10th Anniversary [Audiobook] [Englisch] [Audio CD]

The time has finally come. Lindsay is marrying Joe Molinari, the love of her life. After taking some time off after the wedding she is a little hesitant about her return to work. Changes are all-around, including a new lieutenant to answer to, Jackson Brady. Her first case back is that of Avis Richardson. A 15-year-old girl found collapsed in the middle of the road, bleeding out. It appears that she has just given birth, but apparently has no recollection of what happened since the delivery, how she got where she is, or what happened to her baby. Lindsay isn't so sure how honest Avis is being with her. She will have to push her hard in order to find out the truth. And hopefully find her baby alive.

Yuki has a make or break case on her hands. Dr. Candace Martin is charged with shooting her husband in cold blood. It appears to be an open and shut case, a sure, must-have win for Yuki. That is until Lindsay finds herself drawn into the case and starts poking around. Maybe things aren't as perfect as they appear to be. And Yuki's slam-dunk case may now be in jeopardy.

Cindy is basking in the glow of being head-over-heels in love with Rich, who just happens to be Lindsay's partner. Working as the crime reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. She knows in this day and age - with internet news and bloggers - that she doesn't have 100% job security. She needs to find that one big story that will make her stand out, and hopefully hold onto her job. She gets the inside scoop on reports of several women being found passed out near their homes, with no memory of the past several hours. Cindy uses her investigative skills and tracks down a lead that will put her in a very precarious position.

While each of the Murder Club women works her own case they offer their own brand of expertise to each other. They each have their own worries, both professional and personal. But they are always there to help and support each other. They are each others best friends.

My issues with 10th Anniversary are relatively minor. Lindsay, Yuki, and Cindy each have strong, independent stories, but we get only glimpse of Claire. Yes, she had a baby not too long ago, and maybe shying away from trouble for now, but I wish we had seen more of her. I also found it confusing that there was a second, albeit minor character, named Cyndi. Granted the spelling is different, but it can be confusing to the reader. I think with any character in a book, we develop a picture in our minds of what we think each character looks like. With the Women's Murder Club having been a TV show, the images of Angie Harmon as Lindsay have stuck in my mind. Don't get me wrong, I love Angie Harmon, but now she is the only face I see. And she wasn't necessarily what I pictured Lindsay to look like originally. This isn't the authors doing, obviously, but those of you who watched the show may have a similar issue.

10th Anniversary is typical James Patterson ~ short chapters, fast-paced storyline, familiar characters and cases that aren't easily solved. He realizes that, at this point, everyone is probably familiar with the women of the Murder Club and doesn't bother the reader with too much repetitive info on their pasts. James Patterson & Maxine Paetro do a great job of combining mystery, intensity, love, friendship, and suspense in this latest edition of the Murder Club series. While most may look at this book as a typical James Patterson mystery, I see beyond that, to what to me is the core of this story. The deep, unrelenting friendship that these four women share. A friendship that has survived death, kidnapping, dating your BFF's boss, and whatever else gets thrown at them. Looking forward to when they celebrate their 20th anniversary.

This has been a good series for James Patterson and we have come to love the characters. The girl's club seems to get a lot of good work done and they hang together as friends. This book chases the lives of the four ladies, Lindsey, Cindy, Yuki and Claire. The first three ladies are heavily involved in cases and they form the three plot lines that run through the book. Claire is relegated to a small role in this installment as she has recently had a baby and is thus not as able to get into the mysteries.

Lindsey catches a case of a missing baby. Fifteen year old Avis Richardson has been found wandering a country road near a lake and is bleeding out from having given birth and facing a complication. The problem is, where is the baby? Who helped her deliver the baby? Did they kidnap the baby after tricking the 15 year old Avis into selling the baby? Those are all questions that Lindsey and her partner will have to try and solve. The chase has lots of twists and turns and could have been a great stand alone story all on it's own. But because it is woven with two other plot lines it doesn't get the development it needs to become a fantastic stand alone. Instead it ties up a bit to neatly and predictably.

Yuki on the other hand is in the trial of her life as she is trying to get a murder conviction on Dr. Candace Martin for the murder of her husband. There are plenty of twists and turns in this story as well. Maybe even more twists than the other two plots. It is the more interesting of the three stories. Again, there is so much more that could be developed but because you have three stories going on at once you don't get as much development as you want. Who really killed her husband? Was it a hit man hired by a former lover? Was it the wife who is disgruntled that the husband has been and is having multiple affairs? Is it the kids nanny who is the current affair? Or is it the surprise witness that steps up to claim responsibility (this is the surprise witness and I won't spoil it for you)? Yuki has her hands full and oh by the way Lindsey steps in to meddle in the case while still trying to solve the case of the missing baby.

Then you have the third case, Cindy is running down leads and writing columns for the newspaper regarding a serial rapist who is terrorizing the community. She is getting close to finding out who the person is when she is, yeah you guessed it, kidnapped by the criminal, drugged and hauled off for what will be a night of rape and most likely murder. Will Lindsey and Conklin though be able to find Cindy in time to rescue her or not?

Now, add in to all of this the four love stories of each of the women's lives and you have lots of material to read, sift through and keep tabs on. Patterson is a good writing and he keeps your attention throughout the entire book. I didn't want to put it down. But I think that maybe there were just one or two plots to many for the book. Either focus on just one plot and build a better mystery or lengthen the book by a couple of hundred pages and give all three major plots the justice they deserve by more development.

While I only gave the book three stars I still think that you won't be disappointed if you are a James Patterson fan.

Enjoy!

James Patterson will destroy this series if he and coauthor release any more garbage like 10th ANNIVERSARY. This book was especially disappointing because the 9th JUDGMENT was a great book and one of the best.

The 9TH JUDGMENT featured an evil killer targeting mothers and babies and also a jewelry thief caught up in a murder. There were thrilling chapters from the killer's point of view and the two mysteries were linked an a thrilling fashion.

In this book, Patterson goes back to a formula from a few earlier books. He introduces three different mini-plots. None of them are tied together and none of them are original. Reading a book with 3 mini plots is like going to see a summer blockbuster at theater and they show a Law and Order episode instead.

There are 3 lame plots. A 15 year-old girl is found wandering the streets. She claims to have delivered a baby and can't remember anything about it. Lindsay Boxer launches a frantic search to discover what happened to the baby and whether or not the girl is telling the truth.

Also, women throughout the city are being raped, and not remembering a thing about it. Reporter Cindy Thomas takes the role of reporter/investigator to get to the bottom of it.

Finally, Yuki, the DA, is prosecuting a woman suspected of killing her husband. But, surprise! She claims to be innocent.

This book disappointed me because the stories were so unoriginal and uninspired. None of the characters were any real danger, except of the contrived nature.

Patterson's writing style of not going into depth in any part of the story means that none of the three mini-stories have any depth or characterization. While it has the usual character development of the four women, this is one you might be better off skipping.