Wednesday, March 23, 2016

The Murder House

Title: The Murder House
Author: James Patterson and David Ellis
Published: September 28th 2015 by Little, Brown and Company)
Format: Hardcover, 451 pages
Genre: Suspense

The locals know 7 Ocean Drive in the Hampton’s as the murder house. It has been the scene of multiple murders over the years. The most recent deaths involve a Hollywood producer and his girlfriend.

Jenna Murphy has returned to the area for a fresh start. She was a detective in New York City and after an unfortunate incident, the only job that she can get is with her uncle at the Southampton Town Police Department –the same jurisdiction as the murder house. The last time that she was here was as a young girl, she did not know why her family had never come back and no one thought to give her the answer. That is until after her uncle’s untimely death and the nightmares once again take over Jenna’s life.

Noah Walker, described as a combination of Matthew McConaughey and surfer Jesus, is charged with the deaths and as Jenna digs deeper, she realizes that the stories are not adding up. This writing team throws in enough twists that the reader begins to questions who are the good guys in this tale. Jenna tells us early on that she is always attracted to the bad boys, but with so with many to choose from, the reader is bouncing back and forth with multiple possibilities. From Noah, to Issac to Aidan to that other guy, the reader is constantly putting on their Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat trying to figure this all out.

As I reached the end, I was hoping for one last twist, one seemingly out of left field moment and I was not disappointed. I had wondered if this was a possibility, but thought that maybe there was something else. Something that could otherwise explain what had happened years before.

Patterson books can be hit or miss with me and this definitely was a hit. Good characters, good plot and just enough twists to keep me reading.

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