synopsis:Lauren Stillwell, a homicide detective from New York, is happily married to a handsome finance advisor, Paul. One day she decides to surprise her husband, visiting him at work during lunchtime. She sees Paul going out with an unknown, tall, slim blonde. They enter a posh St Regis hotel and Lauren is left rethinking her marriage and her life from quite a new perspective – that of a cheated, ageing wife. She comes to some fateful conclusions. One of them is that Paul has stopped caring about her some time ago and she, being very busy, hardly noticed. The second one is that she needs some mood-boosting entertainment. Like a quickie or rather a one-night stand.The same evening Lauren pretends she has missed her plane and invites a handsome bike-riding colleague from other department, Scott Thayer, to have a late dinner with her. Scott, calling himself the most eligible bachelor on the whole NYPD, has been flirting with Lauren at work for some time now, apparently rather smitten by the older woman’s looks and not ashamed of showing his admiration. Although Lauren hesitates till the last possible moment, the evening ends up with them both going to bed at his friends’ flat. However, when Lauren’s husband appears outside, things get complicated. Lauren watches both men having a fight on the street and disappearing after a while in Paul’s Toyota.Next day Scott’s battered body is found in a Bronx fountain. The whole NY homicide department is looking for the culprit and Lauren is made the main investigator. What cheer. For the starters she finds out that ‘the most eligible bachelor’ was married and had three kids, one of them barely an infant. Then she finds his gun and his badge in her garden shed. Everything indicates that Paul knew about their flirt and killed Scott in a fit of righteous jealousy. Why doesn’t he want to admit it, lying to his wife through his teeth all the time?Lauren feels very bad about her role and the whole situation, especially after visiting the young widow and witnessing her grief. She is so depressed that she thinks about telling the truth to her partner, exposing Paul and herself, ending her career in shame, perhaps even committing suicide. Then her investigation takes quite a turn - she finds a huge stash of banknotes hidden in Scott’s locker and a DVD glued underneath his desk at his house, labeled ‘insurance’ – it seems that Scott, the raising star of the Anti-Drug Task Force, had more than one secret to hide…Lauren takes another fateful decision – to stand by her husband and cover for him to the bitter end, no matter what. Will she succeed? Will she ever manage to talk to him about the whole event at all? Will the truth set her free in any sense?What I liked:Although at first glance this book might seem just another novel about cops and thugs I admit it was very well-executed. The pace of narration kept you waiting for more but the heroine and the readers were given some breathers from time to time. Overall it was very pleasant to read. Lauren was a great character – funny, stubborn and definitely kick-ass, although she didn’t wield any katana and never donned leather pants. She simply never lacked the backbone, even when she was utterly disgusted with herself.I liked the most the fact that neither Lauren nor her hubby and coworkers were without flaws and the reality around them changed constantly, like in a kaleidoscope. It proves that you don’t need all the supernatural background to make a book riveting. The ending was satisfying although bitter-sweet and the amount of things Lauren discovered during her investigation I found really mind boggling. Not bad.What I didn’t like:Well, after reading such a book you will really think twice before trusting any man. Not exactly a cheerful or sensible conclusion but in my present state of mind one that, I admit, might save you a lot of trouble and pain. Some twists did seem a bit outlandish but overall I have no major complaints.I don't like the cover, though. It would be more appropriate for erotica stuff and I think is misleading a potential customer.Final verdict:It is not a classic whodunit and not a classic cop novel either. I enjoyed it very much and I recommend it to fans of both genres and also those who would like to try something different
The Quickie was shocking, thrilling, suspenseful and almost everything you would want in a mystery. The only thing this book was lacking is believability.Lauren's actions don't make sense to me. She cheats on her husband because she sees him on a sidewalk with another woman. Nothing romantic or suggestive is going on, but when she asks him about it, he lies. This gives her the green light to cheat with a man she's been cultivating a relationship with. Obviously, she is unhappy in her marriage and looking for any reason to stray. This I understand.When her husband gets into some trouble, Lauren is willing to risk her career and possibly even incarceration just to keep him from getting arrested. This I don't understand. She believes her husband is cheating on her. She's cheated on him as well. She sees him commit a horrible crime and she feels compelled to ruin her life for him. I spent the majority of the book dumbfounded as to her motivation.Lauren's need to protect her husband is the driving force being the entire plot of the book. If I could have looked beyond her bizarre choices, this book would have perfect. The Quickie is jam-packed with "holy hell, James Patterson did not just go there!" moments. The male characters in the book are so delightfully twisted, it almost didn't matter that I found Lauren less than realistic.
What do You think about The Quickie (2007)?
Lauren Stillwell feels like her life is crumbling when she sees her husband coming out of a hotel room with another woman. They have already been struggling with their relationship recently, a problem she partially attributes to their inability to get pregnant. As you can imagine, she assumes that this is an indication that Paul is cheating on her. The book could easily have been called You Know What Happens When You Assume. From this point on, Lauren rashes from one irrational decision to the next, creating a destructive spiral that will change everything.The first thing she does is an act of instinct. When a younger officer she works with at the New York Police Department indicates that she is interested, and they have a "quickie." Immediately afterward, Lauren steps out of the room and returns only to see Scott, the officer, murdered by what appears to be her husband Paul. At first she does not know what to do, particularly once she and her partner are assigned as the lead detectives to look into the murder of a fellow cop. From here on, the tale spins completely out of control as Lauren, a woman who appeared to be a dedicated officer, messes with evident, implicates witnesses, and starts threatening officials at different levels to protect her husband, with whom she has yet to confirm his involvement. The question is where this whole thing will lead since the reader has already seen how quick she is to make assumptions.I have to say this is the first book by Patterson that I hated. I know that it is purely me. I do not tend to like stories in which everyone in it has no ethical standards whatsoever. I have trouble having compassion for them, just wishing they would get their comeupance, and this story is exactly that. Everyone has a disreputable backstory that they are keeping quiet from those around them. I only kept reading because I was curious to see how everything would play out, only to find my disbelief at how outrageous the story kept getting. Soap operas have more realism.OK ... now that you have heard my perspective, it is only fair to say that all of the professional reviews of this one that I have seen have praised this as being one of his best. I guess it goes to show that I can be off target on this one. I will say the writing was up to Patterson's usual standards, and the story moves along at the usual quick pace. It is filled with tons of cliffhangers and lots of action.
—Aaron
Where to start? This was the worst book I've read in a long time, if not ever. First of all, none of the characters were sympathetic. I understand having flawed characters, but I should be able to love or at least like them in spite of their flaws. That was definitely not the case here.The Bronx Police Dept. is comprised of idiots if you believe this book. How in the world is the main character able to successfully hide or destroy so much evidence? Once I could buy, but over and over again?And w
—Purple Iris
I can always, ALWAYS count on James Patterson to rip the rug out from under my feet when I read one of his books. Even the ones I didn't really care for. With The Quickie, Patterson weaves a tale of betrayal and murder so tightly knit and intricate, the reader is left shocked and flabbergasted at the end. This book is definitely one of those that delivers an ending you never saw coming. Lauren Stillwell is a character any woman who has had an affair or a spouse suspected of having an affair can relate to. On the outside, she is a tough, hard as nails, take no prisoners, NYPD homicide detective. On the inside, she is a woman grieving over her inability to conceive and struggling with coming to terms with what her husband, Paul, is up to when she witnesses him entering a hotel with another woman. Unfortunately, she doesn't make wise choices and in a moment of poor judgment decides to have an affair out of revenge. Her spontaneous choice leads to disaster for Lauren at home and at work. I enjoyed how the story unfolds layer upon layer of bad luck with every decision or action Lauren makes. Just when you think you have figured it out, off comes another layer and once again you are blindsided by the result.I enjoyed the complexity of the characters. Throughout the story, I found it difficult to decide whose side to be on as the lines delineating the heroes from the villains are not clear. This story may not be for everyone as Lauren does hold the blame for the mess she finds herself in, but many readers should enjoy the creative and interesting way she resolves it.
—Sherri Hunter
