an apparent street 'superhero' Bagman Jesus. Cindy is going to all ends to get a lifestyle story peice on him from the homeless after his gruesome execution that left him beyond recognition. Meanwhile Lyndsay and the rest of the SFPD are investigating the high profile case of the murders of serveral high society socialites whom have all seemingly died without anything being wrong with them - no posion, no wounds, no broken bones...who is stalking the celebrities?

Characters

Patterson has created a group of very likeable women with great professions yet still they are characters which are easy to empathise with as they too suffer from problems at home with relationships and family disputes. The characters develop nicely in 8th Confession but I don't want to spoil the story for you by revealing what's happened since when.

Readability

Like all Patterson books I've read the story is short, to the point with snappy chapters and simple language. I personally think this is effective for the crime genre as it enhances the fast paced world in which a killers mind works. The language is simple with short and snappy sentance structures making it easy to read and follow. I would suggest reading the previous seven books before picking up the 8th however, to get a real grasp on the story.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and it lived up to my expectations of Patterson's earlier books in the series. The book does feature a few gruesome bits but is a good all rounder. There are also sexual references so I wouldn't advise this particular series for the younger generation.

Price

8th Confession is on sale at Tesco as part of a buy one get one free promotion and can be purchased for £4.49 online at Amazon.co.uk at time of writing.