9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
First to a New Series
Date of Review: May 3, 2001
The Bottom Line: Another triumph for JP and his excellence in murder mystery writing. Perhaps another screenplay in the works.
OK OK I am an avid James Patterson(JP) fan so let me say that so that you know where I am coming from. For my time and money, JP is the best murder mystery writer today bar none. I have read not all, but many of his prior novels. Most of the Alex Cross series as well as some of the independent books.
First to die sets off on new ground with new characters so I liked it, but realize some die hard fans may wish for Alex Cross the old protagonist back. Some like the women's murder club style, I do not. That however doesn't take away from the rapid heartbeat of this thriller.
The basic plot is that someone is killing brand new brides and grooms on their special day of days. What a sick idea, JP always specializes in those. To make things more interesting this book appears to be semi-autobiographical in that the main character or suspect of the murders is a murder mystery writer ala JP. One of the interesting lines I found was from the murder writer suspect, "don't confuse what I do for a living(writing murder books) with the real thing officer." I don't know about you but, I always wonder what it must be like to be a JP or Stephen King and have all this weird stuff rolling around in your imagination. If you believe any the motivational books that say "as you think, so you shall be" watch out Ms Patterson. Or at least that's what appears to be going on with the main character and his wives and their sordid past history.
If you have read enough JP to be familiar with him you know the obvious is not the obvious. This novel is not any different. In fact knowing that makes it even better in that the primrose path you are lead down, you know is false, or is it? You know the suspect is too good a suspect and so are the clues and evidence. This makes for an even bigger BANG surprise at the end. I would never ruin it for you. It is worth every page turning minute!
