2007: #12 – The 5th Horseman (James Patterson)

Book #12 was The 5th Horseman, the 5th book in James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series. The back of the book reads:

The members of the Women’s Murder Club face an unspeakable menace in the most suspenseful hospital drama since Coma. Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer is shopping with the newest member of the Women’s Murder Club, lawyer Yuki Castellano, and Yuki’s mother, Keiko, when suddenly Keiko collapses. She’s rushed to San Francisco Medical Center where her condition stabilizes. Yet days later, the hospital calls Yuki with devastating news. Keiko was given the wrong medication and it brought on a fatal heart attack. Even more astonishing, this is not the first time SFMC has made this mistake. Just as patients are about to be released with a clean bill of health, their conditions take a mysterious turn for the worse. As the hospital comes under scrutiny, Lindsay and the Women’s Murder Club investigate for themselves. Is there a maniac at work, playing God with peoples lives? And has Lindsay somehow made him — or her — even worse? The newest addition to the top-selling new mystery series takes the Women’s Murder Club into the most terrifying situation they have yet to encounter.

This book was merely “eh” for me. I didn’t understand why there was a second, 100% unrelated storyline that is wrapped up halfway through the book. I kept waiting for something to connect the two. It’s like Patterson had these two storylines he wanted to do, but couldn’t get enough out of either one for a standalone book. And haven’t there been enough “Angel of Death” stories? There was nothing special about this one, and there was never an explanation of why. And Yuki’s announcement at the end seemed a little sudden.

Phew, maybe I disliked it a little more than I thought!

Page count: 333 | Approximate word count: 58,164 | Filed in: