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1st Case
A gripping new stand-alone thriller from the world's bestselling thriller writer
A young tech genius is offered an opportunity that could change her life . . . or end it.
When Angela Hoot is kicked off her graduate programme at MIT for hacking into the computer of a fellow student, she fears she's blown her chances of a glittering career. Angela is instead, she's offered a dream internship with the FBI. She jumps at the chance, and is thrown straight into her first case at a house in the Boston suburbs where a family of five have been brutally murdered. As Angela struggles to come to terms with the harsh reality of her new job, a phone is found that could hold the secrets of this mass murder - if Angela is able to uncover them.
It's her first case. It could be her last...
A young tech genius is offered an opportunity that could change her life . . . or end it.
When Angela Hoot is kicked off her graduate programme at MIT for hacking into the computer of a fellow student, she fears she's blown her chances of a glittering career. Angela is instead, she's offered a dream internship with the FBI. She jumps at the chance, and is thrown straight into her first case at a house in the Boston suburbs where a family of five have been brutally murdered. As Angela struggles to come to terms with the harsh reality of her new job, a phone is found that could hold the secrets of this mass murder - if Angela is able to uncover them.
It's her first case. It could be her last...
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 9, 2020
5355 people are currently reading
15728 people want to read
About the author
James Patterson
982 books357k followersOfficial US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead
James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead
James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,498 reviews
July 31, 2020
Wow, what a fantastic, fast paced story. Loved it and hope it is the start of a new series. Audio was great too, hooked from the start.
January 8, 2021
Tedious. Lacks maturity when one pines for an ex-boyfriend. 3 of 10 stars
July 21, 2020
In another of their collaborative efforts, James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts bring their ideas together to craft an interesting story that will keep the reader flipping pages until the final chapter. Angela Hoots may not have had the end to the MIT experience she hoped, but her computer skills are off the charts, much like her intelligence. When she is offered an internship with the FBI, Angela jumps at the opportunity and is soon placed in the middle of an intense investigation. A high school girl is found murdered in her home and the key might be embedded somewhere on her cellphone. Angela begins exploring what might be loaded on the device, where she soon discovers a secret app that promotes a discreet chatting platform. Inside these messages are piles of suggestive conversations that turn graphic and present a rendezvous that could have led to murder. Angela learns not only what she can about the app, but that malware is also involved, which helps the killer track their prey before striking. Working a number of angles, Angela finds herself on the dark web—that elusive location where nothing is tracked and anything goes—honing in on a cyberterrorist group that could be leading the charge in their own twisted little game. When Angela presents her progress to superiors, they praise her, but continue an hands-off approach that leads this rookie down quite the path. Targeted for what she knows and how close she may be getting to opening a can of worms, Angela’s life, as well as that of her family, could be in danger. This first case has surely turned out to be something Angela will never forget, though at this rate, death could erase it all. A decent story that taps into many of the current buzz topics making their way through media outlets. Recommended to those who enjoy some of Patterson’s faster stories as well as readers who need an easier read for travel or beach time.
While this seems to be a long and productive collaborative partnership, I have never read any of the Patterson/Tebbetts work before this piece. The story held together well and touched on a number of interesting areas within the cyber world, though I would not say it explored anything new for more. Angela Hoots comes across as a decent character whose grit and determination was not dampened after being expelled from her grad work. She landed on her feet and has accepted this internship with ease. While Angela knows her stuff, her age and lack of social maturity shines through in this book, as she takes risks and dabbles in what she thinks is romance, only to be sobered up with a few pointed remarks by those around her. The attentive reader will see where Angela uses some personal idols to help create the strong woman she wishes to be, without getting too bogged down with trying to fit into preconceived idea of how to be successful. The authors do well with how they have created her, leaving the reader to judge whether she passes off the early 20 something well. Other characters serve their purpose in the book and help to add to the intensity, as needed. The story, while not entirely unique, did prove to be engaging and left me wondering if there could be a return for some of these characters within the FBI framework, though I am always reticent to encourage too many Patterson series, as quality always suffers with the more books that affix his name to them in any given year. With trademark Patterson short chapters that push the story along, the book read easily and kept me wanting to turn a few more pages. I was impressed with what must have been some of the Tebbetts influences and will have to look into some of his other work, though I will likely want to focus on those penned for adults, if possible.
Kudos, Messrs. Patterson and Tebbetts, for entertaining me throughout and leaving me to wonder what you two might have in the works.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
While this seems to be a long and productive collaborative partnership, I have never read any of the Patterson/Tebbetts work before this piece. The story held together well and touched on a number of interesting areas within the cyber world, though I would not say it explored anything new for more. Angela Hoots comes across as a decent character whose grit and determination was not dampened after being expelled from her grad work. She landed on her feet and has accepted this internship with ease. While Angela knows her stuff, her age and lack of social maturity shines through in this book, as she takes risks and dabbles in what she thinks is romance, only to be sobered up with a few pointed remarks by those around her. The attentive reader will see where Angela uses some personal idols to help create the strong woman she wishes to be, without getting too bogged down with trying to fit into preconceived idea of how to be successful. The authors do well with how they have created her, leaving the reader to judge whether she passes off the early 20 something well. Other characters serve their purpose in the book and help to add to the intensity, as needed. The story, while not entirely unique, did prove to be engaging and left me wondering if there could be a return for some of these characters within the FBI framework, though I am always reticent to encourage too many Patterson series, as quality always suffers with the more books that affix his name to them in any given year. With trademark Patterson short chapters that push the story along, the book read easily and kept me wanting to turn a few more pages. I was impressed with what must have been some of the Tebbetts influences and will have to look into some of his other work, though I will likely want to focus on those penned for adults, if possible.
Kudos, Messrs. Patterson and Tebbetts, for entertaining me throughout and leaving me to wonder what you two might have in the works.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
October 18, 2020
This is not a bad book as such but Angela (the MC) is supposed to be a genius and yet she is an idiot. She makes stupid decision after stupid decision - why oh why do authors insist on writing woman this way? I just don't get it. The story as a whole is not bad actually it is quite good, but I am pretty sure I will not be picking up another book with Angela as the main protagonist unless their is a hell of an improvement in the writing of her.
March 24, 2020
Another great James Patterson novel. I enjoyed the perspective of an FBI intern on the outside looking in. For once not knowing everything going on.
August 25, 2020
A new fun and fast paced thriller with a gifted genius Angela Hoot. Angela is an intern with the Boston FBI in cyber forensic. As the title suggests it's her first case where she has to outsmart a hacker who targets young girls and their families with his mobile app.
I really enjoyed this book and would've given it 4 stars but the ending was not as good as the rest of the book. I'm no weapon expert, but I don't think FBI/Boston PD use AK47s.
I really enjoyed this book and would've given it 4 stars but the ending was not as good as the rest of the book. I'm no weapon expert, but I don't think FBI/Boston PD use AK47s.
June 10, 2020
Audiobook review - 2 Stars
At first I thought, "Is this a YA book?" It's not, and it shouldn't be due to far too many gruesome elements. Then I questioned if it is just my intolerance to youthful female voices. It wasn't. The narrator was clear, animated and appropriate for the written material and characters.
But the writing - the juvenile behavior of the characters, the substantive loose threads in the story that were never resolved, the concept of an out of control young savant is turned loosed in a high-profile, high-stakes FBI environment and case. The impulse control aspects of that character creating grave risk to others, those others who enable her out of control behavior.
If I were a 13-16 year old female, I would think this is cool and would be able to identify with the lead character. But these are not the lessons that we want teens to learn - that it's cool and ok to be out of control. The protagonist is no role model.
Chris Tebbetts needs to rethink this one.
At first I thought, "Is this a YA book?" It's not, and it shouldn't be due to far too many gruesome elements. Then I questioned if it is just my intolerance to youthful female voices. It wasn't. The narrator was clear, animated and appropriate for the written material and characters.
But the writing - the juvenile behavior of the characters, the substantive loose threads in the story that were never resolved, the concept of an out of control young savant is turned loosed in a high-profile, high-stakes FBI environment and case. The impulse control aspects of that character creating grave risk to others, those others who enable her out of control behavior.
If I were a 13-16 year old female, I would think this is cool and would be able to identify with the lead character. But these are not the lessons that we want teens to learn - that it's cool and ok to be out of control. The protagonist is no role model.
Chris Tebbetts needs to rethink this one.
August 9, 2020
Now that my local library is lending out books again, I am happy and working my way through a large backstock of reserved books, several of which are James Patterson novels since he published pretty much every other month….
In “1st Case” Patterson (and Chris Tebbetts) introduce to a new protagonist, Angela Hoot, a genius level programmer finds herself kicked out of MIT for hacking another student’s computer. It doesn’t take long for her mentor and FBI Senior Analyst, Eve Abajian, to help Angela find a new start as an FBI intern in their Boston field office, reporting to up and coming Special Agent William Keats.
The book kicks off with Angela being pulled into her first murder scene to analyze the victim’s cell phone records. Keats sees Angela as a kindred spirit and assigns her to find out what she can using her electronics knowledge and excessive habit if asking too many questions. It doesn’t take Angela, along with help from her mentor, Eve, to discover that the victim had unwanted application installed on her phone that not only gave her unknown intruder access, but it was also taking pictures and revealing much more about her than it should.
However, although Angela's skills and natural curiosity help her lead the FBI closer to their killer or team of killers, her inexperience and insatiable curiosity can easily turn in to a dangerous liability. Before she knows it, Angela is in way over her head in dealing with life-and-death situations, including her own.
After reading Patterson’s new book and potential beginning of a new series, there is surprisingly more good news than bad to share.
The good news is that I found most of the characters to be interesting. Angela was a strong enough lead, a bit of a millennial prodigy whose IQ may be high, but that is balanced by her severely low lack of impulse control. This was a double-edged sword, serving as both a strength and a weakness for her, but with this being her first outing, the jury will need more evidence before making a decision. Keats was also a credible and empathetic character that provided a good balance to Angela. Eve served as a strong female mentor, AA was a good best friend, and Angela’s family (mother, father, and two sister’s) provided authentic relationships that helped ground Angela with a caring foundation.
However, there is still some bad news to report. Angela’s character still needs work. As often is the case with Patterson lead characters, they often commit rebellious selfish acts of bravado that either get ignored or even rewarded. That is the case with Angela. Her immature and reactionary behaviors are fun for reading, but pretty much unrealistic in the real world. Another weakness with Patterson’s plotting also reared its ugly head and that was building up strong villains that wimped out in the end. The first half to two-thirds of “1st Case” was spent with the bad guy(s) staying several steps ahead of the good guys, demonstrating strong technology skills and advanced serial killing skills. However, when final reveal and confrontations take place, you can’t help but feel a bit letdown with the villains after all of their previous buildup and disciplined strategy.
In the interest of transparency, I am a pretty avid reader of James Patterson. As noted earlier, I get his books from the library because I don’t find him good enough to buy and keep in my library. He’s mind candy – simple, fast-paced, detective and mystery-oriented adventures that can be read in about two to three days and easily left behind. Nice escapism, but I find the overall storylines to not be that memorable.
Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable, but causal read, that took about a day to complete. Not one of Patterson’s best, but far from his worst. Still, I found it to be one of his more interesting books over the last year or two. There is definite potential for Angela’s character to develop and mature in future outings as a woman climbing the professional ladder in the male dominated bureaucratic FBI. With her strengths being focused on her cerebral skills rather than her physical attributes, that adds another interesting aspect to potential storylines. If Angela returns, count me in to see what happens next…
In “1st Case” Patterson (and Chris Tebbetts) introduce to a new protagonist, Angela Hoot, a genius level programmer finds herself kicked out of MIT for hacking another student’s computer. It doesn’t take long for her mentor and FBI Senior Analyst, Eve Abajian, to help Angela find a new start as an FBI intern in their Boston field office, reporting to up and coming Special Agent William Keats.
The book kicks off with Angela being pulled into her first murder scene to analyze the victim’s cell phone records. Keats sees Angela as a kindred spirit and assigns her to find out what she can using her electronics knowledge and excessive habit if asking too many questions. It doesn’t take Angela, along with help from her mentor, Eve, to discover that the victim had unwanted application installed on her phone that not only gave her unknown intruder access, but it was also taking pictures and revealing much more about her than it should.
However, although Angela's skills and natural curiosity help her lead the FBI closer to their killer or team of killers, her inexperience and insatiable curiosity can easily turn in to a dangerous liability. Before she knows it, Angela is in way over her head in dealing with life-and-death situations, including her own.
After reading Patterson’s new book and potential beginning of a new series, there is surprisingly more good news than bad to share.
The good news is that I found most of the characters to be interesting. Angela was a strong enough lead, a bit of a millennial prodigy whose IQ may be high, but that is balanced by her severely low lack of impulse control. This was a double-edged sword, serving as both a strength and a weakness for her, but with this being her first outing, the jury will need more evidence before making a decision. Keats was also a credible and empathetic character that provided a good balance to Angela. Eve served as a strong female mentor, AA was a good best friend, and Angela’s family (mother, father, and two sister’s) provided authentic relationships that helped ground Angela with a caring foundation.
However, there is still some bad news to report. Angela’s character still needs work. As often is the case with Patterson lead characters, they often commit rebellious selfish acts of bravado that either get ignored or even rewarded. That is the case with Angela. Her immature and reactionary behaviors are fun for reading, but pretty much unrealistic in the real world. Another weakness with Patterson’s plotting also reared its ugly head and that was building up strong villains that wimped out in the end. The first half to two-thirds of “1st Case” was spent with the bad guy(s) staying several steps ahead of the good guys, demonstrating strong technology skills and advanced serial killing skills. However, when final reveal and confrontations take place, you can’t help but feel a bit letdown with the villains after all of their previous buildup and disciplined strategy.
In the interest of transparency, I am a pretty avid reader of James Patterson. As noted earlier, I get his books from the library because I don’t find him good enough to buy and keep in my library. He’s mind candy – simple, fast-paced, detective and mystery-oriented adventures that can be read in about two to three days and easily left behind. Nice escapism, but I find the overall storylines to not be that memorable.
Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable, but causal read, that took about a day to complete. Not one of Patterson’s best, but far from his worst. Still, I found it to be one of his more interesting books over the last year or two. There is definite potential for Angela’s character to develop and mature in future outings as a woman climbing the professional ladder in the male dominated bureaucratic FBI. With her strengths being focused on her cerebral skills rather than her physical attributes, that adds another interesting aspect to potential storylines. If Angela returns, count me in to see what happens next…
August 6, 2020
Patterson's voice seems almost completely absent from this book. The one thing I usually count on in James Patterson book is a likeable protagonist. Not the case here. The female MC, who is supposed to be a genius, makes idiotic decisions, one after another. I think they were trying for a plucky, smart-mouthed, young female hacker. It didn't work. She's unlikable to me, which probably drove my dissatisfaction with the book as a whole. I'll skip the rest of this series as it comes out.
August 31, 2020
First book of a new series by James Patterson with co-author Chris Tebbetts. Where Patterson finds time to write all these books, I don't know. The premise of this book is interesting: a young computer genius, Angela Hoot, who has recently been kicked out of MIT, ends up an FBI intern thanks to her mentor. She's pulled into a murder case where a whole family has been killed. What's different is that the killer seems to be stalking and spying on his victims using an app. First of all, reading this book makes me want to delete all the apps in my phone and go back to basic call-only phones. Overall, I find the book to be just okay, not mind-blowing. The plot and the characters are quite basic. At the end of the book, I still have a lot of unanswered questions, like what motivated the murders? For all the work towards the committing the crime, there's things done that does not make sense to me. The book is written from Angela's POV, and I find myself annoyed with her and her actions several times. At this point, not sure if I will pick up book 2 when it comes out. However, I find most of Patterson's books to be nice-enough audiobooks to listen to while doing mindless chores at home.
September 12, 2020
Ugh, I can't believe there's a quote on the back about how good Patterson is at writing from the female POV. I'm a man but even I can't imagine any woman not cringing at how unrealistic this character is written.
Oh, and 80ish chapters in a 300 page book? Every chapter ends on a half page and every new chapter starts on a half page. What a cheap way to flesh out a short story. At least it helped me get this drivel overwith quickly.
Oh, and 80ish chapters in a 300 page book? Every chapter ends on a half page and every new chapter starts on a half page. What a cheap way to flesh out a short story. At least it helped me get this drivel overwith quickly.
January 18, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. A delightful blend of humour, capturing the inner-consciousness of a female IT genius - Angela Hoot and her beginning FBI career. But it is a thriller involving two serial killing brothers.
Unputdownable
Unputdownable
October 11, 2020
Ra
Very fast paced. I liked the short chapters as it kept me racing for more. Two genius,, an undetectable , nearly untraceable app on thousands of cellphones gathering every detail of the characters lives, mainly how to plan their murders. A rookie FBI agent who cares to go beyond her scope of duties.
Very fast paced. I liked the short chapters as it kept me racing for more. Two genius,, an undetectable , nearly untraceable app on thousands of cellphones gathering every detail of the characters lives, mainly how to plan their murders. A rookie FBI agent who cares to go beyond her scope of duties.
November 15, 2020
This is only the second book I've read by James Patterson. It is fair to say I am not a fan. My brother is and he recommended this book. I did enjoy it. I liked the characters, the fast pace, and short chapters. I did feel there was a bit too much tech stuff. It was necessary to the story but not as much as there was in the book. I also had a problem with one aspect of the story but will not give spoilers. I believe this is the start of a new series and if so I will continue. Recommended for JP fans and those who like hacker mysteries.
November 15, 2020
I am so disappointed in this book. It's so amateurish in it's level of writing. There is no way that it would ever play out as written. Maybe JP needs to write less books and get back to writing better books again.
February 3, 2021
Its all a bit meh for this book. With the main character they seem to be going for spunky, quick witted- and mouthed -young genius but really the decisions she makes are absolutely ridiculous and professionally gets no punishment for them - I was waiting for at least a small dressing down instead she got a permanent job offer. Also, she doesn't seem very authentic and I think its from 2 men who are over 50 writing a 20-something year old woman. Her inner voice just doesn't ring true.
The two romantic angles seem half baked and crowbarred in. It felt very YA fiction.
The villains were meant to be criminal masterminds and then were outfoxed in such an obvious sting that I could see it coming from miles away.
Also, the whole brilliant individual working within a well meaning law enforcement setting against evil criminals all rings very false and copaganda-ish what with the world at the moment. I think i might be done with James Patterson for good from now on.
The two romantic angles seem half baked and crowbarred in. It felt very YA fiction.
The villains were meant to be criminal masterminds and then were outfoxed in such an obvious sting that I could see it coming from miles away.
Also, the whole brilliant individual working within a well meaning law enforcement setting against evil criminals all rings very false and copaganda-ish what with the world at the moment. I think i might be done with James Patterson for good from now on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2020
This book rates a 5 for entertainment value, as a cautionary tale, as a page turner and as a book for which I would pick up the sequel without pause. I took away one star for the feel of something lacking in the final resolution.
Do not start this one unless you have an uninterrupted block of time. It may have you reading well beyond your bedtime. I am really a fan of short chapters. The story clips along at near breakneck speed.
The technology is scary, the characters are likeable, the pacing is glorious and this is a "good read".
Do not start this one unless you have an uninterrupted block of time. It may have you reading well beyond your bedtime. I am really a fan of short chapters. The story clips along at near breakneck speed.
The technology is scary, the characters are likeable, the pacing is glorious and this is a "good read".
December 31, 2020
I really got into this one! I listened to it and didn't want to put it down! It did have it's slower parts, but then something would happen and I needed to know more! I'm not sure if this is going to be a new series with Angela becoming an agent (she's an FBI intern in this book) but I'd definitely read it!!
November 25, 2023
How do they even get to publish this kind of crap? The lead was anything but a genius. With an IQ of more than 180, she kept doing the dumbest of things.
James Patterson reminds me of a particular actor who does 10 movies a year with zero thought to the script. He just wants to make money as does Mr Patterson.
James Patterson reminds me of a particular actor who does 10 movies a year with zero thought to the script. He just wants to make money as does Mr Patterson.
February 4, 2021
Let’s hope it’s her last!
Hmm, can’t quite put my finger on what really wasn’t right about this book. The character is awkward and unbelievable and the long excerpts of geeky computer talk were boring and unnecessary. Nearly became my first “didn’t finish” of the year.
Hmm, can’t quite put my finger on what really wasn’t right about this book. The character is awkward and unbelievable and the long excerpts of geeky computer talk were boring and unnecessary. Nearly became my first “didn’t finish” of the year.
August 13, 2020
James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts at their best. Fast paced action thriller. I hope to see the naive genius character of Angela Hoot return again in a series.
November 4, 2020
Amazing read. Love the main character and the supporting ones. I hope this becomes a series
December 16, 2020
Oh boy, where to start?
Let’s start off with the premise of this novel… A grad student kicked out of MIT gets hired as an intern for the FBI. I don’t so much have a problem with this idea, I can wrap my head around it, what I can’t wrap my head around is how she’s an INTERN working on a case WAY above her skill set. I don’t care what field you’re in, interns do basic grunt work, they are not out there solving murders with little to no experience. There are experts higher up the chain of command doing the analysis work and murderer hunting that this intern was supposedly doing. This alone made it almost a DNF’d book, but I powered through because many reviews commented on the ending and I wanted to see what was up.
Putting this aside and focusing more on the characters, I honestly had a really hard time liking Angela Hoot. She came across as very childish, immature, and overly-self-assured and it was just not working for me. Almost every chapter ended with her saying "but I am smart and have a high IQ." She’s an INTERN, bottom of the food chain, and she keeps acting like it and making rookie mistakes which further leads me to wonder HOW DOES SHE WORK FOR THE FBI??? It honestly doesn’t make sense and left me having a hard time enjoying this read.
Don’t even get me started on the “romance” they tried tossing in between Angela and her supervisor. It came totally out of the blue and did nothing for the plot. There was no lead up, no character development, just BAM, they’re getting it on. There's also a moment when Angela is told she's gay and she just rolls with it. Both of these moments felt like they were added so they could say it had romance and was inclusive but it was so superficial that it felt tacky.
I could go on and on about what bothered me about this novel, but since no one will likely read this I'll stop here.
Final thoughts… Patterson novels are good for a quick, fun mystery read that don’t require a lot of thought or effort, but this one was one I wish I had skipped. He has so many other novels worth your time and this one isn’t it.
Let’s start off with the premise of this novel… A grad student kicked out of MIT gets hired as an intern for the FBI. I don’t so much have a problem with this idea, I can wrap my head around it, what I can’t wrap my head around is how she’s an INTERN working on a case WAY above her skill set. I don’t care what field you’re in, interns do basic grunt work, they are not out there solving murders with little to no experience. There are experts higher up the chain of command doing the analysis work and murderer hunting that this intern was supposedly doing. This alone made it almost a DNF’d book, but I powered through because many reviews commented on the ending and I wanted to see what was up.
Putting this aside and focusing more on the characters, I honestly had a really hard time liking Angela Hoot. She came across as very childish, immature, and overly-self-assured and it was just not working for me. Almost every chapter ended with her saying "but I am smart and have a high IQ." She’s an INTERN, bottom of the food chain, and she keeps acting like it and making rookie mistakes which further leads me to wonder HOW DOES SHE WORK FOR THE FBI??? It honestly doesn’t make sense and left me having a hard time enjoying this read.
Don’t even get me started on the “romance” they tried tossing in between Angela and her supervisor. It came totally out of the blue and did nothing for the plot. There was no lead up, no character development, just BAM, they’re getting it on. There's also a moment when Angela is told she's gay and she just rolls with it. Both of these moments felt like they were added so they could say it had romance and was inclusive but it was so superficial that it felt tacky.
I could go on and on about what bothered me about this novel, but since no one will likely read this I'll stop here.
Final thoughts… Patterson novels are good for a quick, fun mystery read that don’t require a lot of thought or effort, but this one was one I wish I had skipped. He has so many other novels worth your time and this one isn’t it.
December 22, 2020
A rewarding 3.5 star read from a Patterson and Tebbetts collaboration!
It is with trepidation I pick up a Patterson co-authored novel, as the experience can vary so dramatically. True to style, the short paragraph, quick-read format is evident in this novel. The intrigue comes from the introduction of a new character Angela Hoot, a young student kicked out of MIT, who then lands a plum job working with the FBI using her unorthodox programming skills in the cyber-forensics unit.
The plot involves some chilling family murders and centres on a messaging App with scary tracking capabilities. Angela needs to crack the code and stop the killer (some literary licence taken in terms of the access an intern would have in regards to any government resources, but if you can suspend reality, it is an interesting ride). At least the plot was original and held my attention.
Many distinct YA attributes in this novel, and it will make a good series, which is what the conclusion supposes.
It is with trepidation I pick up a Patterson co-authored novel, as the experience can vary so dramatically. True to style, the short paragraph, quick-read format is evident in this novel. The intrigue comes from the introduction of a new character Angela Hoot, a young student kicked out of MIT, who then lands a plum job working with the FBI using her unorthodox programming skills in the cyber-forensics unit.
The plot involves some chilling family murders and centres on a messaging App with scary tracking capabilities. Angela needs to crack the code and stop the killer (some literary licence taken in terms of the access an intern would have in regards to any government resources, but if you can suspend reality, it is an interesting ride). At least the plot was original and held my attention.
Many distinct YA attributes in this novel, and it will make a good series, which is what the conclusion supposes.
July 6, 2021
This was an enjoyable read. Not one of my favourites but definitely interesting.
I liked Angela's character, though she felt juvenile at times, although she was still young which I needed to remind myself.
It was a fine read, just nothing too special
I liked Angela's character, though she felt juvenile at times, although she was still young which I needed to remind myself.
It was a fine read, just nothing too special
October 24, 2021
Loved this so much. Fresh characters and an unusual slant on the FBI detective with cyber crime at the forefront when a serial killer is on the loose. Thoroughly enjoyable read
March 17, 2022
A hacker goes to work for the FBI and is embroiled in a serial killing case for which she isn't trained. She plows ahead anyway, and finds herself in much danger.
A lot of the computer stuff seems very authentic.
A lot of the computer stuff seems very authentic.
August 8, 2020
3.5. This was a better-than-usual James Patterson book. It was fast paced and had a lot of action. The book reads like the start of a new series. I will watch for the next one.
February 8, 2021
Please bring back the James Patterson who write the Alex Cross novels. This is so contrived. Characterisations are so poor. Every heroine is a beauty. Every hero a hunk. Always works out in the end. It’s also a very short story advertised as 320 pages and I doubt it takes up 240. Really poor
September 16, 2020
So good! When it first started I was unsure if I was going to like the MC but I quickly got sucked in and didn't stop reading until I was finished! I really hope to read more installments with these characters.
Very thouroughly enjoyed!
Awesome read!
Very thouroughly enjoyed!
Awesome read!
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