THE 18th ABDUCTION by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

THE 18th ABDUCTION

by

James Patterson

& Maxine Paetro

            The 18th Abduction, the latest installment in James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series, begins at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague with the impending prosecution of war criminal Slobodan Petrovic. It quickly flashes back to five years earlier, when Lindsay Boxer is investigating the disappearance of three school teachers. At this same time, her husband, Joe Molinari, meets Anna Sotovina and becomes involved in an investigation into crimes allegedly committed by Petrovic in San Francisco. And, of course, their cases dovetail.

            Most of the book takes place in this flashback to five years earlier, and I found this to be troubling. I was left feeling like I found a book from earlier in the series that I had missed. I do not like the fact that Patterson has now gone back and added to, or modified, Lindsay’s and Joe’s backstories. Not all of what has been added fits with my recollection of the history of either character.

            The parts of The 18th Abduction pertaining to the ICC and war criminals being set free are interesting. However, using one continual flashback as the vehicle for this feels lazy and does not work for me. I continue reading the Women’s Murder Club series as I like the characters and the idea behind the club, and I will likely read The 19th Christmas, the next book in the series. Nonetheless, I am not enamored with the latest, eighteenth, installment.

EVVIE DRAKE STARTS OVER by Linda Holmes

EVVIE DRAKE STARTS OVER

by

Linda Holmes

            Evvie Drake Starts Over is the first novel written by Linda Holmes, a correspondent for NPR. It is about Evvie, who lives in Maine. She grew up in Calcasset; then, she and her high school sweetheart, Tim, went to USC. Tim became a doctor, and they returned to Maine and married. But, not all was happily ever after.

            It is also about Dean, a major league pitcher who developed the yips. Forced into an untimely retirement, Dean needs to get away for awhile. So, he comes to Maine and rents the apartment in Evvie’s house, a house that is now too big after Tim’s untimely death.

Evvie and Dean appear to be normal, albeit fortunate, people. Each may be a person whom many of us admire and perhaps even envy. But, as Holmes chronicles their struggles with the adversity that has confronted them and the battle to find a way to move forward, we see that all is not as it appears.

            The characters in Evvie Drake Starts Over are not the typical, “juicy” characters found in many novels. To many of us, Evvie and Dean are not worthy of a book. They are seemingly normal; some might even think that they are flat or boring characters. One interpretation of this might be that this is simply a shortcoming in new novelist Holmes. But, in my opinion, Holmes purposefully crafted her characters in this manner. Although we all know many such normal-but-boring people, none of us truly knows what lies behind this perceived normalcy. Once we peek, we just might be surprised by what we find.

            Some of the early reviewers comment that Evvie Drake Starts Over is a quick, easy read – that it is a charming or lovely romance. I think these reviewers miss the point – as many miss, or overlook, the richness of the Evvies and Deans in our lives. Holmes is spot on as she portrays those in our modern society who appear one way, who are misunderstood, and who get lost in the shuffle. Evvie Drake Starts Over provides an interesting perspective about a segment of our culture that is often overlooked or taken for granted. As Holmes reminds us, all is not as it appears.