The Horsewoman

by James Patterson, Mike Lupica

This unputdownable novel from the world's #1 bestselling author follows the complicated relationship between mother and daughter as they face off in the Olympics—and into a ride they can barely control.
 
"This is a hugely entertaining, riveting, page-turner of a book. A thrilling and thoughtful read.” ―Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Gamache series
 
Maggie Atwood and Becky McCabe, mother and daughter, both champion riders, vowed to never, ever, go up against one another.   
 
Until the tense, harrowing competitions leading to the Paris Olympics.   
 
Mother and daughter share a to be the best horsewoman in the world.  
 
Coronado is Maggie’s horse. An absolutely top-tier Belgian warmblood. 
 
Sky is Becky’s horse. A small, speedy Dutch warmblood.   
 
Only James Patterson could bring you such breakneck speed, hair-raising thrills and spills.    
 
Only hall of fame sportswriter Mike Lupica could make it all so real.
 

Genres: Fiction, Horses, Contemporary, Audiobook, Animals, Sports, Adult

450 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 10, 2022

About the author

Official US Site
Official UK Site

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, Michael Crichton, and Viola Davis, 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.

Reviews

[Kelsie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never been inclined to write a review--even part of one--before finishing a novel, but...I can't help it with this one. I'm only 20% into The Horsewoman as I write this, and all I want to do is scream. Maybe this book will improve--oh, heavens, I hope it improves.

Let me preface this by saying I am a horse person. I own a horse. I've been riding for close to 20 years. Granted, I've mostly ridden in a Western saddle, not English, but I follow the English side of the equestrian sport enough to know there are many things in this book that are wrong. Even someone with limited horse experience--like watching showjumping in the Olympics, even--would know this book has errors. Let me start:

· Book refers to a mare as being "dark gray as a colt." Firstly, a female foal is called a filly. And horses aren't born gray. It's a gene that steadily changes their appearance over the years.
· "Dutch warmblood." "Belgian warmblood." "Warmblood" needs to be capitalized, as you're talking about a breed. And did the authors just...yank some common breeds without doing any research?
· Book talks about how people take their showjumpers on trail rides. I'm sorry, but equines I know that jump are often too hot to take on leisurely rides through the trees.
· Book also says the daughter competes. She knocks a rail taking her out of the ribbons but somehow finishes five seconds before her competitors?! In the elite levels of showjumping, you're lucky if you're half a second ahead. A second and a half is gasp-worthy. But five?! Are you kidding me?
· Book also mentions a saddle being extremely heavy. I've ridden in an English saddle. Countless times, and...that saddle isn't heavy. As light as a feather compared to my Western one.
· Book talks about different injuries and conditions, both human and equine. These are portrayed incorrectly. Like to the point I outright laughed.

Then this book just has...a lot of cliches for horse stories, at least this far into the novel. I won't say more due to spoilers. But thus far, The Horsewoman reminds me more of those really, really cheesy horse girl movies I used to watch as a kid, just with way more swearing.

I will update this review after completing the novel.

Update: I finished the book, and I’m glad it’s over, and it still reminds me of the cheesy, never-going-to-happen horse girl movies I enjoyed (but didn’t laugh at like I do now) when I was a child.

James Patterson and Mike Lupica: Thanks for giving the world a glimpse into showjumping. I do have to give you that. Horseback riding isn’t in the spotlight enough, though I’d argue it’s one of the hardest Olympic sports out there.

The Horsewoman is a good book for people who don’t know horses. In reality, yes, the Olympics are always in the background. The final goal. But this book revolves around so much other stuff—including too much of a political statement for me. If you’re not an overly critical person like I am, then as an equestrian, you may enjoy this book. Though I’ll say no part of it surprised me. At all. With the “cheesy horse girl movie” idea in mind, those of you who’ve watched those types of movies can probably guess how everything goes.

The book is exciting, in its own way. High stakes, but also extremely repetitious. Same descriptions of the same scenarios to the point I feel like it could've been "Copy-Paste." There was nothing that made the book special. At least not in my opinion. Characters to like and dislike, though I’ll say I think the “villain” in this book wasn’t thought out well enough. He was, like the rest of novel, very cliché. I also...didn't really like the so-called "relationships" the main characters had with their horses. For the most part, they rode and gave the horses over to the groom(s). There's no hard labor, no brushing, none of the "dirty work" associated with being a horse owner. You want the stereotype of "rich horse people?" Bam, hello, The Horsewoman.

But I felt no connection. And when I finally finished it, I was glad it was over.

*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All views expressed are my own.

I even went back and updated this review for a third time, because it still aggravates me.

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Contemporary. This book has a lot of Horses and family drama. I really loved all the horse stuff in this book. The characters had a lot going on. This book has a lot going with the characters, but it was done very well so I had no problem following everything that was going on. I really loved every minute I spend reading this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Little, Brown and Company) or author (James Patterson) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually LOVE all James Patterson's books, but this one was the worst for me. The story was ok, it was the writing. I don't remember any of JP's books saying "he said, she said" after EVERY sentence. "Here's your coffee, HE SAID, thank you, SHE SAID, no problem, HE SAID, you're so kind, SHE SAID. Maybe because I was listening to this book on audio and not reading it, it was so much more obvious but it was extremely annoying. I've stopped reading books in the past by authors who write like this, but kept hoping that it would get better. It never did. I did finish it though but it was very painful. Not a fan at all. From now on I'll just stick to James Patterson's older books where he doesn't do that.

[Paulette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing. I knew it was iffy when a filly was identified as a colt early in the novel. It felt to me like this novel was constructed from note cards. Card 1, card 2, card 3 with not much in between, very mechanical. The author does incorporate some big show jumping names. Some of the names have been slightly changed--Bitsy Macauley for Beezie Madden, Tess something for Jessica Springsteen. Too many of the jumping efforts are described in the same way which becomes tedious instead of exciting. The villain is horrible and a caricature. Relationships are not believable. If you are a horse person, this is a bad horse book.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had hoped this would be about a completive athlete, but it is more about drama with minimal skills applied. 1 of 10 stars

[Debra · Rating 1 out of 5]

All I can say about this book is that there was so much testosterone running through the dialogue that it made me grit my teeth to the point of pain. These men wrote these women characters as men. I understand women can be, should be, and are competitive. I was a competitive swimmer and played competitive sports all through high school. I know they are. But can we leave the resting bitch face, hard ass etc. references to maybe one or two times? Can we write dialogue between Maggie and her daughter, Becky, like a mother and daughter would talk in real life?? And on that trail ride, can we not just have a two second, two word conversation about the most important moment in both their lives, when in reality we all know it would never happen that way? Is Becky’s grandmother really that hard a person? Does she have to be written that way to be successful? It’s endless! And it’s totally unnecessary to write women characters like you’re trying to prove something as men, but these two authors seem to have no problem doing it. And that is not a compliment. Stay in your lane, gentlemen. Ugh.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is laughably awful. It’s just so inaccurate on all levels. I know other reviewers have pointed out all the horse inaccuracies so I will just say that’s it’s NOT POSSIBLE for someone to tear their MCL and ride a horse a month later. As someone who destroyed their MCL and is still in physical therapy four months later, trust me on this. I really would have hoped Mike Lupica would have done his research or at least gotten an accuracy read for the horsemanship parts of this book but it didn’t happen. Also, the plot was bad. As in non-existent. I kept waiting for the twist or climax but there literally isn’t one. Don’t read the book, okay?

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blech. Only read James Patterson when I think the story might be good. As a person who has ridden, owned horses and jumped, his tale of show jumping at the highest level left me cold. I am nit picking but I don't care....first, how small is a small show jumping horse....14.1 hands like Stroller? 15.3 hands? What exactly...heroine's horse was a small, gray, Dutch mare. Mom's horse is a large German warmblood. Again, how large is large, 16.2, 17, 18 hands?? 17.3 like the famous Big Ben?? Horse people want to know.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I originally gave this 2* but I felt like that didn't really accurately reflect how I felt about the book. I grew up in the hunter/jumper world described in the book, which is probably why the inaccuracies drove me nuts. Trainers work with more than one client regularly, so why the two trainers in this book kept swapping riders made no sense. The "romances", such as they were, were terribly written and not at all romantic. Also, the name-dropping was very annoying. Everyone in the horse world knows that the daughters of famous rich Americans ride -- Gates, Bloomberg, Springsteen. To actual horse people, those AREN'T the stars of our sport. The stars of the sport are names the average American doesn't know -- McLain Ward, Beezie Madden, Kent Farrington. Some of these appear under thinly disguised aliases. Some names (Springsteen) have been changed, probably because they didn't want to appear in the book. Either way, a well-written and interesting narrative wouldn't have needed any of these names to draw in people from outside the sport. This narrative, however, is not interesting nor well-written. The descriptions of each round of jumping will be senseless to people who aren't in the sport and simplistic for those who are.

I'm sure this book will sell well, because the author has a loyal following, and plenty of horesepeople, desperate to see our sport get some long-overdue recognition, will also read the book. However, I suspect most of them will feel as deflated as I did upon beginning to read it.

[Taury · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Horsewoman by James Patterson and Mike Lupica is not James Patterson’s usual novel. Compared to this is a slower paced novel that weaves in family drama, competition, and suspense. The novel follows Maggie Atwood and her daughter, Becky McCabe, both world-class equestrians with dreams of Olympic gold. When Maggie is injured, Becky must step up and take the reins. Not everyone has Becky’s interest in mind as intense rivalries and personal challenges, threaten their goals of success. The competitive scenes are vivid and realistic. The mother-daughter relationship is at the the main theme of the book, and provides emotional depth. Some of parts of the book are predictable and I felt slowly developed and paced. Though this is not Patterson’s usual novel if was a nice change.

[Michelle Meehan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only was this book full of inaccuracies and impossibilities with respect to horses and show jumping, the writing style was painful to read. The book reminded me of something I would have read when I was ten. The story line was boring and predictable. The plot was completely implausible and unbelievable if you know anything about show jumping. I should have stopped reading after the first few chapters. What a waste of time. I’m glad I didn’t pay money to read this and got it from the library instead.

[Natalie M · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literally as bad as I thought it might be (because James Patterson is a horrible writer, )but I thought maybe mike lupica would help. I thought it could be an interesting look at the horseshow life in Wellington Florida that Anna was part of at one point. I finished it because every chapter is a page long and the whole book took minimal effort!

[Aviva · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book about women and horses written by men who don't understand women and horses. I love almost any book about horses but it was very clear the authors did minimal research while trying to use horse world buzzwords.

It also became increasingly annoying to hear "I said," "he said," "she said" over and over again in the audiobook format.

[Aleta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m 50 percent through, didn’t think I’d get this far, but will probably finish. This really is a YA story, or should I say, I don’t think the writing is up to adult level. So much inane conversation, plus just repetitive information. The riding parts drive me crazy. Especially every time a rider goes into the ring (in a top level competition, no less) and “kicks” their horse. My 8 year old students know better! These riders should imperceptibly be using their legs and seat to communicate. And they ALL pat their horse’s HEAD while mounted. I’m sure they are meant to be patting their neck or shoulders, unless they are built like orangutans. I picture the rider standing in the stirrups, leaning forward and boinking their horse between the ears, thus causing the horse to shy away and maybe dump them 😁. There was also all the talk about winning “ribbons”. I’ve never heard a Grand Prix (or any high level) rider mention a ribbon 😜. I was just really looking forward to an adult horse story. If not for the lamentable horse info, I would give it a 3 star, people who just like horses as pretty animals, may enjoy it more.

[Christina Getrost · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I finally read an adult James Patterson novel. (Have only read a few of his teen series.) Can't say that I was very impressed. Obviously a novel about a mother and daughter competing against each other in the showjumping world, trying to earn a spot on the US Olympic team, is going to be one in which I am very interested. Might even say that I "jumped" at the chance to read it, har har! But, wow, this book was just not that enjoyable for me. It was very plot-centric; there was hardly any descriptions of setting or people, so nothing was very memorable. I know that it's Patterson's style to have a little cliffhanger at the end of each chapter, but, geez, EVERY chapter?? I could practically feel myself being yanked around, forced to feel that frisson of danger, and it was so obvious that he just deliberately left out an important piece of dialogue or situation so that you *thought* the person was going to say no to the big important thing, but actually, they said *yes* only we don't know that until the next chapter, etc. etc. It got to be very annoying. I've read tons of horse books, but never before one that treated the horses as almost just objects. They didn't have any personality, and I didn't even learn what they looked like. I can't remember a single description of them, just a throwaway mention that they were warmbloods. The jumping competition scenes were certainly suspenseful, but there were umpteen times the outcome hinged on taking a "rollback" just so, and it started to sound like taking a car around a course. I really wanted to love this book but it was so disappointing. Even the romance was very minimal, I've read more romantic teen books, I thought this was for grownups! Sigh. There was an interesting side plot about DACA and immigration, which was cool and pretty well done. Then there was the villain, the ultra rich guy who owns a majority share in one of the competition horses. Good grief, he was built up to be a horrible monster and you expected some kind of evildoing, but there was no payoff to that at all. The threat just petered away.

So I suppose, if this gets people who normally don't pay any attention to the equestrian events at the Summer Olympics to maybe watch a few rounds now, it will be a good thing. Regular Patterson readers will probably love this, and more power to them. I personally would rather re-read Elizabeth Letts or Jane Smiley or someone else who knows how to write good horse books.

[Randi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book gets one star from me for its single accurate fact, which comes early on when the characters eat at Oli’s. As it is always my first stop when I get to Wellington every year, I can personally attest that the food and atmosphere are first rate. (The short ribs will change your life - thank me later.)

Everything else in the book is terrible. Worse than terrible. Laughable even.

If a bad Hallmark movie about mothers and daughters (with horses) and an old Dudley Do-Right cartoon had a baby, it would be this book. The characters are one-note (including the horses, sadly) and the villain is basically Snidely Whiplash. Throw in a little bit of modernization with the simplistic examination of DACA and I’m still not sure why the publisher thought moving forward with this one was a good idea. As an English major in college and a professional in the horse industry, it was simply painful to read.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my first James Patterson read and honestly the worst book I've read in quite some time, despite covering a topic I enjoy. The characters were flat....even the main characters had no dimension to endear the reader to them! The "romance" was just thrown in without thought or buildup or logic. The plot was laughably predictable. And the author tried to educate the reader about immigration law too, which might have worked had I felt anything for the characters.
But worst of all was the dialogue. Granted, I listened to this book on audio so it may have been less obvious in print...but the over-use of the word "said" was painful. Every. Single. Time. Dialogue was ONLY described using the word "said". No variation ever. He said. She said. He said. She said. Even my 4th grader knows you need to mix up the verbs! Awful.
Save yourself some time and skip this book.

[Cindy McBride · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I typically enjoy Patterson's books (and love horses), this one just didn't capture my interest. For the most part, I felt the characters were uninspired and the dialogue somewhat pedantic. Once he started opining on the plight of the "poor undocumented immigrants", I gave up. I find that offensive, especially since my grandparents went through hell getting here from Germany/Ukraine...legally. Just a bit too PC/woke for me, and I immediately stopped reading. Please, authors...leave your political viewpoints out of your writing. That's not what I read your books for.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Horsewoman is a story of a mother and daughter who compete against one another to make the Olympic Equestrian Team. The timeline for qualifying horseshows to accumulate points was well mapped. The blood, sweat and tears was somewhat protrayed, yet, there was so little interaction between the rider and horse , in or out of the saddle, that I really could not "see" the action. I had no sense of the horses' personalities. Undocumented Dreamers were touched upon as ICE gets involved pursuing immigrants. I found the supersport chapters moved the story along like whiplash. There is a lot of nasty swearing, a lot of flat, dimensional characters, so much conjured up stress that none of the characters felt real. Even the working through pain and injuries rang false. I missed the heart of why a person competes in the saddle, the root of being a horse person. So, this was just ok. This book aquaints the reader with how some horseshows operate. It misses the deeper horse connection .

[Seda Dawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think 2 stars is a generous rating for this book, just because I am a horsewoman.

[stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmmmmmmmmm.

I don't know why James Patterson doesn't hire actual fact checkers for his books. Like the Women's Murder Club series that gets so much of San Francisco wrong, The Horsewoman misses out majorly on what the equestrian scene is actually like. I guess kudos for researching current top show jumpers, but . . .

DO THE RESEARCH. My poor parents spent money on this because they thought it was going to be good and about horses (full disclosure, I ride, but in a different discipline) and I'm all for suspending disbelief, but it can only go so far.

James Patterson, your short chapters and I are done.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really enjoy this book at all

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible writing:

1. This author does not know much about equines. He calls a "filly" a colt". The hands high description is never explained for the reader. Each individual, horse and location is never described! How is the reader expected to visualize this story?

2. Seems like every sentence with conversation ends with "he said" or "she said" which became extremely obnoxious and idiotic. Where were James Patterson's proofreaders and editors, who should have removed this banal nonsense? It continued to annoy this reader throughout the novel. Yes, it was that repetitive.

3. The conversations and behaviors between the three women in the family: Becky Atwood, Maggie McCabe and her mother (who has also ridden in her younger days) was stilted, clipped and full of Patterson's own male hormones in an attempt to ensure his characters were every bit as male-oriented as their opponents! Really? Women interact much softer and warmer with each other. They don't need to behave in a macho manner in order to win or succeed in any line of work . . . male dominated or not. Good grief this was an inappropriate picture of women riding to win! Most women love to support each other in their quest for their endeavors, especially against each other.

4. I honestly don't believe James Patterson has a clue of horses OR women. If he did, this could have been an interesting novel. Unfortunately, it is a disaster filled with errors, mistakes, unlikeable characters and unbelievable situations.

No redeeming qualities. Cannot recommend this book to anyone for any reason.

[E. Parker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am so glad I finished this dog of a book. I did that just to be sure it was as bad all the way through as it was the beginning. Like so many others I noticed the same mistakes, and was particularly aghast at the one about a jump saddle being 'heavy as hell'. I can balance my saddle on the fingers of one hand. The cover blurb talks about 'complex relationships'. What's complex about three women that, being women, hate each other? The grandmother could have been modeled on a saddle horse trainer here in Kentucky, who shall remain nameless out of respect for the dead. Character Steve Gorton was modeled on - let's face it - Donald Trump. And did trainer Ortega just kinda, sorta forget to become a citizen? I first noticed this book at the bottom of a bestseller list and haven't seen it since. Apparently, the word is out. Several years ago, I was severely injured on a jump course, and I was reminded by this book of why I wasn't in a big hurry to go back. The people tend to be shallow and mean. Plus, I didn't have a couple million dollars to blow on a horse. I'd never read a book by Patterson before, and this could keep me away from any of his others. Why wasn't this book on the Teen Fiction shelf?

[Marzena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a JP fan. And an equestrian of over 20 years. From Europe. And this book was...bad.
I enjoyed it just because of the tempo of chapters, which I love in Patterson's books so I finished it but the horse parts were poor, to say the least.
A lot of basic errors, some of them were making me cringe - like losing a stirrup on an Olympic level making the rider panic or fall down? seriously? There are showjumpers who finished the whole course without stirrups jumping obstacles of 160cm. Also, riders of that class do not fall off easily if at all. Here all "olympic riders" fall off their horses like flies.
And what the hell "ride your horse" means? Repeated 13872 times. "i am riding my horse" - no shit sherlock.
Not to mention, riders are allowed sunglasses during competition, you know.
And being on Olympic level with just one horse? Yeah, it happens, especially for riders from poorer countries, but still, Maggie anc Becky had literally ONE horse each.

It is just. Nah. Could be at least a decent stroy. It wasnt.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never read a James Patterson book before and hopefully I never do again.

[Grace Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book frustrated me. The pacing and plot was good. I’m not sure if this was just genre convention I’m not used to, but there was very little physical description of any of the characters or settings. The women were “beautiful” and the men were “handsome” and the horses were either “big” or just named. The twists and the subject matter were entertaining. I don’t really know what to think about it because it’s so outside my wheelhouse of what I normally read.

[Mary Jackson _TheMaryReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must read. I love When Patterson cowrites with others. You hear their voice on most of the pages. I recommend this one. 4 star and worthy of an afternoon read. The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

[Barbara Schultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a fan of James Patterson for many many years have read over 120 of his novels. The first was Along Gave a Spider back in 1993. It was the first in the Alex Cross series ~ now up to Book #29.
I haven’t been a big fan of the co-author novels. Have to admit some are good. In this case teaming up Hall of Fame sports columnist Mike Lupica; who has written sixteen novels and his daughter is a competitive rider, worked for this novel.

Story is about mother Maggie Atwood and her twenty-one year old daughter Becky McCabe as well as their horses Coronado and Sky. As they are all have their eyes on the Paris Olympics.

I am not a horsewoman so although the story was interesting it was a bit slow.
I always think of horse as beautiful animals and they are but I never realized how dangerous riding is for both the rider and the horse.

Want to thank NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 10, 2022