Title: The 18th Abduction
Author: James Patterson
Series: Women’s Murder Club
Published: April 2019, Little, Brown and Company
Format: Hardcover, 383 pages
Source: Personal copy
Summary:
The #1 bestselling female detective of the past 50 years is back.
Detective Lindsay Boxer and her husband Joe Molinari team up to
protect San Francisco from an international war criminal in the newest
Women’s Murder Club thriller.
Three female schoolteachers go
missing in San Francisco, and Detective Lindsay Boxer is on the
case-which quickly escalates from missing person to murder.
Under pressure at work, Lindsay needs support at home. But her husband
Joe is drawn into an encounter with a woman who’s seen a ghost–a
notorious war criminal from her Eastern European home country, walking
the streets of San Francisco.
As Lindsay digs deeper, with help
from intrepid journalist Cindy Thomas, there are revelations about the
victims. The implications are shocking. And when Joe’s mystery informant
disappears, joining the ranks of missing women in grave danger, all
evidence points to a sordid international crime operation.
It
will take the combined skills of Lindsay, Joe, and the entire Women’s
Murder Club to protect their city, and themselves, from a monster.
***Short & Sweet Reviews are
short, quick reviews. These will mainly be used for series books where I
have already done full reviews on some of the earlier books or for
books that I feel will suffice with a quick review. These will not be
used for review requests or blog tours.
My thoughts: This is definitely one of the stronger installments of this series I have read in a while and it’s a bit different than all the others. What I mean by that is that while the book starts and ends in the present, the bulk of the story takes place five years earlier…and if you aren’t paying attention to this, you might become a bit confused!
This book had plenty of action and some very intense, chilling moments. It definitely has a more serious tone, delving into the horrific war crimes that took place in Serbia. I loved that Lindsay and Joe teamed up, but again…if you are a long-time reader of this series and reading it in order as I am…the bulk of this book takes place five years in the past. My only complaint is that the other gals from the Murder Club seemed to be relegated to the backseat – they only got cameos in this one.
I am curious to see how the next book will be crafted as this was definitely a departure to the typical writing style we usually see from Patterson. It definitely worked here but will we be back to the same old in the next book or has he come up with a new structure for this series?
Books in this series:
1. 1st to Die 13. Unlucky 13
2. 2nd Chance 14. 14th Deadly Sin
3. 3rd Degree 15. 15th Affair
4. 4th of July 15.5 The Trial
5. The 5th Horseman 16. 16th Seduction
6. The 6th Target 16.5 The Medical Examiner
7. 7th Heaven 17. The 17th Suspect
8. The 8th Confession 18. The 18th Abduction
9. The 9th Judgment 19. The 19th Christmas
10. 10th Anniversary 20. 20th Victim – due out May 2020
11. 11th Hour
12. 12th of Never
