Helpful Score: 2
Brilliant! Patterson at his finest!
Four friends and wives end up in a bizarre murder case that will have you guessing until the very end.
Four friends and wives end up in a bizarre murder case that will have you guessing until the very end.
Helpful Score: 2
Real page turned. Couldn't put it down. Little bloody and violent, but not as gory as some of Patterson's books. Plot kept you guessing.
Helpful Score: 2
A quick and easy read that will keep you on the edge of your seat!
Helpful Score: 1
Four wives fly off in a helicopter no less for a Girls Weekend in Monte Carlo. Serena Schofield, a former U.S. Champion skier, she is the one footing the bill for this weekend. Her husband provides for her but it really is a loveless marriage. Bryah Gordon, born in Johannesburg under the oppression of apartheid, her husband is very controlling and at times physically abusive, so this is her first ever weekend away with just the girls. Winnie Brookes, an exotic Brit, beautiful inside as well as out. Her husband was in British Intelligence for years and now works at the British Embassy in Bern. Then there is Abbie Elliot, her husband is a diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Bern. She cant believe these women are her friends.
They are all having a fabulous time hitting the casinos and clubs, eating delicacies, drinking champagne, sitting by the pool, drawing the attention of many handsome men. Sounds like a wonderful weekend right?
When the girls wake up on a yacht surrounded by police they realize something awful has happened. They are arrested for a crime so unbelievable. The vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime.
Dollycass Thoughts
A few years ago I read that James Patterson has so many story ideas that he basically just writes about a 100 page outline for each idea and then passes off to a co-writer to complete. This formula has produced many bestsellers. I had read two books earlier this year by David Ellis and was very impressed with his work.
The theme of this book is interesting but there are just a couple of things that are keeping me from loving this book and giving it 5 stars. I am really starting to hate the 2 or 3 chapters at the beginning of a book that tell us almost word for word something happening later and then the story moves back to where the events started. It ruins the flow when you get to that part of the book and you think, I already read this/knew this. Then early in the book the readers are given a huge clue to what really happened and we keep reading until the characters realize the truth and have that aha moment. It takes away from the suspense.
With that being said I did enjoy the story. The procedures followed by the French officials, detectives, prison guards and the ease of buying certain ones off really showed the French in a bad light. I have never been to France or in this situation but realize being in prison is no picnic. What these ladies experienced could very well be true. It does make for a fine piece of fiction.
Patterson and his co-writers do deliver good stories. After so many and releasing so many each year I feel like they are getting to be rushed out to rake in the cash. This book will still be a bestseller because of Pattersons reputation but this really could of have been great with just a few changes. My recommendation when you read this book start on page 15 and only read the first paragraph on page 31. Then you will love this book!!!
They are all having a fabulous time hitting the casinos and clubs, eating delicacies, drinking champagne, sitting by the pool, drawing the attention of many handsome men. Sounds like a wonderful weekend right?
When the girls wake up on a yacht surrounded by police they realize something awful has happened. They are arrested for a crime so unbelievable. The vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime.
Dollycass Thoughts
A few years ago I read that James Patterson has so many story ideas that he basically just writes about a 100 page outline for each idea and then passes off to a co-writer to complete. This formula has produced many bestsellers. I had read two books earlier this year by David Ellis and was very impressed with his work.
The theme of this book is interesting but there are just a couple of things that are keeping me from loving this book and giving it 5 stars. I am really starting to hate the 2 or 3 chapters at the beginning of a book that tell us almost word for word something happening later and then the story moves back to where the events started. It ruins the flow when you get to that part of the book and you think, I already read this/knew this. Then early in the book the readers are given a huge clue to what really happened and we keep reading until the characters realize the truth and have that aha moment. It takes away from the suspense.
With that being said I did enjoy the story. The procedures followed by the French officials, detectives, prison guards and the ease of buying certain ones off really showed the French in a bad light. I have never been to France or in this situation but realize being in prison is no picnic. What these ladies experienced could very well be true. It does make for a fine piece of fiction.
Patterson and his co-writers do deliver good stories. After so many and releasing so many each year I feel like they are getting to be rushed out to rake in the cash. This book will still be a bestseller because of Pattersons reputation but this really could of have been great with just a few changes. My recommendation when you read this book start on page 15 and only read the first paragraph on page 31. Then you will love this book!!!
This book was one of the best books I have read by Patterson. I really enjoyed it. It was definitely a page turner. Kept my interest way into the late night. I found myself gripping the book and trying hard to figure the who what and why of it all. Very, very good!!
Only 2 1/2 stars here.
I don't feel like Patterson is the one that wrote this book.
It's hard to read due to all the french words, descriptions, etc. on each and every page. Nearly every chapter is just loaded with descritpions and you can easily just skim the pages and be done with this book in a day. I am glad I didn't spend the money for this and just waited my turn on the wish list.
Patterson is better than this!
I don't feel like Patterson is the one that wrote this book.
It's hard to read due to all the french words, descriptions, etc. on each and every page. Nearly every chapter is just loaded with descritpions and you can easily just skim the pages and be done with this book in a day. I am glad I didn't spend the money for this and just waited my turn on the wish list.
Patterson is better than this!
Fast-paced book. Enjoyable summer reading. Not quite on a par with Patterson's Alex Cross or Women's Murder Club series', but still well worth your time.
An interesting and fast read. I enjoyed the book, but it was not my favorite Patterson book by far.
I won't bother with reviewing the story line as so many others have already done so. I have read 72 James Patterson books. Some are very good, like The Jester, Kiss The Girls and Private, while others are DOGS, like Toys and some others. Guilty Wives is one of the good ones. I can usually figure out the end game of most mysteries, and I had figured out most of the this one, but Ellis did an exceptional job with Patterson's outline and delivered a great read. You won't regret picking this one up, and you may have trouble putting it down!
This is a little below Patterson's usual standard I think, though it is getting hard to see his hand on any of his 'collaborations.' The most interesting part of the book to me were descriptions of the high life, casinos, dancing and drinking in Monaco and France. Also the tales of the French legal system (while possibly not accurate) were interesting. Four spoiled wives out for a holiday run into a murder plot and end up abused in jail awaiting an unfair trial. There are a lot of twists and turns. The murderer(s) get caught, some of the innocent get vindicated and our heroine sees her children again. I found it hard to care about any of the made-up characters and it was overlong, but all in all not a bad read.
Hopefully, Jack Reacher will get to stay in this hotel one of these days.
Very enjoyable read. Great premise, great characters. A "who dun it" with no "who dun it"! I think I know who dun it, I know who I'd like to THINK dun it, but it's all kind of up in the air. Still, quite an enjoyable read even if it didn't go where I wanted it to go.
James Patterson did it again, a great book! If you like suspense read it!
This story was riveting from beginning to end. I became very emotionally involved with the story and the characters, especially Abbie. A great read.
this book is great read. i couldnt put it down.very fast read,typical patterson.loved it
I liked it but didn't love it.
Excellent story of 4 women framed for the murder of the French President in Monte Carlo. A look inside the very rich but nowhere perfect lives of 4 families.
The book was not at all what I expected from James Patterson. It was a fast read and I enjoyed it.
I normally LOVE his books.....but I think there was just way too much written about what was going on in the "prison".......and a few other moments in the book were
really long & overly drawn out .....book could have been just as good with a whole lot LESS words/pages!!! Still a good read if you don't mind repetition.
really long & overly drawn out .....book could have been just as good with a whole lot LESS words/pages!!! Still a good read if you don't mind repetition.
I felt it started slow, but it ended up being a pretty good book!
a little different than the usual Patterson books. I would have rated it a 5 if the ending had been more detailed.
I have mixed feelings about this book. Generally, I do not care for books set in prisons or about trials, and this novel is precisely about that! Four wealthy women go to Monte Carlo for a 4-day weekend without their husbands to relax and cut loose. There is little character development to distinguish between Abbie, Serena, Bryah and Winnie. Somehow their weekend of debauchery, cheating, and gambling ends in 2 murders, for which the four women are convicted and incarcerated. We know they are being framed, but we don't know why or by whom. Most of the book is about Abbie, how she is degraded and humiliated, tortured and mistreated in the French prison. The French come off as corrupt, lying, and violent. Miraculously, Abbie manages to escape and spend the last chapters trying to elude the massive manhunt, and to clear her name. One does keep reading to find out what happens, but this is clearly not written by Patterson, and barely resembles his books.
One of the best books I've read in a very long time that has many twists and turns. Keeps you on the edge of your seat.
I got this for my Mom who loves Patterson but she said this was the worse maybe it the fact he is writing with someone
