Three plots keep readers guessing

In this, the 13th and latest of the Women’s Murder Club series, James Patterson again shows that in teaming up with a strong string of co-authors, he has landed a winning formula.

Patterson wrote the first in the series himself, then teamed up with Andrew Gross for the next two and with Paetro for the rest. The Women’s Murder Club also became a TV series which aired from October 12, 2007, to May 13, 2008.

Unlucky 13 is action from cover to cover.

On the home front an apparent traffic accident morphs into a series of “belly bombs” when a leading hamburger chain is targeted with nano technological two-phase explosives introduced into their ground beef.

On the high seas pirates strike a cruise vessel off the coast of Alaska, where one of the club’s members, Yuki Castellano, is celebrating her honeymoon.

And hovering in the background is escaped killer Mackie Morales who circles ever closer to the book’s chief protagonist, Lindsay Boxer. For Morales revenge definitely does not entail digging two graves. It is a sweet feast to be savoured at leisure.

Some readers might find three simultaneous plots in the same book a little disconcerting. Some might suggest that the subject matter could comfortably spawn three separate books – or that Unlucky 13 could have been made longer so that more time could be devoted to each sub-plot.

They may be right. However, this critic feels that the tri-plot device nicely serves to reduce any ennui which might follow 12 books about, after all is said and done, four women coffee klatching.

This is a cosy-up-to-the-fireside read which is there to be enjoyed for the familiarity of its characters. The destination is a given – it’s only the journey that is interesting.