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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Audio Book Review - Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

A while back, I won the audio book Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro from Dar at Peeking Between The Pages (if you haven't...you should totally check out her blog). After several stops and starts, I finally had the opportunity to listen to it all the way through. I thought I would share my review with you.






About the Book (from the box):

A breathtakinigly beautiful supermodel disappears from a swimsuit photo shoot at the most glamorous hotel in Hawaii. Only hours after she goes missing, Kim McDaniels's parents receive a terrifying phone call. Fearing the worst, they board the first flight to Maui and begin the hunt for their daughter.

Ex-cop Ben Hawkins, now a reporter for the L.A. Times, gets the McDaniels assignment. The ineptitude of the local police force defies belief--Ben has to start his own investigation for Kim McDaniels to have a prayer. And for Ben to have the story of his life.

All the while, the killer sets the stage for his next production. His audience expects the best--and they won't be disappointed. Swimsuit is a heart-pounding story of fear and desire, transporting you to a place where beauty and murder collide and unspeakable horrors are hidden within paradise.

My review: I love James Patterson's work. His Alex Cross novels are among my favorite reads. I have also enjoyed many of his books that have not centered on Alex Cross, but I am definitely a bigger fan of the Cross books. I was absolutely thrilled to win Swimsuit and excited about having another awesome James Patterson book to listen to on the road when heading to visit relatives in Lake Havasu (I had finished Run For Your Life a while ago). When it came in, I read the back and decided that this might not be good for a road trip (thinking 0f my son being in the car) so I left it for those times that I am alone in the car. This was a good thing.

I digress...


This is the only James Patterson novel I had difficulty with. The violent scenes were stunning and graphic. I was rather floored by them. I am not someone who is easily put off, but it really put me off. I was exceedingly glad about not playing it in the car with my son. It caused me to wonder if it was James Patterson or Maxine Paetro who brought this edge of graphic violence to the novel. I do understand that their are individuals out there who are despicable, and do horrid things. It was just a little more over the top than I had expected. It worked with the book. It just didn't work for me.

The book seemed choppy in many parts. I felt like I was being ushered from one point to the next with nothing ever fully understood. I didn't get the opportunity to care about most of the characters in the book. I felt like I didn't even know them, and this is not usually the case with a James Patterson novel. I thought the beginning was good, but I kept wondering throughout the book just how Henri even got his hands on Kim in the first place. I wasn't too jazzed about the ending either. It just seemed like it was shoved in as the book was getting too long or something. There was no real resolution for me. I felt that there were things about the character Henri that we were just getting to understand and then it was over. I was kind actually more interested in what Henri's story was before he became this strange snuff-like murderer, but that was only grazed over.


I thought the reader, Christian Rummel did a nice job with his narration. He definitely had a good menacing quality to his voice. His reading of the female characters kind of all sounded whiney, but I can't imagine that to be an easy thing to do. I am sure if I read a story, all my men would sound like deep voiced monsters. :)

I would love to recommend the book, but sadly I can't. I do recommend other James Patterson novels and especially the ones that he is the sole author of. I honestly have never been disappointed until now.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Pam said...

I had a hard time with this one too. It was so violent. BTW, I have a contest going for I, Alex Cross right now. : )