At uni now so hardly on here, may write some more reviews soon though!
At uni now so hardly on here, may write some more reviews soon though!
Member since:01.08.2007
Reviews:36
Members who trust:13
Beach road is a stand alone legal thriller by James Patterson. It revolves around a lawyer, tom Dunleavey, and a man he is trying to get off a triple murder charge, Dante Halleyville.
This book is an ideal summer read; it is only short and took just a day and a bit to complete for me. It is told chapter by chapter from one of the characters’ perspectives.
Background of author:
James Patterson is one of the biggest selling authors alive today, repeatedly hitting the bestsellers lists with every new book released. His other credentials include coming up with a slogan for Toys R’ Us.
He has collaborated with a number of co authors on his books, including Maxine Paetro, Andrew Gross and in this book, Michael Ledwidge. Andrew gross has now gone on from co authoring to release his own book, \'the blue zone\', which largely follows in the footsteps of Patterson. James\' Alex Cross series is one of the biggest selling series\' of all time.
Main Plot:
Tom has his own one – man law firm in East Hampton, which is a summer home for all the big celebrities. But instead of his clients being these people, his clients are the ones who serve the rich, the ones who live in near poverty.
Dante Halleyville is a basketball star in the making. He has been scouted by NBA teams and is about to make the list for signing by one of them. However, his friends get him into trouble and after a friendly basketball game with Tom and his friends, things turn ugly.
Dante’s friend, Michael Walker, pulls out a gun and threatens to kill Tom and his friends. Tom talks him out of the situation but later that night things take a horrible turn when Tom’s friends are found murdered.
Dante is charged with the murders and despite them being his friends, Tom agrees to represent Dante as he believes he didn’t do it. He manages to recruit his ex – girlfriend, Kate Costello, to help with the case.
There are several more twists before the jury reach a verdict, then afterwards there are some more twists that turn the book on its head.
Overall review:
This book is less a crime thriller and more a legal one, so is a bit of a departure from most of James Patterson’s books. The way the story is told is quite interesting I think, as each chapter has the name of the person who is telling their bit, and has most characters telling a chapter or two, so you get quite an insight into what each one is thinking.
It can be quite confusing at times, but the book takes on quite a big twist which I wasn’t expecting. It was completely different to what I was envisaging.
The book didn’t end how I would have liked it to have ended, but I had my own ending mapped out in my head and this one was still quite as shocking. Some parts of the book are a little predictable but I certainly had no idea if Dante would be found guilty or not, and if he actually did commit the murders until the jury reached their verdict.
I would probably not read this book again as I don't think I would achieve anymore satisfaction from reading it, but I enjoyed it thoroughly first time round and must admit I wasn't expecting to enjoy it.
As always this is a good solid novel by the master of the thrillers, and is well worth a read. It may not be as brilliant as his Alex Cross novels and will undoubtedly be compared to them, but as they are different in style you can forgive Patterson here and I give the thumbs up to this book. There is quite a big twist here that you may be able to see coming but I certainly didn't and it was quite an explosive addition to this book that really turned it on it's head.
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Tom Dunleavy has a one-man law firm in East Hampton summer home to billionaires ... more
andHollywood celebrities. But his clients are the people he grew up with the people who make a living serving the rich. When an old friend Dante Halleyville is arreste...
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Aug 21st, 2007
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