Author: James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
Published: May 6, 2024 by Penguin
Format: Kindle, Hardcover 368 Pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Women's Murder Club #24
First Sentence: Six Months Earlier: I was late getting back from the men’s jail in San Bruno.
Blurb: Sergeant Lindsay Boxer, Medical Examiner Claire Washburn, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, and crime writer Cindy Thomas are celebrating at San Francisco's finest restaurant.
But before they can raise their glasses to both a birthday and a wedding, a violent assault interrupts their festivities.
Claire examines the victim. Lindsay makes an arrest. Yuki takes the case. Cindy covers it.
The case is complicated by the plaintiff's unreliable version of events - and the shocking reason behind her ever-changing memory.
As Yuki argues the toughest case of her career, Lindsay chases down a high-society killer whose target practice may leave the Women's Murder Club short a bridesmaid or two. (GoodReads)
My Opinion: The 24th Hour is a quick, easy read, lacking depth or intricate plot development, combining separate storylines—an assault (anti-climactic), ransomware (pointless), and three murders (duh). Each idea seems superficial as if they were put together just to meet page requirements and a deadline.
The conveniences within the narrative do not hold up. For instance, why would someone seeking a restroom be directed to an employee’s locker room via a staircase in a restaurant? The use of dissociative identity disorder (DID) or multiple personality disorder as a plotline feels overused and outdated. The hacker subplot ends abruptly, leaving readers unsatisfied. Similarly, the murder mystery lacks suspense—the shooter’s identity is evident early on, and the victim's backstories reveal predictable motives.
By the end of the book, I stopped caring about any of the characters. Even the members of the murder club are reading a little too singularly dimensioned and the wedding was downright boring. I'm not sure where the writing duo will head next, but it is time to step up their game.
Blurb: Sergeant Lindsay Boxer, Medical Examiner Claire Washburn, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, and crime writer Cindy Thomas are celebrating at San Francisco's finest restaurant.
But before they can raise their glasses to both a birthday and a wedding, a violent assault interrupts their festivities.
Claire examines the victim. Lindsay makes an arrest. Yuki takes the case. Cindy covers it.
The case is complicated by the plaintiff's unreliable version of events - and the shocking reason behind her ever-changing memory.
As Yuki argues the toughest case of her career, Lindsay chases down a high-society killer whose target practice may leave the Women's Murder Club short a bridesmaid or two. (GoodReads)
My Opinion: The 24th Hour is a quick, easy read, lacking depth or intricate plot development, combining separate storylines—an assault (anti-climactic), ransomware (pointless), and three murders (duh). Each idea seems superficial as if they were put together just to meet page requirements and a deadline.
The conveniences within the narrative do not hold up. For instance, why would someone seeking a restroom be directed to an employee’s locker room via a staircase in a restaurant? The use of dissociative identity disorder (DID) or multiple personality disorder as a plotline feels overused and outdated. The hacker subplot ends abruptly, leaving readers unsatisfied. Similarly, the murder mystery lacks suspense—the shooter’s identity is evident early on, and the victim's backstories reveal predictable motives.
By the end of the book, I stopped caring about any of the characters. Even the members of the murder club are reading a little too singularly dimensioned and the wedding was downright boring. I'm not sure where the writing duo will head next, but it is time to step up their game.
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