Book Review: 7th Heaven

7th Heaven (Women's Murder Club Series #7)
THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC BOOK REVIEW, BY JAMES MYERS
http://www.theentertainmentcritic.com/
http://www.theentertainmentcritic.net/
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7TH HEAVEN (WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB SERIES # 7)
By James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Published by Little, Brown & Company
Publication Date: February, 2008
Price: $27.99
400 Pages
ISBN-13: 9780316017701
Four Star Rating ****

JAMES PATTERSON, THE SUBJECT OF A RECENT TIME MAGAZINE FEATURE CALLED, "THE MAN WHO CAN'T MISS,"

THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE PAST YEAR, BAR NONE

IN 2006, JAMES PATTERSON SOLD MORE THAN 12 MILLION BOOKS IN NORTH AMERICA

MORE THAN 12 MILLION BOOKS SOLD IN NORTH AMERICA ALONE. IN TOTAL, JAMES'S BOOKS HAVE SOLD AN ESTIMATED 130 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE.

AWARDS INCLUDE THE EDGAR, THE BCA MYSTERY GUILD'S THRILLER OF THE YEAR, AND THE INTERNATIONAL THRILLER OF THE YEAR AWARD. JAMES PATTERSON WAS NAMED "THE MAN WHO CAN'T MISS" IN TIME MAGAZINE

THE CREATOR OF THE #1 NEW DETECTIVE SERIES OF THE PAST DOZEN YEARS, FEATURING ALEX CROSS AND INCLUDING THE HOLLYWOOD-ADAPTED ALONG CAME A SPIDER AND KISS THE GIRLS, STARRING MORGAN FREEMAN.

THE CREATOR OF THE #1 NEW DETECTIVE SERIES OF THE PAST 5 YEARS, FEATURING LINDSAY BOXER AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB. THE MOST RECENT BESTSELLER IN THAT SERIES IS THE RECORD-BREAKING THE 5TH HORSEMAN.

THE FIRST AUTHOR TO HAVE #1 NEW TITLES SIMULTANEOUSLY ON NEW YORK TIMES ADULT AND CHILDREN'S LISTS, AND TO HAVE TWO BOOKS ON NOVELTRACKER'STOP-TEN LIST AT THE SAME TIME. JAMES'S FIRST FORAY INTO KID-ACCESSIBLE FICTION, THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES, DEBUTED ON THE LIST AT #1 AND REMAINED THERE FOR 12 STRAIGHT WEEKS. THE SERIES HAS SO FAR BEEN ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERS LISTS FOR MORE THAN 54 WEEKS

ONE OF A HANDFUL OF AUTHORS WHOSE SALES HAVE BEEN GROWING OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, EVEN AS BESTSELLING FICTION SALES HAVE BEEN SLUGGISH.

IN 2005 AND AGAIN IN 2006, JAMES PATTERSON HAD A RECORD FIVE CONSECUTIVE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING ORIGINAL HARDCOVER BOOKS.

THE AUTHOR OF NOVELS--FROM THE THOMAS BERRYMAN NUMBER (1976) TO HONEYMOON (2005)--THAT HAVE WON AWARDS INCLUDING THE EDGAR, THE BCA MYSTERY GUILD'S THRILLER OF THE YEAR, AND THE INTERNATIONAL THRILLER OF THE YEAR AWARD.
ONE OF FORBES MAGAZINE'S TOP 100 CELEBRITIES.

THE CREATOR OF THE BOOKS BEHIND SIX MOVIES ON THE HOLLYWOOD FAST-TRACK, INCLUDING THE YOUNG ADULT SERIES MAXIMUM RIDE, AN ADAPTATION OF THE CELEBRATED ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOK, SANTAKID, THE THRILLERS HONEYMOON AND LIFEGUARD, THE ALEX CROSS SERIES AND YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

HIS WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB SERIES HAS ALSO BEEN GREEN-LIGHTED AS A PILOT FOR ABC TELEVISION, AND COULD BE ON THE AIR AS SOON AS FALL, 2007.

FOUNDER OF THE JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNER AWARDS. TO DATE, $600,000 (OF PATTERSON'S OWN MONEY) HAS GONE TO REWARD “PEOPLE, COMPANIES, SCHOOLS, AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS WHO FIND ORIGINAL AND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO SPREAD THE EXCITEMENT OF BOOKS AND READING."

“Michael Campion wasn’t just a kid. He was to California what JFK had been to the nation. The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife, Valentina, Michael Campion had been born into incredible wealth. He’d also been born with an inoperable heart defect and had been living on borrowed time for the whole of his life.
Through photos and newscasts, Michael’s life had been part of ours. He’d been a darling baby, a precocious and gifted child, a handsome teenager, both funny and smart. His father had become a spokesman for the American Heart Association, and Michael was their adored poster boy. And while they rarely saw Micheal, they cared, always hoping that one day there would be a medical breakthrough and that California’s “Boy with a Broken Heart” would be given what most people took for granted-a full and vigorous life.

Then back in January of this year, Michael had said good night to his parents, and in the morning his bedroom was empty. There was no ransom note. No sign of “foul play”. But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone…

The case was still open, but everyone assumed the worst. That a kidnapping had gone terribly wrong. That Micheal had died during his abduction and that the kidnappers had buried his body and gotten out of Dodge.”


James Patterson has a history of writing popular, page turning novels. America’s most prolific author has given us yet another, top ten best selling novel in 7th Heaven. As one other reviewer put it, “...the first two chapters of this book should be set to the Mission Impossible theme.” Check out these storylines. First, California’s “Boy with a Broken Heart”, a teenage son of a recent governor disappears under mysterious circumstances. Michael Champion (a name curiously close to the word, “champion”) born with an incurable heart defect has grown up as an admired and beloved, unwilling public figure. Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner, Rich Conklin, have been assigned the task to find him, or at least find out what happened to him. The leads take her to Junie Moon, a prostitute who claims that after Michael’s disappearance, he came to see her on a professional basis, and died from the experience. Her boyfriend, Ricky Malcolm, then disposed of the body. Junie is prosecuted for murder by Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, who ends up against a nationally known defense attorney, L. Diana Davis, who gives her the trial of a lifetime. If that is not enough for Yuki to deal with, she has a reporter/author combination stalker on her tail, who seems to know way too much about the possible outcome of the case.

If that is not intriguing enough, Patterson and his co-author Maxine Paetro have a second parallel storyline going in this book. While working on the Campion case, Lindsay and Conklin are also trying to catch whoever is setting fires to some of the most beautiful homes and beautiful people in San Francisco, where the arsonist seem to select their victims as the rich and famous, who they leave tied up and alive in their homes while the house is on fire to burn to death. Lindsay enlists the aid and assistance of her friends in the Women’s Murder Club to help her find the arsonist. Suddenly, Lindsay’s own home is on fire.

Any one of these plotlines would be enough for any writer. Any writer that is except for James Patterson. Patterson weaves a tale of two high profile crimes, and a novel full of twists and turns, complete with emotionally jolting surprises that “the man that can’t miss” consistently delivers. Despite being the 7th book in the Women’s Murder Club Series, you cannot put this book down. His reputation as a prolific writer of page turners remains in tact. Right down to the shocking surprise ending, Patterson has us on the edge of our seats, shaken, but wanting more. This is the best murder mystery I have read so far in the year 2008. Suspenseful, fast-paced, this book is a firecracker. The book definitely gives you that “I gotta know what happens next” feeling. James Patterson is at his page turning best! That same reviewer wrote, “Just make sure you start early or don’t have to go to work the next morning. You’ll probably read this one straight through.” 7th Heaven comes highly recommended.