Review + Rant: The 6th Target by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

This should possibly be entitled "A Random Musing in the Guise of a Review."

Last word first: 3 stars. Definitely not the best of the series, but ironically the one that has me dying to get my hands on the next book. Read more below.

Would Joe like this? Yes.

Description: Book six of the Women's Murder Club series. This one starts out with a slightly crazy guy shooting a bunch of people on a ferry, and then sweeps into an investigation of serial kidnappings and another crazy guy stalking a condo building. But I'm not really here to talk about the plot.

My thoughts: I admit that I have been propelled through the series to this point largely by reading inertia; it was there, so I read it. Actually, I have a similar problem with dark chocolate, but that's besides the point. I enjoyed the books, but they weren't great enough that I would actually seek them out. I find that they're entertaining, but slightly disjointed and unfocused in a way that makes it difficult for me to really get involved in the series. After reading book 6, though, I am dying for 7.

Did the plot get better? Actually, I found that this one was more disjointed than most, covering a random series of events that never quite seemed to flow in a way that made sense to me. No, what drew me in was the addition of a fantastic plot complication: the love triangle. That's right, there's trouble in the land of Lindsay and Joe, and there's a new love interest on the scene. Fans of the series may have an idea who it is, he of the provocatively leaning on doorways, smouldering eyes (how exactly does one get one's eyes to smoulder, anyway?) and swooning secretaries.

Like the tension between Morelli and Ranger that has me coming back to Stephanie Plum book after book, this complication has me committed to find out what happens next. But, if you, unlike me, cannot be swayed by the desire to find out who gets together with who, you might want to skip this book, because it didn't have much else to recommend it. Hope the next one is better, plot-wise.