Book Review: The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker

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The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker  was published on March 17, 2025. It opens with Detective Declan Shaw at a closed subway station trying to work up the nerve to commit suicide when he receives a call from his partner about a break in and homicide at the home of a true crime author. Shaw makes his way to the crime scene to work the case, and in a turn of events, Declan comes under scrutiny in another case loosely connected to this new case. I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Writer  from NetGalley and Little , Brown, and Company for free in exchange for my honest review. I'm appreciative that my request for this book was approved. With this story opening with the main character trying to commit suicide, I almost didn't go any further with the book. However, I am glad I stuck with it as it took me on a fantastic ride and had my emotions all over the place. There were so many twists and turns that just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was ...

Book Review: Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum, #25) by Janet Evanovich

book review look alive twenty five janet evanovich

Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum, #25) by Janet Evanovich opens with Stephanie Plum and
Lula being assigned as the manager and assistant manager at the Red River Deli in Trenton, NJ because the managers keep disappearing. The only clue is that they leave one show behind. Police have no leads, and Lula thinks it alien abduction.

One of the things I love about the Stephanie Plum book series is that it follows the same formula each time and that it doesn't have any cliffhangers. I know this is a big complaint of many long time readers, but it doesn't really bother me too much because sometimes I just need to read something that I don't have to think about too hard. This particular book made me laugh out loud in several places, and I didn't try to figure out the culprit or motive behind the disappearances, so I didn't really see the ending coming. However, it did reuse the reality television show angle again that we saw in a previous book so that was a bit disappointing.

Ranger and Morelli both are featured quite heavily and actually work together well in an effort to keep Stephanie safe, which was a nice thing to see.  Typically, one or the other character is featured, but I am getting a bit leery of the love triangle. I just want to see her end up with one of them, but I don't see that happening any time in the near future. I was glad to see that Grandma Mazur barely made an appearance this time as I needed a break from this particular character. It was nice to see mention of Stephanie's sister and family because she doesn't get mentioned too often. Something that was a good change of pace is that Stephanie's car doesn't get blown up, stolen, wrecked, etcetera, and her apartment isn't damaged either. It was also great to see that none of the scenes included the funeral home. These situations are a bit overused in my opinion. With all this being said, it doesn't bother me too much any more because as I mentioned previously, it's nice to know what you're going to get with this series.

I gave Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum, #25) by Janet Evanovich five out of five stars, and I will continue to read the rest of the series. If you like this book series, I recommend the High Heel Mysteries by Gemma Halliday.

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