An October with James Patterson

From the Publisher…

~Paris is stunning in the summer~

NYPD detective Jacob Kanon is on a tour of Europe’s most gorgeous cities. But the sights aren’t what draw him–he sees each museum, each cathedral, and each cafe through the eyes of his daughter’s killer.

~The killing is simply marvelous~

Kanon’s daughter, Kimmy, and her boyfriend were murdered while on vacation in Rome. Since then, young couples in Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Stockholm have been found dead. Little connects the murders, other than a postcard to the local newspaper that precedes each new victim.

~Wish you were here~

Now Kanon teams up with the Swedish reporter, Dessie Larsson, who has just received a postcard in Stockholm–and they think they know where the next victims will be. With relentless logic and unstoppable action, The Postcard Killers may be James Patterson’s most vivid and compelling thriller yet.

From Me…

I love James Patterson. I love how his stories take you along like a roller coaster, with all of the twists and turns.  I love the way his mind works, especially since I can never figure him out. In this book, Postcard Killers, he continues to tell stories of truly evil people doing unthinkable things.  Which is why his books are great Halloween fun.

This book is set in multiple European countries, making it fun for me. I mean there’s an Eiffel Tower on the cover, and I don’t know if u realize this, but I love Paris!!! 😉

Besides the setting, there were many things to love about this book. The story was sufficiently creepy, think Criminal Minds, and surprisingly emotional.  The protagonist, Detective Kanon, is a father whose daughter was killed by the postcard killers.  He is obsessed with finding her murderer(s), to the point that he sacrifices his entire life to trailing them.  At times his journey is truly gut-wrenching, making his character specifically compelling throughout the novel.

The female protagonist is as confusing as she is likeable.  Dessie Larson, petty crime journalist extraordinaire, becomes entangled with Kanon after receiving a postcard from the killers (Do you get the title now? There couldn’t actually be people killing postcards!).  So, Dessie and Kanon become involved in the murder investigations, one willingly and one reluctantly.  Inevitably, the two become physically and romantically involved.  This part of the book is a bit confusing, since Dessie and Kanon are inspecting the murders with their police liaison, Dessie’s ex-girlfriend. 

The romantic complications could have derailed the story, but instead they kept the narrative grounded in human emotions.  Without this facet of the story, the book would have felt too inhumane.  The killers are so cold, their actions so sadistic and cruel, that the reader needed a stark comparison.  Fortunately, Patterson offers the human spectrum of emotions without the book feeling disjointed.  Quite a feat.

Pick this up if you are interested in mysteries, thrills or just easy reading.

Favorite Quotes…

“She tasted of rain and corn on the cob.” ~Jacob Kanon

“He picked up his pistol and put the muzzle in his mouth, just as he had done so many nights before, tasting the powder and metal, taking comfort from the idea that there could be an end to this. On slight movement of his finger and his desperate loss and longing would be over. But not yet. Not until he found her murderers.”