Death Reaches The Women's Murder Club In Patterson's 3rd Degree

When I read the front cover of James Patterson’s 3rd Degree which says someone in the Women’s Murder Club is about to die I knew I had to have the book. You see, I have become hooked on this series and have grown very fond of Lindsay, the homicide Lieutenant in the San Francisco police department, Jill, the assistant district attorney, Cindy, the metro beat reporter of the San Francisco Chronicle, and Claire, the medical examiner. I could not believe that so soon into the series Patterson would kill off one of the main characters. It isn’t as though there was a contract dispute.

The book begins with Jill and Lindsay out for a Sunday run around the bay area. Jill has a date and can’t stay to join Lindsay for a cappuccino. After she leaves, Lindsay is admiring an often viewed two-storied house sitting overlooking the bay and playing with her dog Martha when the house simply explodes. Quickly, Lindsay dusts herself off, calls for help and rushes into the burning structure to see if anyone is alive and in need of help. Risking her own life, she saves a child and, with the help of firefighters, brings him out to safety.

And this is just the first chapter. A quick thinking Lindsay notices a backpack on the sidewalk and immediately calls the bomb squad in. The package is hot, but only contains a radio and a note crediting August Spies with the house explosion. It was no accident; this family had been murdered. Soon they learn there is a missing baby. Frantic, the police put out a bulletin for a woman that Lindsay remembered seeing leaving the scene of the crime.

But the murdering wasn’t over. Soon it was another body in a hotel. It didn’t take police long to figure out that it had something to do with the G-8 Summit scheduled for San Francisco the following week. There was great suspicion that the cell of terror was located in the radical bastion of Berkley.

Soon the very handsome Homeland Security deputy director Joe Molinari is on the scene and working with Lindsay to try to figure out the case. Naturally, sparks began to fly. Another murder of a foreign dignitary in Portland led to a trip there. More than sparks were beginning to fly between the two. Back in the Bay area, people were beginning to panic. Had a radical group from the 60s resurrected to cause havoc in the city.

The back stories for this novel involve Jill who is now showing signs, picked up by Lindsay, of spousal abuse after the miscarriage (from novel 2). Lindsay confronts Jill then takes it to the group. They are amazed. Jill is distressed but vows to handle the situation herself. But Lindsay can’t leave it alone.

Huh, if I tell you anything else about the plot, I will spoil it for you. This 339 page novel is filled with surprises, heartbreak, death, and drama. While the characters are basically central to the drama, and Patterson lets us into the antagonists den, it becomes a matter of whether the police will put together the pieces of puzzle in time to protect the city and the Vice President who is scheduled to be at the G-8. The questions abound. What does a simple professor have to do with the radical group? What does August Spies mean? Why is Cindy being used a conduit for communication between the group and the G-8 (although the communications go straight to the police)? Is there a connection with August Spies in the Hall of Justice? Which member of the Women’s Murder Club is going to die? Will Lindsay pass up a relationship with this important member of the Washington establishment? Can Jill save her troubled marriage?

Patterson outdid himself with the plot of this novel. Not until the very end do all the pieces make sense keeping the reader turning the pages to find out why things are happening. And things aren’t as they seem. The pressure is on; so is the enjoyment. This book is a great read and has cemented my praise of James Patterson as one of the greats of the genre. It just doesn’t get any better than this.