The 5th Horseman by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (2006, Hardcover)

The 5th Horseman, which is the fifth book in Patterson's best-selling Women's Murder Club books. It's hair-raising. It's fast paced, it's James Pattersons's continuing to string out best-sellers faster than we write checks. Lately his books have been hit or miss. This one is no different, but I'm sorry to say the things that still bug me about Patterson continue to bug me here and they probably always will so long as he keeps pumping out four or five books a year.

At the San Francisio Muncipal Hospital, people have been receiving the wrong medication which induces a heart attack. The latest victim to this string of "accidents" is Yuki Castellano's mother Keiko, who suddenly collapses. After she's taken to the medical hospital, she's given the wrong medication and suddenly dies. Just like several others. Lindsay Boxer decides it's time to investigate. It's been happening too much to be just an accident.

It isn't such a bad book. For the most part, it'll keep you on the edge of your seat. If you like fast-paced movie-like books, The 5th Horseman is perfect. It instantly grabs your attention and takes you away.

Again, however, this book is plagued by what just about every James Patterson book is plagued with these days. Where's the meat? The substance? There's a lot of plot, but what about characters and steady pace? The book, like many of his previous books, moves much faster than it has to. And because it moves so fast, there's little time to feel for these characters.

Look at it like this, Yuki Castellano was introduced in 4th of July, the previous book (which was much better than this one). We learned very little about her. Here, her mother is introduced right after the prologue. When the mother dies, Patterson tries to make us feel sorry for Yuki Castellano. And I probably would've if I actually KNEW Yuki. The reader doesn't feel for these characters anymore. Lindsay Boxer is perhaps the only character who gets developed. But the other characters of the Women's Murder Club (who ARE major characters) receive very little. Being stuck with these characters for 400 pages calls for some kind of development for these otherwise, underdeveloped characters.

The overall plot is pretty good, at least. Like I said, you'll be on the edge of your seat, but again, it feels very movie like. Everything happens so fast that there are times when the reader is left behind.

If I were to write a letter to James Patterson, I'd tell him to slow down. Ever since he began pumping out four or five books a year he's had to call on numerous co-authors, and his books have gotten shorter, despite them being 400 pages long (as many reviewers have pointed out, the formatting makes it that way). And along with being shorter, they're moving faster. Not only do things happen unrealistically fast, but they become unbelievable, and his characters are beginning to suffer as a result.

The 5th Horseman is a good book, but it lacks substance. Put simple, there's no character development anymore, and nothing falls into place logically. It's time Patterson slow down a little. Take time to flesh out his characters and his stories. He's established his credibility as a writer, it would be a shame for him to ruin it. I don't know about you, but I like a few spices on my book... the kind of spices that make me glad to be with these characters. The kind that make me say, "I sure hope nothing bad happens to her!" It's not here.

THE 5TH HORSEMAN by James Patterson
is a great addition to this women's murder mystery series.
When alot of deaths start occuring at an area hospital, they are sued by the surviving families for malpractice. This leads to some great court scenes and new characters. The mother of Lindsay Boxer's friend, Yuki, unexpectedly dies in this hospital even though she was in stable condition. It is a huge heartbreak for Yuki. It is later brought to Lieutenant Boxer's attention that the hospital has been covering up that the victims have been found with buttons over there eyes, possibly the mark of a serial killer? The Women's Murder Club: Boxer, Claire, Cindy & Yuki decide to investigate for themselves. Are these deaths happening because of mistakes or is it a case of murder!?!
Be prepared for a twist ending.

This book is the 5th in a series written by James Patterson centering on a Lindsey Boxer, a female San Francisco PD detective, and her friends that are all career women in related fields. They are known as “The Women’s Murder Club”. Being a woman, I usually feel drawn to books and series with female characters and have enjoyed most of the other Patterson novels that I have read. However, I felt as though the author was getting tired of the characters in this particular series. The booked spent too much time with subplots, rather than developing the characters he has introduced us to the earlier stories.

One of these characters is Yuki Castellano the daughter of one of the murder victims which prompts the Club’s involvement with this particular case. Yuki is a new character, just introduced in the last novel, and we have not had time to come to know her well enough to be emotionally involved with her, or to have enough back story on her to make some of the story lines in this book engaging.

It may be that this book will prove to be an anomaly in the series and subsequent ones will again totally engage me, but Patterson’s use of guest authors would lead me to doubt it. I would not recommend this book to others that have not read the earlier books in the series, and don"t consider it a must read for those already involved with the characters.

This is the much anticipated 5th book in the Womans Murder Club Series! Although I want to say that this is another "Quick Patterson Read", like I always do, I want to add that it is just that, and them some. Like his previous novel, The 4th of July, Patterson adds the intensity of a courtroom drama as well as adding the mystery of a medical thriller. I'd say he did it well, and I can see a movie somewhere on the horizon. The idea of bringing a serial killer inside of a hospital is a good one, and how the lawsuits and courtroom drama connect to it. The ending is definitely the twist.

The neat thing about this book as well as the others is that it is possible for new readers to pick them up and not be totally lost. Of coarse there are story lines between the books, but Patterson does well to "re-introduce" the characters without starting from scratch.

Like many of his other books, there is little left to the imagination. There really isn't much thought to it. They are "made for TV" books. If the book was a meal, the 5th Horseman would simply be the desert.

James Patterson is my most favorite author in the whole world. If you like these kinds of books you will love him. He is always on the best sellers list on all of his books. I am trying to collect them all but haven't read this one yet. I was so excited to get this hardcover for such a good price before it even went to paperback. I have a bunch of his paperbacks and am working on as many of the other books I don't have in hardbacks if I can like all of his recent new ones like, Beach Road", "4th of July", this one of course and I put in a pre-order for his newest one which comes out today I think called "Cross".
The Alex Cross series is really good. Did I sell you on his books yet lol. Go to his web site www.JamesPatterson.com and you can read all about it and see all of his books. He must have at least 30 of them. I am close to having them all, goody, goody :)