Some of the old James Patterson faults are there, such as, a not very interesting sadistic serial killer who targets mothers with children. This sort of murderer appears in most Patterson books. Then there's a female cat burglar/lesbian with a cruel husband. She just happens to be romantically involved with the sadistic killer's wife. Weird. There are also obligatory heterosexual scenes that are thrown in for the fifteen-year olds who may read this book.
But there are fewer obvious errors of fact and syntax, silly errors that a good editor should have caught. And there are no insulting passages in bold lettering to tell the dimbulb reader that This Is Important. In the past these have been standard fare. However, the book runs about twenty pages longer than it should. The author had a very good final line and they kept right on going.
This is not a mystery novel. As usual Patterson lets us know from the start who the killer is. Thus, there are really no surprises. We know that the come uppance is coming up and we know who is going to get it. This would have been much better had we not known the killer's name and motive--a la Agatha Christie, for example.
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