The cover looks like something familiar doesn’t it? The synopsis seems like it might lead to a wild ride. That’s because Michael Ledwidge has co-authored numerous books with James Patterson, and now has written a standalone novel with many similar elements.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail.
About the Book:
Hamptons sand… Hamptons money… Hamptons murder…
When Terry Rourke is invited to the spare-no-expense beach wedding of his hedge fund manager brother, he thinks that his biggest worry will be flubbing the champagne toast. But this isn’t the first time Terry has been to the Hamptons.
As the designer tuxedos are laid out and the flowers arranged along the glittering surf, Terry can’t help but take another look at a decades-old murder trial that rocked the very foundations of the town—and his family. He soon learns that digging up billion-dollar sand can be a very dangerous activity. The kind of danger that can very quickly turn even the most beautiful beach wedding into a wake.
My Thoughts:
I gave this book 3 stars
If I didn’t know it, I would think I was reading a James Patterson book, and I haven’t read one for years. The style (short chapters, rapid pacing) and the “feel” of it make it the perfect book for those who have come to appreciate Ledwidge’s collaborations with Patterson in the past.
It the story of Terry Rourke, who, along with his wife and young daughter, travel to the Hamptons from Pennsylvania to participate in Terry’s brother Tom’s lavish wedding. It is soon revealed that Terry’s family hails from the community, where their late father was an attorney who was well known for prosecuting the wife of a wealthy, powerful man who was murdered. The more Terry thinks about that time of his life, the more he wants to find out what really happened back then. However, that’s going to throw him into the middle of something that people do not want revealed.
This is an entertaining novel with a few twists and enjoyable if you suspend a bit of disbelief. I got pretty irritated with Terry for his armchair sleuthing (he is a cop, but he wasn’t acting in that capacity here) and neglecting his family and his brother to go off on this tangent. He took risks that were not necessary, and ignored warnings that he absolutely should have followed.
There are also a large number of characters that did not need to be included. I am not sure why we needed to be introduced to all of Terry’s siblings and their spouses and their children when none of them factored into the story at all. The wedding activities seemed like boring filler because they just didn’t further the storyline at all. I know, it gave them a reason to be in the Hamptons, but it made things muddy at times.
Overall, if you like a decently fast paced mystery with a James Patterson-esque feel, then this is an excellent choice for you.
About the Author:
MICHAEL LEDWIDGE is the writer of seventeen novels, the last dozen being New York Times bestsellers cowritten with one of the world’s bestselling authors, James Patterson. With twenty million copies in print, their Michael Bennett series is the highest-selling New York City detective series of all time. One of their novels, Zoo, became a three-season CBS television series. He lives in Connecticut.
Social Links:
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