Audio Book Review: Beach Road

Title: Beach Road
Author: James Patterson
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense
Pub Date: November 2007, Hachette Audio
Book Source: Purchased from BookCloseouts.com

Synopsis

Tom Dunleavy has a one-man law firm in legendary East Hampton. But his job barely keeps him in paper clips. His principal clients make a living serving the rich. The billionaires and megacelebrities swarming the beaches already have lawyers on their payroll.

Then a friend of Tom's is arrested for a triple murder near a movie star's mansion. Tom knows in his gut that Dante Halleyville is innocent. Dante asks him to represent him in what could be the Trial of the Century.

Tom recruits Manhattan superlawyer Kate Costello to help. She's a tough hire, because Kate is his ex-girlfriend-but she agrees. In their search to find who really executed three locals, Tom orchestrates a series of revelations to expose the killer-and what emerges is staggering.

The final scenes of Beach Road unveil a truth that will leave readers gasping in shock.

My Thoughts

One of the things I like the best about James Patterson's books is that the audio formats really are great for a car ride, whether it's a daily commute or a road trip. In this case, I was able to finish Beach Road on my trip down to Florida last week and it made the drive go by much faster than it would have.

I would say that Beach Road is your typical Patterson mystery. It's not a literary masterpiece but it is intriguing enough to keep you engaged in the story until the end. The overall storyline felt a little more implausible to me than some of his books, but then again what do I know about how law enforcement in a small town would operate? The characters are perhaps stereotypical, but likable. There is the inevitable sex scene well into the book but for those of us who don't care it can be tuned out. One thing I enjoyed about this book (and it is usually the case with all of Patterson's books) is that we do hear from the point of view of the murderer, we just don't know who that person actually is beyond a street name.

And yes, the ending of the book was a shock--well, half of it was. I had already started to get suspicious of one of the characters, and knowing the way Patterson likes to operate, I had figured part of his twist out just before he revealed all. Honestly, there isn't much else to say about it--if you enjoy James Patterson, you'd enjoy this book. Yes, the additional audio musical effects in some of the chapters are cheesy, but they aren't too much of a distraction. And if you are looking for audio books that are easy to follow I highly recommend Beach Road and really any other book by Patterson.

My rating:

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