Customer Reviews

The 5th Horseman (Women's Murder Club)

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(46)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

The 5th Horseman, which is the fifth book in Patterson's best-selling Women's Murder Club books. It's hair-raising. It's fast paced, it's James Pattersons's continuing to string out best-sellers faster than we write checks. Lately his books have been hit or miss. This one is no different, but I'm sorry to say the things that still bug me about Patterson continue to bug me here and they probably always will so long as he keeps pumping out four or five books a year.

At the San Francisio Muncipal Hospital, people have been receiving the wrong medication which induces a heart attack. The latest victim to this string of "accidents" is Yuki Castellano's mother Keiko, who suddenly collapses. After she's taken to the medical hospital, she's given the wrong medication and suddenly dies. Just like several others. Lindsay Boxer decides it's time to investigate. It's been happening too much to be just an accident.

It isn't such a bad book. For the most part, it'll keep you on the edge of your seat. If you like fast-paced movie-like books, The 5th Horseman is perfect. It instantly grabs your attention and takes you away.

Again, however, this book is plagued by what just about every James Patterson book is plagued with these days. Where's the meat? The substance? There's a lot of plot, but what about characters and steady pace? The book, like many of his previous books, moves much faster than it has to. And because it moves so fast, there's little time to feel for these characters.

Look at it like this, Yuki Castellano was introduced in 4th of July, the previous book (which was much better than this one). We learned very little about her. Here, her mother is introduced right after the prologue. When the mother dies, Patterson tries to make us feel sorry for Yuki Castellano. And I probably would've if I actually KNEW Yuki. The reader doesn't feel for these characters anymore. Lindsay Boxer is perhaps the only character who gets developed. But the other characters of the Women's Murder Club (who ARE major characters) receive very little. Being stuck with these characters for 400 pages calls for some kind of development for these otherwise, underdeveloped characters.

The overall plot is pretty good, at least. Like I said, you'll be on the edge of your seat, but again, it feels very movie like. Everything happens so fast that there are times when the reader is left behind.

If I were to write a letter to James Patterson, I'd tell him to slow down. Ever since he began pumping out four or five books a year he's had to call on numerous co-authors, and his books have gotten shorter, despite them being 400 pages long (as many reviewers have pointed out, the formatting makes it that way). And along with being shorter, they're moving faster. Not only do things happen unrealistically fast, but they become unbelievable, and his characters are beginning to suffer as a result.

The 5th Horseman is a good book, but it lacks substance. Put simple, there's no character development anymore, and nothing falls into place logically. It's time Patterson slow down a little. Take time to flesh out his characters and his stories. He's established his credibility as a writer, it would be a shame for him to ruin it. I don't know about you, but I like a few spices on my book... the kind of spices that make me glad to be with these characters. The kind that make me say, "I sure hope nothing bad happens to her!" It's not here.

Believe it or not but this is my first Patterson novel (I did see the movie "Kiss the Girls" and thought it was OK). I found this book to be average entertainment at best. From reading this book I do not understand this authors best-selling status, Though I have figured out how he rights five novels a year. First he has a stable of co-writers who are doing the heavy lifting (Ms. Paetro in this case). Then you write very short 2 page chapters and have ridiculously wide margins. The book is 400 pages long but if it where laid out properly it would not be more than 200 pages. The book is more a comic book than a novel. This is McDonald's drive thru literature for the masses with short attention spans! Look, I am not a some literary snob, I love thriller/adventures/mystery but I want them to have some meat.

I am huge James Patterson fan but I felt he blew it with this book. There are too many subplots that distracted from what the book purported to be about. A serial killer in a hospital but we are given plots about young female escorts being killed. What in the hell did this have to do with the hospital murders. NOTHING!! They could have further developed this story for another book and made it more interesting instead of solving it so quickly.
The story about the doctor and the lawyer was interesting but which one the two writers came up with such a lame ending. After they had wrapped up the case with the two aforementioned characters, they probably found out they forgot about letting the reader know who the person was doing the killing and gave us some crappy ending in an attempt to let us know whoduit without ever really giving us a reason why. I had to go back and reread the chapters about this person to try and get a clue. How did this person get out of jail so quickly and move on to another hospital? And how did Lindsay Boxer know she would be there? Too many holes that needed to be filled in. I expected more. Next book I just wait until I can borrow it from someone else or wait until the paperback version comes out and get it at a discount store.

I found nothing in this book that would let me believe James Patterson wrote any of it. The story line is trite. The characters are flat, predictable and boring. For example, there is a chinese mother/daughter with the chinese mother trying to match (for marriage) the daughter with every available 'single' doctor, with the doctor protesting her "wonderful" old country mom. All the chapters are 2 to 3 pages in length - making it perfect to read in the loo. Many of the chapters say nothing except that the women are scared, or tearful, or worried, or ...

James Patterson should stop lending his name to books by every mystery writer that asks. I will no longer buy these books. His name only adds to the price - and they are expensive. If you want to read something by the co-author, find something where the co-author's name is the only one on the cover. Books co-authored with Patterson have come to mean poorly written and very expensive.

I have read many of JP books in the past. Many of the early ones I enjoyed. Recently both in his Alex Cross books and his others he has spent so much time on the personal afflictions and love lives of his characters that the meat of the plot is getting buried. It is almost as one of the other reviewers noted, he is writing just to fill pages. In this most recent attempt, I managed to listen (audio book) to about 1/3rd of the book and just gave up. The writing was so poor, and the conversations so stilted I was convinced it had been written by some high school student for a project. I see that this was a collaboration between JP and Maxine Paetro. Judging from the quality of the writing I think (or at least hope) that Maxine did most of the writing and she is only 15 yrs old? Come on James, if you are going to put your name on the book...at least make sure it is up to your standards. The plot might be there but if the writing is so poor as to make the book intolerable to read then don't put it out until it is right. Have sworn off of all future JP books until I see some evidence that he is actually getting back to his roots.

The Women's Murder Club has two crimes to resolve. One is the death of beautiful young women displayed in expensive autos. The other is a serial killer at Municipal Hospital - who has been at it a long time, but the deaths have not been considered murder until Yuki Castellano's mother is a victim and the investigation begins.

Yuki Castellano was introduced in The 4th of July and has the potential to be a strong and interesting character. Since she was paramount to this story, character development was absolutely necessary and completely lacking.

Lindsey Boxer's detective squad finds the clues that lead them to the Car Girl murders soon enough that only three women are killed. The resolution is surprising. Unfortunately, it is left to the reader to figure out why they are being killed. I have suppositions, as everyone will, but do not know the motive from James Patterson's point of view. It does not detract from the story, just creates a lingering afterthought.

The second mystery is the many deaths at Municipal Hospital, which is being sued by a tort lawyer for $50,000,000. If victorious, the bounty will be split between twenty complainants and the lawyer. The courtroom has some interesting scenes.

Each of the victims has a caduceus (button with entwined serpents on a staff) on their eyes. The hospital authorities hid this detail, but when Boxer is told about these buttons she finds thirty-two sets, soon to be thirty-three.

This is the second book in this series with the co-author Maxine Paetro. The problem with The 4th of July is repeated here; lack of detailed detective work in bringing the hospital killer to justice.

Still, I read the book in a day - and it is a page turner. Either mystery could have been developed more fully and been a success even though there was little, if any, suspense or titillation.

Finally took the plunge on reading a JP book. Had heard about his penchant for turning out novels by the bundle, with a formula and with ghost writers doing some heavy lifting in "assisting" with drafting. Sounded a bit mechanical to me.

Actual experience? No surprises. Another beach novel with little new to offer. Plug in some trusty characters and a storyline possibly plucked from Tv (ER?), and out comes yet another tome for the grocery store racks.

Sound harsh? Sorry. Feel free to write my review off as the jaded musings of an author (shameless plug, or fair disclosure, search for "Las Cruces", by JT Fisher, published 2005) who tosses up far fewer works, and is a bit put off by those who recycle characters extensively and fail to even attempt to bring forth any story elements worth remembering or capable of helping one see or understand or challenge their views of the world around us.

As a final comment, I'd offer to direct you to more compelling writing and thinking by people who can claim they actually wrote the full text themselves (see anything by Martin Cruz Smith, Neal Stephenson, or Edward Rutherford, for example).

Best of luck.

Through the other reviews, you're likely to know the plot by now. Newest Women's Murder Club member Yuki Castellano is devastated by the tragic, seemingly accidental death of her mother. As it happens, her mother is actually the victim of a killer who likes to play God with the lives of others. Running concurrently with this is a storyline in which call girls are showing up dead in abandoned vehicles.

"The 5th Horseman" is fiction-lite. The two story-lines have nothing to do with each other, and are probably only included so that the book can reach some designated word count. And it's already pretty brief as it is. I almost felt like I was watching an episode of CSI - two plots so that short attention spans can be kept alert, but no character development, nor any substance whatsoever. A nice clean wrap-up, with the knowledge that there will be more excitement in next week's episode. And considering how ridiculously quickly Patterson is churning out these books, it almost feels as if there's a new one every week.

But I enjoyed "The 5th Horseman" for what it was: empty, brainless entertainment that you can have fun with while it's there and forget it ten minutes after you've finished it.

I have been a fan of James Patterson ever since the first Alex Cross novel, but I've been really disappointed in the last few books I've read. The women in the Women's Murder Club just don't ring true to me. Their dialogue drives me crazy as it is very contrived and superficial. Nothing like the friendship between Alex Cross and Sampson where you can feel the depth of their relationship.

I also think the book moved too quickly, and Patterson didn't take the time to flesh out the characters or the crimes. Why were the patients and the escorts being killed? What was the killer's motivation? They also seem to have been caught too easily.

While the Epilogue tied up a loose end, again, there was no explanation of how Lindsay figured things out. (I don't want to be a spoiler, so I won't go into detail about that.)

While I buzzed through the book in a weekend, I wish I had saved it for the beach where I don't want to have to think too much while I read! I think I'll wait and take Patterson's next book out of the library.

James Patterson's plots move so fast that everything becomes a blur. There's no time for character development, no time to create an atmosphere. Let's just draw an outline and get on with it. Certainly a great many readers like him for that very reason, but I hope for a little more in a mystery/thriller.

This is probably the best in the Women's Murder Club series. The Club has almost disappeared, however. There are two main plots: (1) the murders of pretty young call girls who are then arranged in fancy clothes and expensive cars. Patterson disposes of this plot rather quickly. (2) the mysterious deaths of a hospital's patients. Neither story ends satisfactorily, in my view, especially the latter. As an aside, the reader would do well to read the book about Dr. Michael Swango who murdered patients in Ohio, Illinois, New York and even Africa. He is now in prison. His story is twice (nay, thrice) as scary as Patterson's fiction. The Swango book is "Blind Eye" by James W. Stewart.

Still, I read Patterson novels when I don't feel up to a book that will require my full attention. He seems to be able to crank them out in a constant flow. An important writer? No. He doesn't try to be. And sometimes that is exactly what I want to waste an evening