Review of "Now You See Her" by James Patterson

As I've mentioned before I love James Patterson's novels. He writes short chapters and is able to keep the reader's attention by giving just enough detail to capture the attention of his audience without giving too much away to give away the ending.

We all know his most famous books have to do with the character, Alex Cross, but the most recent novel I read has a female lead. "Now You See Her" is about an attorney named Nina Bloom.

Summary:

Nina's past life was perfect - married to a police officer, pregnant, happy - until she found out something terrible about her husband and is forced to flee for her life.  Having successfully escaped by faking her own death, she is now forced to face her past when a case is put in front of her having to do with a man wrongly convicted and awaiting his death sentence. She knows he's innocent, but she has to decide whether or not risking her life is worth fighting for his.

My Thoughts:

I LOVED this book. Patterson does an amazing job with character development. The characters are multi-faceted and intriguing. Nina's husband is portrayed as a hero and the perfect man: handsome, charming, intelligent, an upstanding citizen and police officer. He saved Nina from jail, got her a job, and fell in love with her. There is, however, a much darker side to him that we don't see until it's almost too late. Patterson reveals the real man behind the mask slowly, and it's not until near the end of the book that the true evil of his character reveals itself. 

Nina starts out as a sweet and naive college student on spring break with her friends until she discovers her boyfriend is cheating with her best friend. She sneaks out and takes her boyfriend's car to escape her shattered reality when she loses control and hits a man. That night she meets Officer Fournier and her life changes forever. Throughout the first part of the book Nina stays sweet and somewhat naive until she discovers the truth about her now husband, Officer Fournier. This is when she takes advantage of the fact that a serial killer is on the loose, fakes her own death and goes on the run. Later on the reader learns Nina has changed her name (it was previously Jeanine), finished college and law school and is an attorney at a high powered law firm in New York City. It's when her boss puts her on a project to help free innocent people from jail that Nina learns of the case that sends her back to Key West to face her past. At first, she doesn't want to do it, but her conscience gets the better of her. She knows the man is innocent because she came in contact with the real killer during her escape from her husband. Now she's out to prove the real killer is still on the loose while an innocent man sits on death row. I love the development of Nina's character. She's a character who seems like a real person. We all start out innocent and naive until we learn better. The mistakes she makes causes her to seem more real because it's mistakes anyone could make, and her later perseverance to prove the innocence of a wrongly convicted man. She is amazing, strong, and resilient. By the end of the book, she's no longer the naive college student but a strong, independent woman. 


Overall, I found this book enjoyable, captivating and a quick read. I was so swept up in it that I finished it within 2 days and was actually sad that I finished it. Right now, I'm reading Patterson's "Pop Goes the Weasel," and so far it's another excellent book. Look for my review of that one next week. 

Brenda
Link to book:
Now You See Her

Long Chapters versus Short Chapters

Have you ever read a book with chapters so long you thought the chapter would never end? It can seem like the chapter goes on forever, especially when you're searching for a good stopping point. If you're like me you refuse to stop reading in the middle of a chapter. It's these types of books that I tend to fall asleep reading only to wake up having lost my place because the book has fallen onto the floor or my page is wrinkled from my face having laid on it. These are some of my biggest pet peeves when reading.

Then there are authors like James Patterson who write very short, concise chapters. While I love James Patterson's writing and do enjoy the short chapters when I need to find a good stopping point, his writing can seem a bit choppy at times, especially when he doesn't give enough time to a particular scene.

Overall, I prefer writers who know how to end a chapter successfully without being wordy. I love James Patterson's writing for more reasons than the short chapters, but they do help. Personally, I think the length of a chapter may not matter if the author writes well. There are those times I love reading long chapters, but they have to be able to keep my attention. 

Which style do you prefer and why? Comment below.