I read this book during the week of the 4th of July and found it to be a good beach read, but not one of Patterson's best. There were some interesting twists and turns, but it wasn't a nail biter like so many of his other books are. The dialogue between the characters was less than stimulating, but fortunately the storyline was better. And as always, the surprise ending was a surprise. Not in a knock-your-socks-off kind of way, but a surprise all the same.

This was good, and had some twists and turns that I didn't expect. However, the ending left a lot to be desired...it seemed like it wrapped up entirely too quickly and left some unanswered questions into motive and consequences. However, it was a good addition to the Women's Murder Club series!!

I read this in two sessions. I have really been drawn in to the characters in this series and just needed to know what was going to happen!

To get to an "average" novel length, SF cop Lindsay Boxer is involved in two stories at once. While she is being sued for wrongful death in her police work, she also helps solve a serial killer case that goes back ten years to her first police homicide case. It was an exciting read; I will probably read more of his work.

In "4th of July", the fourth installment of Patterson's Women's Murder Club, SFPD homicide detective Lindsay Boxer finds herself on trial for her professional life. A pull-over after a wild car chase goes entirely sour and results in Lindsay killing a female minor and seriously wounding a male minor condemning him to life as a wheelchair-confined machine-assisted quadriplegic. Boxer finds herself staring down the barrel of a lawsuit for "wrongful death, excessive use of force, and professional misconduct" filed by the parents with a potential price tag of $100 million in damages. While Boxer's attorney, Yuki Castellano, the newest initiate to the Women's Murder Club, is outwardly poised and confident that she can clear her client, the trial's outcome is far from certain and Patterson has treated us to some truly electric courtroom drama!

Plot number two - on administrative leave to deal with the trial, Boxer has sought seclusion in the quaint town of Half Moon Bay. But the peaceful quiet of her chosen cloister is shattered as the town's residents are menaced by a series of brutal murders. Boxer twigs to an uncanny resemblance to an unsolved John Doe murder from very early in the rookie stages of her career and she reaches the decision to involve herself in the investigation. From that point, Patterson takes Boxer, the local police force, Half Moon Bay's local population and his unsuspecting readers careening down a taut, tension-filled road that's chock-a-block full of twists and turns and slams us all into a climax that nobody but nobody will see coming.

While the two plots are very loosely connected only through the literary device of Boxer's administrative leave, they are cleverly juxtaposed and the two stories become nicely crafted into a seamless whole. Story #2 is a typically well-done thriller that easily succeeds in fulfilling any expectations Patterson fans will have as a result of his long list of past best-sellers but I think Story #1 is the more interesting of the two. Not your typical thriller brain candy, Patterson raises some serious hot-button issues related to minors and violent crime that won't leave a single reader sitting on the sidelines. As I read, there was more than one occasion on which my own opinions on the issues surfaced and I found myself getting quite warm under the collar. Well done, Patterson!

While I look forward to the next two Women's Murder Club novels, "The 5th Horseman" and "The 6th Target", it is my critical hope that Patterson will return to the original style of "1st to Die" and let the entire club figure more prominently in the novels and the solution to their plots. "4th of July" was clearly a Lindsay Boxer novel with the other members of her "club" being granted no more than token cameo walk-ons.

That said, "4th of July" worked well and comes recommended from this reader. Enjoy!

I love, love, love this series! This has got to be the best one yet! I can't wait to read #5! This is a page turner to the very end and kept me guessing every step of the way! Started it Monday afternoon and if I hadn't needed to go to bed so I could get up for work I would have finished it.. I couldn't wait to get back to it and I wasn't disappointed! I've never cared much for Patterson until this series!

I love this series! A great read with surprises.

Great book. 4th in the Women's Murder Club series. Kept you guessing until the very end who the killer was. Never saw it coming.

Another great book by James. The 4th book I believe in the Murders Club group of women. You will enjoy it.

Another excellent book by James Patterson. I really like this series and hope he keeps writing them!

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Very interesting twist at the end. Keeps you turning pages!

A fast paced police procedural. It's interesting that the chapters are only 3 pages long but the text keeps you reading to the end. Lindsey Boxer, one of the Murder Club members is trying to 'chill' during a tense court case. She tries to relax at her sister's house and falls into the middle of a serial murder case that she recognizes as similiar to a cold case she never could solve.

A page turner. I love a good mystery!

Although this book takes Lindsay away from the rest of Women's Murder Club, I still was hard pressed to put the book down.

I have all 8 of the Women's Murder Club books. This is a brand new book that I was given as a gift and I already had the hard cover. It is truly a real Patterson thriller. He is a top notch writer and proves it in all his novels.

Excellent fourth book in the Women's Murder Club series. I highly recommend it.

Good Read

Another great, can't put it down, book from Patterson

Another awesome Womens Murder Club Mystery. The short chapters make the books awesome, and so easy to read. They books are impossible to put down the way it is. James Patterson has created a series for women about some amazing women.

Excellent!

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