The NYPD Red unit is back for another high-thrills adventure, filled with both action and personal character growth. The 'Red' unit is pulled into capturing a serial murderer, labelled the HAZMAT KILLER when a high-profile political operative is found slain early one morning. With only a week left before a contentious mayoral election, all eyes are on the candidates and how the incumbent has handled the three previous murders attributed to Hazmat. After taping a confession for a past crime, victims are murdered and left in a suit to be found by authorities. With four seemingly unconnected victims, Detectives Zack Jordan and Kylie MacDonald are left to draw parallels if they hope to capture this killer before another body emerges. When a high-profile legal case turns out a verdict no one saw coming, Jordan and MacDonald soon learn of a potential fifth victim, whose been kidnapped hours after her release. While the killer is on the loose, their motives become clear in a parallel motive, all stemming from a childhood experience. While Jordan and MacDonald fight to bring justice to the streets of NYC, they each battle their own personal demons; Jordan, a former girlfriend who creeps into his mind, and MacDonald, who wrestles with a drug-addict husband. Can it all come together in time to save the next victim, or will this all end in disaster for the team, as well as their two brightest stars? Another thoroughly detailed Patterson novel sure to hook fans and garner new support for this sometimes wayward author.This novel defies the Patterson cookie-cutter process, with longer chapters and therefore more attention to detail. The story flows well and the mystery is equally as enticing as many of Patterson's former series. Karp injects an interesting spin, keeping the parallel authorities-criminal narrative, but delves even deeper into the back stories of both sets of characters. This helps raise the quality of Patterson's novels, which have suffered a bland sense over the past number of years.Kudos, Messrs. Patterson and Karp for your exciting novel. It will keep me curious for the third instalment of the series, on its way soon. When I Buy James Patterson, I expect James Patterson.When I began reading James Patterson a few years ago, I thought he was brilliant. I have bought most of the books he has written but I am getting to the stage where I do not believe James Patterson has anything to do with the writing of the far-too-many collaborative books that are now being churned out under the James Patterson name. The pace, the wit, the tension, the character depth, and the really good plot twists of the early books are all missing. What exactly are we getting for our money here? Does James Patterson simply allow another author to write under his name for a percentage of the royalties without actually doing much in the way of writing or plotting to earn that percentage?To give him his due, Marshall Karp writes a reasonably good story and if he had written this book solely under his own name I probably might have enjoyed it more. But because I bought it as a James Patterson book, I was very aware that the writing was more sluggish than I was familiar with, the so-called wise-cracking was stilted, and the plot was thin.Sorry, no more Pattersons for me. These collaborations smack too much of a cynical ploy to squeeze more and more money out of the fans he won with his early work. To my mind, Patterson is now resting lazily on his laurels and what he is doing is nothing less than deceitful.
What do You think about NYPD Red 2 (2014)?
Another good suspense book by James Patterson. Enjoyed it once I got into it.
—Zigzag
Much better than the first in the series. Good read.
—bloom469
