1st to Die
James Patterson, 2001
A San Francisco homicide inspector and her three friends—a medical examiner, a reporter, an assistant DA—track a killer whose victims are newlyweds.
James Patterson
James Patterson's thrillers move in short, clipped chapters, often with a killer's voice cutting in between the investigators' work, so the pages turn quickly and the tension stays close. Start with 1st to Die, which follows a San Francisco homicide inspector and three friends from different corners of the justice system as they track a killer targeting newlyweds, or with Kiss the Girls, an Alex Cross case that keeps shifting shape as it goes. These are books for readers who like a case that pulls in several people at once and a story told in quick, clean strokes.
Feels like dread, unease and power.
Start with 1st to Die.
Before novels, Patterson ran the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson; he has said he learned to make every chapter short enough to finish in a waiting room.
The friends who would hold you, and the voice that stops you calling.
As I stare into the Border collie’s eyes, I think that maybe I should go inside and call the girls. Claire, Cindy, and Jill would be here almost before I hung up the phone. They would hold me, hug me, say all the right things. You’re special, Lindsay. Everybody loves you, Lindsay. Books by James Patterson
Kiss the Girls
James Patterson, 1979
James Patterson’s second Alex Cross thriller: short chapters, a killer’s taunting voice, and a case that keeps changing shape.
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