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157 of 172 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DO NOT MISS THIS!, July 3, 2007
Lauren Stillwell is living every woman's dream...she has a loving husband, a beautiful home and a great job. Lauren has it all until the day she surprises her husband for lunch and catches him with another woman. After Lauren casually asks her husband about his lunch, and he lies about it, she decides it's time for her to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Lauren planned on a "quickie," a night of sex with no strings. However, her night of passion turns deadly when she witnesses a brutal murder. Lauren must uncover the truth at all costs if she is to save her job, her marriage, and even her life.
I will not go into any more of the plot in order to keep the surprises intact, but trust me, when it's revealed what Lauren does for a living, who her one night stand is, and who the murderer is you will be floored and propelled to keep reading. Considering all this takes place in the first 60 pages, readers are treated to 300 more twist-filled pages that shock at every turn.
`The Quickie' is not only one of the best Patterson books, it's one of the best thrillers this year. There are so many plots twists and surprises even the most jaded readers will be thrilled
James Patterson has proven, once again, that he is THE master of an un-put-downable read. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE it's excellent.
A MUST read!
Nick Gonnella
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87 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great Patterson book, the best in years!, July 11, 2007
Every James Patterson fan has a right to be skeptical when he releases a new book. Will it be any good or will it be too similar to many of the recent books he's released. I became hooked on Kiss the Girls and devoured every Patterson book I could find. Now, Patterson churns out 4-5 books a year. I keep reading because most are pretty good, only a few are horrible, and every once in awhile, Patterson captures some of the old magic. As for his most recent books, Cross was really good, Step on a Crack was horrendous, and the 6th Target could have been much better if it had told one big story instead of 3 small ones. I had no expectations when I picked up and begin reading "The Quickie." This book with the strange title had me hooked from the beginning and trying to make time to read this book as fast as I could.
Lauren is married to Paul. One day, she drives downtown hoping to surprise him at lunch. She spots him going into a hotel with a georgeous young blonde. This betrayal tears her apart and of course allows her to justify having her own fling with a coworker. That's as much of the plot as I'll give away. Let's just say that once Lauren has the quickie, an amazing amount of things go wrong. Lauren is faced with many decisions and dilemmas that force her to decide what really matters in her life.
The plot hooked me from the beginning and carried me through the novel. Still, as I read I kept hoping the characters would be worth caring for. For awhile, none of the characters are sympathetic. Is Lauren good or bad? What about her husband Paul? What about Scott Thayer, the man Lauren has the affair with? But don't worry, Patterson (and random co-author) know what they are doing. The book hurls twists and turns at you to where you are never sure about Lauren's plans to survive the disaster she created by having that one "quickie." There aren't any cheap plot gimmicks used either. This is a straight up thriller.
This is the best stand-alone Patterson book I've read in a long time. Honeymoon and Beach Road were bad, while Lifeguard was pretty good. I recommend this book to all Patterson fans who may have given up on the author. If you are considering reading Patterson for the first time, I recommend starting at the beginning of the Cross books or read this one. You won't be disappointed.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, but somewhat flawed..., April 16, 2008
The only James Patterson book I have ever read is Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. I have never read any of his thrillers, which is what he's known for. I picked up The Quickie, co-authored by Michael Ledwidge, on a whim while I was browsing the new paperbacks section at the bookstore. Even though I wouldn't call this novel brilliant or clever, it is definitely entertaining and will probably enable me to pick up other Patterson thrillers in the future. Lauren Stillwell's world shatters when she sees her husband sneaking off during lunchtime to meet with another woman. How could he do that to her after all they've been through together? But instead of confronting him and throwing a tantrum, she does something else -- she evens the score by sleeping with a colleague she's had a crush on for a long time. Little had she known the can of worms she has opened by doing such a thing. She catches her husband killing her lover, and now she has to do the sort of unethical things she thought she would never do -- trample with evidence, lie to people -- in order to cover her husband's tracks and save her job, not to mention avoid involving the media at all cost. But things get more complicated for Lauren when twists, turns and flooring discoveries and events unfold.
This novel lives by its name. It is definitely a quickie and I wasn't bored throughout the riveting read. The chapters are very short, something I noticed in Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, which make reading this book a breeze. The characters are all well-defined. Many reviewers complained that the characters, especially the heroine, are all flawed and have unlikable qualities. I for one appreciate reading a book whose heroine isn't a perfect, moral, Law and Order type, but a flawed and at times selfish person who is looking after herself and her loved ones. (For no matter how much she claims she is also looking after Scott's family's best interest, her motives are more selfish than that.) The things she allows to happen and the things that occur for omitting her husband's crime are awful, but I felt for Lauren and her dilemma. The somewhat ironic twist at the end is great, but the resolution is glossed over and is tied up a little too neatly for my liking. I won't go into further detail because I don't want to post any spoilers, but I'm sure that those who have read this novel will agree with me on that account. All in all, The Quickie is entertaining from beginning to end. It's nothing special, but it serves its purpose as a good thriller. This is the perfect spring/summer "quickie."
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