Things aren't always the way they appear.

That's the motto by which FBI agent John O'Hara lives.  It describes perfectly the focus of his latest case: Nora Sinclair.  We learn very early on, in the Patterson/Roughan thriller Honeymoon that absolutely nothing about Nora is as it appears.

She appears to be smart, beautiful, and sensitive.  She appears to be a successful interior designer, well-known in the industry. She appears to have nice girlfriends, with whom she chats about everyday happenings.  But we quickly find out that Nora has a secret life.  Several secret lives, actually.  She's the ultimate black widow - luring rich men into her web, only to steal their money, then leave them dead. 

John O'Hara has his suspicions about Nora, but proving her guilt is another matter entirely.  The only way to do it, is to get close to her.  But just how close should he really get to a black widow?  This book is the ultimate chase story - as one man chases the spider, while trying to avoid being caught in her web.

The story had its definite moments.  As more and more details of Nora's secret lives emerge, there are plenty of surprises.  Lots of times where you think the story is headed one way, but it zags where you thought for sure it was going to zig.  With short chapters, and constantly shifting points of view, the book sails along quickly.

But there are plenty of flaws in this book. 

One is the complete lack of character development.  Sure, we get to know who Nora is today.  But we never learn how she got to be this way.  We think we're going to get a back story, especially as we meet Nora's mother, but this part of the story is basically dropped before we learn anything meaningful.  Without getting to understand Nora at all, she's nothing more than an evil force, one we hope will get what she deserves.  I much prefer books where the antagonist's actions are explained fully.  Not so that we can necessarily sympathize with them, but so we can at least understand them.

Another problem with this book is a major sub-plot involving one of John's other cases.  It tries to bring in a terrorism angle, with a complex money-laundering scheme.  But this plot doesn't serve much purpose to the main story.  They try to tie the two together at the end, but it felt contrived.  Really, the two stories had nothing to do with each other, and the sub-plot was merely a distraction.  I would have much preferred to drop the sub-plot, and develop the main plot more fully.

I also didn't like the large number of gratuitous sex scenes in this book, with the horribly corny dialog that accompanied them. 

The book held my interest, and was a fast-read.  I'll give it that much.  But in the end, I felt cheated by the lack of character development and the sloppy, rushed ending.  In summary, this book had potential, but failed to deliver.  Considering, it's the work of two fine writers - James Patterson and Howard Roughan - this book's failure is a double shame.

Also by James Patterson:
Lifeguard

Private

Recommended: No