The 3rd Woman

by Jonathan Freedland

A chilling high-concept thriller from No. 1 bestselling author Sam Bourne. Perfect for fans of Robert Harris.

The United States have yielded to the People’s Republic of China – Beijing has written off trillions of dollars of US debt in return for a permanent military presence on US soil. America is now a former global superpower, dependent on and junior to China. And the evidence – cultural and political – is everywhere.

Madison Webb is a work-obsessed journalist who will do anything to get to the heart of a story; to expose lies and corruption. When her sister is brutally murdered, the police seem too eager to write it up as an isolated incident. Madison starts digging and uncovers a series of similar rape-murder cases.

As her investigation beings to attract the media spotlight, Madison draws the attention of some powerful people. And when she reveals the link between the victims, Madison will find out that the Chinese military makes for a terrifying enemy…

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Suspense, Dystopia, Procedural

464 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2014

About the author

Jonathan Freedland is a British journalist. He also writes thrillers under the pseudonym Sam Bourne.

Reviews

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant - right up there with my favourite thrillers of all time. Full review to follow as a new release spotlight on the blog 8th July. Highly Recommended.

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, clever idea with a page turning plot. Jonthan Freedland has sold 1.5 million copies sold under the name Sam Bourne. Jonthan Freedland has finally put his own name on this new thriller. The 3rd Woman is the story about Madison Webb, a driven young woman determined to cut through corruption and bureaucracy to get to the truth about her beloved younger sister's murder. In a world of lies only one woman can expose the truth.
The story opens up with Abigail Webb opening her front door when a gloved hand is placed over her mouth. Once Abigail is pushed inside her apartment, masking tape is expertly placed over her mouth and a strip of cloth was placed over her eyes with her wrist encircled by a plastic bracelet. A sharp puncture of a needle plunged into her right arm.

Journalist Madison Webb received the sad news of her sister Abigail has been found dead with doctor announcing that Abigail died by a massive drug overdose of heroin. Madison know that the horror of Abigail's death is baffling and she thinks that it was no accident. It was murder.

Madison uncovers some evidence that suggests that her sister was the third victim in a series of killings that have been hushed up as part of a major conspiracy.
A chilling read to think crimes have been hushed up.

[Denisa Arsene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this story for one of my challenges. And I must say that I liked it. I didn't discover the killer, so this is a strong point. I was almost sure it was a "prince "...
It was a fast pace reading, entertaining and exciting. Not too much horror, just enaugh to keep you active.
I really enjoyed it!

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 3rd Woman – Stylish Thriller

Jonathan Freedland has finally come out from his nom de plume Sam Bourne and delivered a high quality well thought out thriller that delivers on every level. As Sam Bourne he has sold over 1.5 million books and with The 3rd Woman that will continue, this is a book that will draw you in feel like you are at the centre of plot and with all good thriller writers the clues are there but can you put them together?

The plot centres around LA Times investigative journalist Madison Webb an insomniac with a fervent belief in revealing the truth and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army based in the California ports. The high concept thriller starts with a truth that the Chinese own a lot of the debt of the United States and they have finally got sick of not getting paid so collect taxes and payments from the ports. The Chinese officer class are able to get away with many things such as drink driving, gambling, and drug taking.

Madison Webb’s life takes a turn when her sister Abigail is murdered and the police are telling her it is a heroin overdose and there is no foul play. Madison does not accept this and as she begins her investigation she uncovers that there were two previous murders identical to her sister’s and that the police did not or would not link as the work of the same killer.

As she begins her investigation she makes a link between the murders and a member of the PLA and when she reveals this so begins a fire storm against the Chinese in Los Angeles. With her links to the Police she tries to use her contacts and an unusual source her ex-boyfriend a political campaigner in the California gubernatorial race.

Madison discovers that her murder was not isolated and at the same time this causes problems for the LAPD and its leadership who are under pressure from the mayor who is on the campaign trial at the time. As her investigation clashes she finds that she too is being spied up on by the Chinese and one of her friends has an accident which seems fortunate to some. As she uncovers every bit of the story she is still bent on discovering the truth and always asks who gains from this information being out?

We readers also see the fine balance of what journalistic integrity can do when allowed they will ask the awkward questions and how excellent journalism can impact upon society. It also looks at some American election campaigning and the political correctness and the tensions that bubble away below the surface. As a journalist Freedland shows the spiralling effect of the investigation and the events in this wonderful thriller.

Madison is a wonderful character and her relentless search for the truth will endear her to the readers, even when others are trying to deflect her. The research and writing in this book is excellent, Freedland’s writing draws you in and captivates you, and his excellent way of writing and connecting with the reader pours through the pages. This is a high concept thriller and throughout the book there are modern day truths and news stories mentioned around the text and they pop up when least expected.

The 3rd Woman is an excellent high concept thriller that delivers from the first page to the last with all the twists and turns a person could want. Jonathan Freedland will continue where Sam Bourne left off and has delivered a classic thriller.

[Amy Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suspense, twists and an insight into political games made this a gripping page turner.

[Scott Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read by this author. It is a solid, well written crime and politics thriller that keeps you hooked with a twist at the end. The main character Madison (Maddy) is a journalist driven to seek for the truth. She is motivated by the death of her sister which is treated as a one-off random murder by the police. But Maddy becomes convinced that her sister's death is the third in a series of very similar killings. In this future LA China holds enormous leverage over the USA having called in some of its debt. In return for this it has demanded that it receive custom duties and levies at west coast ports. Then it succeeds in establishing Chinese army garrisons in these ports to protect it's interests. Maddy comes to suspect that a Chinese soldier has committed the murders. She collects evidence and persuades the police in a showdown to apprehend the soldier in question. But then Maddy realizes that is mistaken and confronts the real killer in a sudden dramatic finish to the tale.

[Emily Momohara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literally, I could not finish this book. It was that bad. It tries to be the thoughtful murder mystery, which is a genre I greatly appreciate. However this book written by a man in a woman's perspective is truly stereotypical and offensive. I believe the author is trying to give power to women, but he does so by making his characters stereotypes.

I finally deleted the book from my iPad when the main character (female journalist who has just spent her day chasing down a dead-end lead) is forced into a hug by an ex-boyfriend. She says no. He thinks she needs the hug anyway. Their lips meet. She sets aside her exhaustion and critical thinking skills to give an ex-boyfriend a blowjob. "She is full of desire." This of course is after 2 days if investigation in a sex club and and governmental cover-up while investigating her sister's murder.

Terrible. Don't waste your time.

[unperspicacious · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wooden writing, cardboard-thin characters. Stopped a third of the way through, might pick it up again if there's really nothing left to read...

[Robert Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just couldn't get in to it at all.

[M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main character is a journalist who's been hunting down her sister's killer for three days straight, and then:

She grabbed some clothes, the top chosen simply for being the only one in the closet guaranteed to be clean. She caught a fleeting look at herself in the mirror. Somehow, despite the permanent lack of sleep, her body was refusing to give the game away entirely. Yes, there were dark circles under her eyes, but they gave her an oddly sultry look. The phrase 'come to bed eyes' slipped into her head. She gave a bitter laugh: it had been a while.

What a fookin gem!
Tracking down a serial killer is such a sexy pastime activity, ladies! Best done while still grieving over death of your close relative.

While Maddy is mostly well drawn, there is something depressing about the obligatory passage every thriller with a female lead seems to have – I call them “But What Do Her Breasts Look Like?” scenes – in which she strips to examine herself in the mirror and is relieved to find herself trim and sexy, with “no obvious cellulite on her thighs, no dimpling of fat”. You won’t find Jack Reacher salivating over his own six-pack. https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

What else women do in such dire situation?

She looked at her naked self in the mirror, baffled once again at how, despite everything, she retained her shape. She was still trim, her waist still narrow, even though regular exercise had become a stranger to her. She made a three-quarter turn, looking back at herself over one shoulder. Her ass was firm, with a roundness of muscle hardwon from that now-abandoned routine of squats. No obvious cellulite on her thighs, no dimpling of fat. Not yet, not in this light, at least.

She turned back, the memory of her visit to Leo’s apartment still fresh. She closed her eyes, remembering how he had laid her down on the couch and found her with his tongue, how he had explored her. She realized her earlier hunger had not been fully sated. She began to touch herself, opening her eyes so that she could watch in the mirror.

[Alina Catană · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just Wow. No 1 for me

[Jillian Holmquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the protagonist Maddison. Well written and kept me hooked.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ARC given in return for an honest review / 3.5 stars

I took forever reading this and it's more because I started it before exams and then things got in the way. I've had it since May or so and the length of time I've taken means it's probably clouded exactly how I feel about it. In future I may consider re-reading it but overall it was a good book.

To keep it short and succinct, it's a story of murder, lies, corruption and conspiracy. Madison Webb, accomplished journalist, is frustrated to find that police believe her sister's murder to be accidental death. Squeaky clean Abigail Webb shows signs of needle tracks and her sister refuses to believe she was a drug user. Madison launches into her own investigation and discovers her sister's death mirrors two other suspicious deaths, and the victims appear similar. There is also evidence that the police have been involved in a cover-up.

Set in an America which has yielded to China due to financial arrangement, and is corrupted and dictated by its influence, there is evidence to suggest that the murders are being carried out by someone from a Chinese garrison. With America dependent on the People's Republic of China, such accusations are dangerous to make...

I haven't read any of Jonathan Freedland's other books (even those under his pseudonym of Sam Bourne). The 3rd Woman is an interesting book. Written by a journalist, it seems to hold this tone throughout and it isn't for those who don't like politics, which is a major theme. Most of all it is believable, a show of something that isn't too 'out there' and could easily happen, but despite being well-written there were parts of it that were rather slow.

I really don't know if I have made up my mind entirely about it but for now it's at least a good solid 3 stars.

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under the pen name of Sam Bourne, Jonathan Freedland has already established himself as a talented and worthy author of suspenseful fiction. In The 3rd Woman, he has forgone the security blanket of publishing under his successful pseudonym, and has produced a really high octane thriller which takes as its starting point the sudden death of Abigail Webb, a young woman of flawless reputation. Madison Webb, a feisty and determined reporter, and Abigail’s older sister, will stop at nothing to find out why her sister died. When Madison discovers that two other young women have died in similar tragic circumstances she is determined, more than ever, to uncover the truth. However, as Madison delves deeper and deeper into this web of lies, her powers of observation are stretched to breaking point, and the discovery of scandalous behaviour at the highest level, will put her in grave danger.

Setting the story in a time when the United States has defaulted on its national debt, and has been usurped as a super power by China, adds an interesting dystopian element, and the otherworldly atmosphere which exists throughout feels frighteningly realistic. The short and concise chapters help maintain the snappiness of the suspense and allow the story to evolve in a believable and exciting way. The story line, as it develops, is tense, with elements of danger and there are some nasty situations which occur for Madison and her friends, all of which, had me turning the pages faster and faster, in order to see what happened next. I thought the ending was cleverly contrived and entirely convincing.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story. There are more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing, and I am sure that the legions of Sam Bourne fans will be delighted with this author's venture into writing under his own name.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started strong enough: a young woman is found dead of an apparent heroin overdose, but there are indications that she was actually murdered. It seems more than one woman met the same fate in a colossal cover-up, and a serial killer may be on the loose. Add to that an international political and financial crisis that has led to Chinese military presence on US soil. The concept was compelling, but once journalist Maddy starts investigating her own sister’s mysterious death, I found it hard to stay interested.

Maddy was a somewhat infuriating main character. Her stubbornness gets her into trouble, and though it’s her journalistic curiosity and personal connection to the murder that drives her, I sometimes wondered whether her priorities were in order. There were endless pages describing her scouring the internet for clues, and the tedium of her investigation made the whole thing seem overlong. The political aspect of a cutthroat gubernatorial election made it hard for me to stay engaged. During the conclusion, there was an allusion to Maddy’s “secret” that only she, her sister, and her mother new about, but that additional piece seemed contrived and completely unrelated to the rest of the plot. It was hardly alluded to previously and seemed as if it was only a device to explain Maddy’s insomnia. Maddy wasn’t entirely sympathetic and her erratic behavior was frustrating.

Overall, the substance of the novel was good, it just wasn’t executed properly. If it was trimmed down and more focused, it would be a captivating thriller.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from TLC Book Tours.

[AJourneyWithoutMap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Freedland may have been a recognized author and a well known British journalist, but I’m new to his writing, and when I was given the opportunity to read The 3rd Woman, I started with much trepidation, not knowing what to expect. I was in for a surprise when I learned that the main protagonist was a female journalist, Madison Webb. A hard nut to crack, with a no nonsense attitude, I must confess that I was quickly drawn into the story by this smart character who’s in for the shock of her life.

The 3rd Woman by Jonathan Freedland is an entertaining and fast-paced murder mystery thriller set in Los Angeles, with a good dose of political intrigue thrown in. It begins with the death of Abigail Webb. It would have been like any other death, but for the victim who happens to be the sister of Maddy (Madison Webb). She refused to believe that her sister died of massive drug overdose, which was what it was made to appear. When Maddy started digging, she uncovered carefully hidden secrets with serious repercussion. Abigail’s killing was preceded by two other murders, and Abigail was the third woman to be killed off.

Author Jonathan Freedland’s racy narrative along with an eclectic cast of characters coupled with the solid murder mystery enabled me to be engrossed from start to finish. I love the character of Maddy and the storyline could well be something straight out of tomorrow’s newspapers. The suspense was never ending as Maddy’s investigation led her into great danger, and that was quite exciting. The 3rd Woman is a real page turner with its twists and turns, a thriller the likes of which I would love to read again and again.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los Angeles and the rest of California has become a dark, dreary place thanks to the smog and Chinese military bases along the coast, placed there after The U.S. defaulted on its debt. Maddy, award winning journalist, publishes a expose at the same time her little sister is murdered and the already high-wired writer starts an immediate investigation. She knows her sister did not do heroin but she’s having a difficult time convincing the police of this and when she finds a connection to other murders her life starts to spin out of control.

It was around this point in the story that Maddy, as a real person, lost me. She took maybe five minutes out of her life to tell her distant sister and then check in with her sick mom. Finding Abigail’s killer was all she could focus on, with little regard for the family she had left, and it made her seem cold.

Now, aside from Maddy not being a character I understood or much liked, the story of the murders of young blond women, the Chinese takeover, and the political intrigue made this an exciting thriller. The internet could bring people together to stand up to the powers that be, even of the all of the things that are wrong with politics now are still wrong in this new world.

I liked the premise since I can see a version of it happening and there were so many twists and turns that I was always excited when I found time to ride it. Maddy was a kick-ass lead character and the end did not temper her, but she remained true to herself and I can respect that.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a 3.5. I really enjoyed this one, but I have a few issues.

Length-The book is simply too long for a thriller. Pacing is a bit slow and there is so much exposition and conversation that feels repetitive and makes the book boring in places.

Themes-I always get uncomfortable when a man writes a book like this. There are way too many references to vaginas-from the killer leaving a poppy flower in the panties, to a woman getting herself off in front of a mirror, to Madison being kicked in the crotch repeatedly while she was being jumped in a crowd. I know that it was probably completely innocent, but it gave me a creepy vibe that I couldn't shake.

Characterization-The protagonist is female, and since I already mentioned above what made me uncomfortable, it's important to mention how cardboard she felt to me. The book is plot driven, that much is obvious, but I felt like she could have had more depth as a woman. The male characters were much stronger, but all Maddy was, was a journalist. She had very little personality and was lacking in voice. This happens sometimes when men write female characters.

You can find the content I DID like on the blog when the review is posted on August 20th!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.

I don't usually read 'political' thrillers, but I do enjoy my thrillers and this one was no exception.

This was an exciting story, a dystopian thriller, where America has sold it's soul to China, and at the heart of the story is journalist Madison Webb determined to find the man who murdered her sister.

While I enjoyed this book and thought it well written and full of twists and turns and red herrings, I found it over long, it could have been a much sharper, tighter book if it was three quarters shorter, and I would have preferred if the Chinese presence in America had been explored more.

All in all it was a very interesting read.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book free through Goodreads first reads.

Madison Webb is a newspaper reporter and she is like a dog with a bone, when she gets hold of something she just cant let go. After the murder of her sister she is determined to find out what happened and who was responsible. She is faced with a mountain of lies and corruption and sets out on a journey of uncovering the truth.

I enjoyed reading this book, it is quite a long book and I must admit there were a few bits I struggled to follow, but by the time I got about three quarters of the way through I was so engrossed in the story that I found it hard to put down.

[J. Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

They could not stop her! So was the news in on it? Was the call that Howard made to the commander because the news sure didn't want Madison going down that path until the commander said it was okay? Scary thoughts of what could happen if that happened to the US, stay strong and be your amazing selves.

[S.B. (Beauty in Ruins) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3rd Woman is a solid mesh of murder mystery and political thriller, with just a slight sci-fi sort of edge to it. The very near future, as Jonathan Freedland imagines it, sees the United States of America so crippled by debt that it's had to sell off some of its sovereignty and accept the military presence of its largest debtor - China - on its home soul. It's not all that far-fetched, and the speculative aspect largely stops there, although Freedland does take some liberties with the future of social media.

Madison Webb is your typical journalistic heroine, an obsessive loner who can't resist the puzzle of a good mystery, especially when it's a murder so close to her heart. She's damaged goods - there's a whole subplot dedicated to the mystery of what her mother's illness is hiding - and she's not above using anyone or anything in her pursuit of answers. She's not necessarily likable or sympathetic, but she is someone with whom the reader can empathize.

While I understand it's a genre convention, I felt it was a shame that the entire story is told solely from her perspective. It really denies us any deeper insights into the whole political situation, which was (admittedly) the primary draw for me. We do get bits of context throughout the novel, revealing the new racial tensions and potential for civil unrest along the West coast, but I wanted something a bit deeper. It's not necessarily a complaint, just an observation on my own particular interest in the tale.

As for the murder mystery, it's well played out with plenty of red herrings, double crosses, and twist developments. Although motives are always suspect in these kinds of stories, the political aspect, the fear of the Chinese oppressors, and the pressures of a mayoral political campaign certain add to the tension. It all gets a little bogged down towards the end, especially with the resolution of that family mystery, but for the most part it works.

Even if The 3rd Woman isn't quite as speculative or as political as I anticipated, it's a solid mystery, with a good cast, propelled along by a well-written narrative that races along, but still takes time to provide all the details.


Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins

[Annabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 3rd Woman is a challenging, thought provoking read that at once examines the consequences of kowtowing to another nation with an utterly different culture, and the irrational racial hatred and fear that is so easily stirred in people. With no right and wrong answers, the backdrop of Freedland's murder mystery is almost more compelling than the stories, and though I know little about American politics, and less about Chinese, felt authentic and believable - the issues presented easily comparable to issues faced in multicultural Britain today.

Madison is an excellent character - likeable for her relentlessness, but flawed and human. Her bullishness with her story gets her results, the risks she takes allow her to make progress, but they also place her friends at risk. She's reckless and even irresponsible. The weird time dilation of her insomnia was an interesting construct as well. It lent a sort of credibility to the condensed timescale of the novel - it takes place over about a week, but it feels like much more time than that has passed. Madison's constant state of not knowing what time it is, or how many days have passed, and her wakefulness around the clock give the reader the same sense of disorientation she is feeling, making the experience all the more immersive.

There are a few 'blogs' and transcripts of TV interviews - not enough to becoming irritating, sparingly used and for specific purpose. Any more and I might have got annoyed, but to be fair they were an effective way of conveying events in a succinct summary, rather than expending more narrative space to show them in a more traditional fashion.

Overall, a really interesting book. It wasn't an easy read - the writing was excellent, the world so well realised that I had to keep pausing, thinking hard about the way it compares to life today, how easy it would be to slip in to that sort of political set up. But while all that was going on, there was also a really good story, a murder mystery that was tense and exciting, the stakes astronomically high. Fabulous stuff.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lui Madison Webb îi plăcea în mod normal luna ianuarie. Dacă erai obişnuit cu soarele strălucitor al Californiei, iarna putea fi o noutate bine-venită. Frigul – nu că ar fi fost frig în adevăratul sens al
cuvântului în Los Angeles – te înviora, te făcea să simţi că trăieşti. Însă nu era şi cazul acelei zile de ianuarie. Petrecuse întreaga lună închisă într-un loc cu pereţi din oţel şi fără geamuri, unul dintre acele colţuri rare din LA care funcţionau şi în timpul Anului Nou chinezesc. Nu îşi înceta activitatea niciodată, funcţiona zi şi noapte.
Lucra acolo de trei săptămâni, douăzeci de ture neîntrerupte, îngroşând rândurile de croitorese care stăteau aplecate asupra maşinilor de cusut. Cuvântul „croitoreasă” era însă înşelător. După
cum avea să explice în scurt timp Maddy opiniei publice din LA, chiar dacă acesta sugera un meşteşug străvechi, făcut cu îndemânare, realitatea era că ea şi celelalte femei lucrau la o linie de asamblare: nu făceau decât să supravegheze dispozitivele, să se asigure că materialul era aşezat cum trebuie pe poziţie şi să lase acel braţ robotic, programat dinainte, să facă restul. Erau, la rândul lor, părţi componente ale acelei maşinării glorioase.
Cu excepţia faptului că maşinile, după cum scria ea într-o serie de reportaje sub acoperire despre mediul de lucru din fabricile din LA, erau tratate mai bine decât oamenii, care erau nevoiţi să stea în
picioare în faţa staţiei lor de lucru ore în şir, să ridice mâna când trebuiau să meargă la toaletă, să îşi predea telefoanele mobile când soseau la muncă, pentru a nu încerca să fotografieze pe ascuns acel subsol murdar, privat de lumină naturală şi iluminat doar de câteva becuri chioare, care le slăbeau vederea cu fiecare zi care trecea.

[Thomas Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This conformed to some of the conventions of a decent thriller. It got off to a pacey enough start and offered plenty in the way of red herrings. But the tempo soon turned sluggish, weighed down with exposition - a sure sign that the author hasn't planned the story well enough to be told from the point-of-view character's perspective (in this case, Madison's).

A lot of the supporting cast felt off-the-peg, as though they were outline sketches of borrowed characters from better thrillers. If they had been actors, their performances would've been wooden.

Mr Freedland's decision to write from a woman's perspective was questionable. In the midst of Madison grieving for her dead sister, she took time out to observe her own sexiness in a mirror for us - not something a male character would ever have done. And her acquiescence in the arena of unwanted embraces and oral sex clanged horribly. God forbid that characters always behave in a PC manner but the reader expects the author to make their actions believable. Here, he failed.

Endings, they say, are some of the hardest things to write. Unfortunately, this one was a disappointment, even by the relatively low standard of storytelling already set.

If you're stuck in an airport departure lounge, this book will help pass the time once you've finished reading the small print of your flight-delay insurance. Otherwise, choose something else.

[Dya R · Rating 1 out of 5]

De fapt, i-aș da 1,5 dacă aș putea...dar, cu toate acestea, nu este suficient de bună (din punctul meu de vedere, desigur) pentru a primi 2/5.
Pentru mine a devenit vag interesantă la pagina 269 și, din păcate, nu a durat prea mult mult.
Mi-a luat extrem de mult să o citesc, tocmai pentru că nu m-a atras aproape deloc, când tocmai..mă așteptam să fie fix opusul - să mă țină cu sufletul la gură și să nu mă mai pot opri din a o devora!
Dar nu a fost așa...povestea (ideea de la care a pornit) e bună, dar nu este expusă într-un mod prietenos pentru cititor.
Să nu mai zic de greșelile de gramatică, ortografie și de punctuație din ultimele capitole...S-a văzut clar că ultima parte a fost tradusă în mare grabă.
————————
Well, actually 1,5..but I don't consider it to be worth to turn it into a 2.
up to page 269, nothing interesting; starting with that page, it really became interesting. But, sadly, not for long. (for me, at least)
Anyway…269 pages out of 572 are waaay too many for a story to feel kind of dull, isn’t it? And it sounded soooo promising at first glance!!

[Karen Broughton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to get into this story, it sounded a great read and the cover pulled me in. But once I started I found it long winded with lots of threads off shooting from the main story of Maddy's Sister having been found dead in mysterious circumstances. I got distracted by all characters/names struggled to keep them strainght in my head of who was who. I was well into the story before I felt the feeling that I wanted to know who had done it. Have to say I didn't guess either: the last 100/150 pages made up for the slowness/confusion in the early parts. The story did pick up speed towards the end then it was energetic and fast paced the conclusion was well done. Just a shame the lead up was so slow.
All in all am glad I stuck with it but I don't feel any burning desire to read it again.

[Patrick Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel started off with promise, introducing multiple characters and intertwining plots, but it ultimately fell short. Despite a solid foundation, the story felt bogged down by overly stereotypical characters, such as the hardened editor, the clichéd female reporter, and a group of slimy politicians. The premise of China calling in U.S. debt and occupying West Coast port cities was intriguing, but the execution was lacking.

As the plot progressed, it became increasingly hard to take seriously. The narrative that initially engaged me gradually lost its credibility, and by the time the climax rolled around, it felt more like a stretch than a satisfying conclusion. In the end, while there was clear potential, the story just didn’t deliver.

[Sorina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incepe bine, finalul mi-a placut, in genul romanelor Agathei Christie. Pe parcurs, insa, aproape mi-am pierdut interesul. Prea o lalaie, prea ne innebuneste cu chinezii aia (inteleg ca sunt o parte importanta din poveste, dar totusi) si cu detalii irelevante cu privire la calculatoare, la care recunosc, nu ma pricep. Ar fi putut sa scurteze cu mult cartea, prea mult balast.
Unele carti se citesc pe nerasuflate, prea repede, astfel incat la final ramai chiar cu o usoara frustrare ("Ah, s-a terminat?"), in timp ce altele ai impresia ca nu se mai termina odata. "A treia femeie" face parte din a doua categorie; desi imi placea si se citea relativ usor, parca nu se mai dadea terminata odata.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Madison is a journalist for the L.A. Times and her sister is found dead of a heroine overdose, but Madison doesnt believe it. Madison starts to dig deeper into the investigation and uncovers a secret life that her sister led and also finds her death is similar to two other womens deaths. as she keeps digging other people start trying to throw her off track.

Just when you think you have it figured out the author throws another twist into the story. It all came together in the end and all the loose ends were gathered for a nice ending.

a nice cozy mystery