THE 8TH CONFESSION: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

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THE 8th CONFESSION
BY JAMES PATTERSON
AND MAXINE PAETRO

ABOUT THE BOOK:

As San Francisco's most glamorous millionaires mingle at the party of the year, someone is watching--waiting for a chance to take vengeance on Isa and Ethan Bailey, the city's most celebrated couple. Finally, the killer pinpoints the ideal moment, and it's the perfect murder. Not a trace of evidence is left behind in their glamorous home.

As Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the high-profile murder, someone else is found brutally executed--a preacher with a message of hope for the homeless. His death nearly falls through the cracks, but when reporter Cindy Thomas hears about it, she knows the story could be huge. Probing deeper into the victim's history, she discovers he may not have been quite as saintly as everyone thought.

As the hunt for two criminals tests the limits of the Women's Murder Club, Lindsay sees sparks fly between Cindy and her partner, Detective Rich Conklin. The Women's Murder Club now faces its toughest challenge: will love destroy all that four friends have built? The exhilarating new chapter in the Women's Murder Club series, The 8th Confession serves up a double dose of speed-charged twists and shocking revelations as only James Patterson can. And remember, this is the only Murder Club episode of the year.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

The subject of a recent Time magazine feature called, "The Man Who Can't Miss," James Patterson is the bestselling author of the past year, bar none, with more than 16 million books sold in North America alone. In 2007, one of every 15 hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. In total, James's books have sold an estimated 150 million copies worldwide. He is the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on The New York Times adult and children's lists and is the only author to have five new hardcover novels debut at #1 on the list in one year — a record-breaking feat he’s accomplished every year since 2005. To date, James Patterson has had nineteen consecutive #1 New York Times Bestselling Novels, and holds the New York Times record for most bestselling titles by a single author (40 total).

Patterson is a champion of reading and the founder of the PageTurner awards, which seek to spread the excitement and joy of books and reading in the United States. James's first foray into family fiction, the critically acclaimed Maximum Ride series, debuted on the New York Times list at #1 and remained there for 12 straight weeks. The series has so far made appearances on The New York Times bestsellers lists 87 times, proving that kids of all ages love page turners.

Patterson is 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 Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. He is also the creator of the #1 new detective series of the past five years, featuring Lindsay Boxer and the other members of the Women's Murder Club, from which the ABC television drama series is adapted. He has authored books behind six films on the Hollywood fast-track, including the upcoming Maximum Ride movie from Avi Arad, the producer of X-Men and Spiderman. Most recently, New Regency Pictures has optioned The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, James’s newest family Pageturner due out in July of 2008.

He is 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, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader’s Digest Reader’s Choice Award.

One of Forbes magazine's Celebrity 100, James appeared as a guest star on the popular FOX TV show "The Simpsons" in March, 2007.

Maxine Paetro collaborates with best-selling author James Patterson, co-writing The 4th of July, The 5th Horseman, The 6th Target, the 7th Heaven and the 8th Confession, just released in April 2009. All are New York Times #1 best-sellers in the Women's Murder Club Series.

Patterson/Paetro collaboration, New York Times #1 bestsellerSwimsuit, was released on June 27, 2009. A first-class thriller, Swimsuit has been called "This generation's Silence of the Lambs."

The 9th Judgment, the next entry into the Women's Murder Club series, is slated for publication in 2010.

Before working with James Patterson, Paetro authored three novels; Manshare, Babydreams, and Windfall, published between 1986 and 1991. She also wrote the biography, Dream Lovers, the Magnificent, Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee by Their Son, Dodd Darin in 1993.

Her first book, How to Put Your Book Together and Get a Job in Advertising, was published for the first time in 1979 and is still in print today. W.W. Norton is bringing out a newly revised edition in Aug. 2010.

From 1975 through 1987 Paetro was EVP creative department manager at several large New York City advertising agencies. Her garden, Broccoli Hall, has been featured in national magazines including House & Garden, Victoria Magazine, Country Gardens, Country Homes and is on the Garden Conservancy Open Days Program.

Paetro is married to surety bond executive, John A. Duffy, founder and CEO of consulting company, Manhattan Bridge, LLC.

REVIEW:

The Women’s Murder Club is back again with more of the four fierce gal pals that make THE 8^th CONFESSION another fast paced remarkable read. James Patterson teams up again with Maxine Paetro to involve Lindsay, Claire, Yuki, and Cindy in two murder cases, and a couple of romances as well. When Cindy Thomas, top notch crime reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle, finds a homeless man, known only to those in the area as “Bagman Jesus”, viciously murdered, she is relieved that her good friend Lindsay is assigned to handle the case. However, her relief will be short lived as she finds herself doing much of the investigating when progress on the case isn’t coming fast enough for her to make her deadlines, no pun intended!

San Francisco Police Department Homicide Detective Lindsay Boxer, and her partner, Rich Conklin, are immediately involved in trying to find out who this Bagman really is and just who it is that wanted him dead. At the same time, they have been assigned a very high profile case when several wealthy and well known area citizens are found dead with no cause of death being established. Claire Washburn, the medical examiner, is as perplexed as Lindsay when all the autopsy reports show nothing and the toxicology reports come back negative. Yuki Castellano, who is with the DA’s office, finds herself prosecuting the very tough case of the homeless murder so that when the four friends meet up, there is more than enough to talk about…and they haven’t even touched on all that is going on in their personal lives!

All of this spins into a story that leads amazingly into a web as one thing seems to weave into the other and all the women wind up in one way or another working on some part of the same case. On the side stories of personal lives, Lindsay is still with Joe and would seem to be satisfied with that until she finds out that her partner, Rich, is now involved with her friend Cindy. Having put off Rich’s advances over time and with her long time relationship with Joe, Lindsay has no reason to resent them this affair but it does bother her, more than she wants to admit. Perhaps her fear of commitment and liking the idea of their being another choice for her out there is what makes Lindsay not care for the twosome of Rich and Cindy. What she does about this and how the other players respond can only be found out by reading the book. And as if that isn’t enough, Yuki finds herself a doctor which should be good news until a twist at the end makes for an unusual to say the least romantic mystery of its own.

As for the two murders Lindsay is involved with, they seem to get your attention from the first chapter and don’t let go which is much the reason Patterson is as popular as he is. One more chapter, the reader will say, and before you know it, one more becomes two and three and poof! ---another Patterson novel is finished!

However, before this one does finish, the reader will find out maybe more than they wanted to know about the gritty streets of San Francisco and what happens when a seemingly good guy on the streets turns out to be the polar opposite of what they first thought. When the rich and famous are no longer safe even in their own bedrooms and die a painful death that springs from the warped mind of a second generation serial killer, then you know you have to keep reading to find out just who it is that is slithering about their homes and killing them. Who knows what will happen next with Lindsay and her crew?!

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO VALERIE AND THE HACHETTE

BOOK GROUP, I HAVE FIVE COPIES
OF THIS SUPER BOOK TO GIVEAWAY!

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