‘2ND CHANCE: WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB, BOOK 2’
JUMP TO SECTION:
- OPENING LINE
- PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
- THE PLOT
- THE AUTHOR
- THE NARRATION
- THE PRODUCTION
- QUICK FACTS
- FINAL THOUGHTS
- DISCLAIMER
- MORE BOOKS IN THE SERIES
OPENING LINE:
A few months after the events of ‘1st to Die’, Lindsay Boxer is ready to get back in the game.
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY:
This presentation features an exclusive special introduction by James Patterson.
Master of suspense James Patterson continues the Women’s Murder Club series with this sequel to 1st to Die.
The sensational killings that have rocked San Francisco appear to be unrelated except in their brutality. But detective Lindsay Boxer senses there’s some thread connecting them all. She calls her friends in the Women’s Murder Club together to see if they can discover what it is.
Working with Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas, Assistant District Attorney Jill Bernhardt, and medical examiner Claire Washburn, Lindsay discovers that there is indeed a link. Each of the victims had a close relative in a particular profession, a profession that sends a chill through Lindsay’s heart.
The partners in the Women’s Murder Club deduce where the killer is likely to strike next and bait a trap that can’t be resisted. But if their calculation is wrong, the consequences will be lethal. And there will be no second chance.
©2002 James Patterson, All Rights Reserved; (P)2002 Time Warner AudioBooks, a Division of the AOL
THE PLOT:
THE AUTHOR:
This is the first book in the series in which James Patterson has a co-author, and Andrew Gross is along for the ride for the next two. In terms of structure, it follows the same blueprint set by the first in the series, with one main plot line and a few other side stories involving the personal lives of the Women’s Murder Club members to fill in the gaps.
The nice thing about this structure is that it allows for a little better character development. Moments away from the main plot where personality shines through or background information is revealed are easier to keep track of when there’s only one story taking place instead of two or three, which would become the norm in future installments of the series.
THE NARRATION:
Out of the two narrators, I enjoyed Jeremy Piven’s performance a little bit more than I did Melissa Leo’s. Piven has a great voice for the brooding, angry and menacing characters that he is playing in this book. I was somewhat surprised to discover this was the only audiobook he has narrated.
As for Melissa Leo’s performance, there is nothing wrong with it in terms of her acting. The fact is that I thought Suzanne Toren managed to hit all the right vocal notes and give the right voices to the main characters in ‘1st to Die’. In Leo’s case, there isn’t much difference when She’s speaking for Lindsay, Claire or the others.
THE PRODUCTION:
There is some ominous music to open and conclude the book that manages to strike the right tone. The audio chapter stop placement is a bit disjointed, however. Skipping ahead one spot on the track might take you to the next chapter, might skip you ahead two chapters, or might land you in the middle of a chapter.
Unfortunately, there were some serious glitches on this track. There were several points where the audio played as though it were a CD that skipped, and another time where the audio went out for a few seconds. I submitted no less than 3 glitch reports to Audible on this book alone. If these mistakes are fixed however, it will sound pretty great.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Structure wise, ‘2nd Chance’ has a lot in common with the first installment in the Women’s Murder Club series. So if you liked ‘1st to Die’, then the chances of you enjoying this one are pretty high.
As for me, my overall grade is reflecting the fact that I thought the narration was a little weaker this time around, though I do always like when male and female narrators are paired up. However, most of the downgrade in score comes from the fact that the audio track itself was plagued with issues that ended up distracting from my enjoyment. This obviously isn’t an issue if you read the print version, but when grading an audiobook, audio quality matters.
QUICK FACTS:
Title | Author | Narrator | Publisher | Genre | Release Date | Running Time | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2nd Chance: Women’s Murder Club, Book 2 | James Patterson, Andrew Gross | Melissa Leo, Jeremy Piven | Hachette Audio | Mystery & Thriller | 03/01/2002 | 8 hours, 40 minutes | 6.25/10 |
DISCLAIMER:
A copy of ‘2ND CHANCE: WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB, BOOK 2’ was purchased from Audible for review.