9th Judgement

Author: James Patterson

ISBN:

Better than 8th but still could be better

Reviewed by Kevin Hayes ( khayes2009 )

9th Judgement is the 9th book in the Women's Murder Club series. I still think book one of this series is my favourite, but despite (sometimes big) flaws, the rest of the series is good to, right up until book 8. 8th Confession was a joke. All the characters got turned on their heads, the writing was very high school, and the plots weak with little interest. I wasn't going to bother with this one until it was out in paper back, but my sister wanted it sooner, so having loved most of the series, I decided to give it one last shot.

In many ways, this is a huge improvement from 8th. It's got strong intertwining plots and the much more grown-up feel the rest of the series had before 8th again. The usual style for these books is two different cases, over lapping and sometimes connected, with Lindsay Boxer and her homicide team plus her girls, trying to solve them. There are two clear cases here, both of which get decent page time and explanation. Unlike JP's latest Michael Bennett book where it felt like barely padded plot, this one actually made sense. There was a reasonable depth to the story and it didn't jump around too much with great leaps of faith. If the book was these crimes alone, I probably would thought a lot more of it.

But for me, again, the characters were the big let down. Don't get me wrong, they're nothing like the high school idiots they were in 8th, they're much more themselves again. But Lindsay comes across much weaker and vulnerable in this book, like her job is suddenly too much for her instead of being her driving force like always. There are several times where she feels 'faint' and one point even where her partner has to catch her around the waist to stop her fainting outright. I'm sorry, but what happened to the tough, feel-but-don't-show Lindsay Boxer from the first 7 books? She used to get outraged and angry at scenes, now she's fainting. And no, she's not pregnant or anything, that much is clear.

And while this may mean very little to plenty of readers, I just can not handle the Richie/Cindy relationship from 8th Confession. It is just completely wrong to me. A cheap idea to suddenly through the partner (and second love interest) with the best friend. Having never showed any sign of anything to each other before 8th Confession, indeed before then Richie was head over heals for the Sarge, they're totally in love and 'perfect' for each other. Someone hand me a bucket, I'm going to be sick. I'm not a big fan of Joe either, but I can handle him if I must. Yuki had a new love interest in this book as well, with no mention at all of the mess they left her love life in at the end of 8th Confession. Claire gets very little page time too. And when she does appear, she's always angry and furious about the case involving little kids and their moms. Fair enough, but there is more to her than anger, and that's all we got of her this time.

The plots may have been good, and their conclusions satisfying, but the end of this book left a real sour taste in my mouth. There is an epilogue to this book, which to my mind, has no point at all. It is something completely separate to the rest of the book but involves this massive 'drama' for about a page and a half, for no reason at all. Pointless plot that goes no where and does nothing. Done for the shock factor maybe? Well, if it was, it doesn't succeed. If doesn't do much of anything actually, save annoy me further and make me very sure that I'm done with this series.

One thing I found a little strange, but not exactly in a bad way, is how the criminals got far more page time than previous books. All the WMC books involve getting the odd chapter from the killers point of view, but with this book, I think they get at least 1/3 of the book from their prospective. Maybe more. And actually, those parts of the books ran quickly and smoothly for me, for the most part, I found them far more interesting and better written than the parts from Lindsay. I shall continue to love the early books in this series, but no more. This one may be a huge improvement over 8th, but I'm still done with it. Had enough of watching the characters I loved being twisted in to other people cause hey, why not. If you're looking for a easy crime read, this will probably do just fine. If you can/do ignore character development and only really care about the crime plots and are a fan of most of JP's work, you'll probably enjoy this just fine as well.

Comments and feedback

Finished reading this review?

Search for more book reviews