Hello friends, happy Thursday! Today I’m going to be posting my review of James Patterson’s novel Ambush and a bonus review of his novella Manhunt.

I just want to start by saying that 1) this is book 11 in Patterson’s novels featuring main character/detective Michael Bennett, but can be read as a standalone story and 2) I won’t be continuing with this series even though I did enjoy this book. This was my first time reading anything from Patterson and I feel like many have read his work and liked it.
Lastly, I did a First Impressions Friday on this book: First Impressions Friday: Ambush by: James Patterson.

Ambush by: James Patterson & James O. Born: When New York’s famous detective, Michael Bennett gets a tip about a crime, it turns out to be a set-up that soon spirals into a string of homicides, all with the intent of killing Bennett. But Bennett is up to the task of finding out who this mysterious murderer is and to find out their motives. This novel was action packed, and the way that Patterson used short chapters really moved the story along quickly. The story was good, it kept the reader invested, but there was something lacking that kept it suspenseful. The story progressed in a logical order and nothing that happened seemed to surprise the reader. Told from two perspectives, the reader gets in the minds of both the good guy, and the bad guy so nothing really came out of left field. The only thing the reader was really curious about was how certain plot points were connected, which did eventually work itself out. The characters were very well rounded and the reader got a sense of who they were as people. Especially for a novel eleven books into a series, which the reader can totally read as a standalone, Patterson introduces his main character, Michael Bennett like the reader has never met them in a previous novel. It’s great to the reader who is just dropping in, but for readers who are fans of this series, it must get rather repetitive. It was interesting how Patterson chose to tell the story; the good guy is told in first person, giving off this sense of what a good, wholesome, family loving person they are, and the reader feels closer to this character by using the I pronoun. The bad guy is told in third person to give off this sense of distance and coldness; the reader does get to see a sweeter side of the bad guy, but the third person perspective really makes the reader feel disconnected to them. All in all, this wasn’t a bad novel; it kept the reader engaged until the end, there just wasn’t anything surprising or shocking in the plot.

Manhunt by: James Patterson & James O. Born: Michael Bennett and his family have gathered to watch the Thanksgiving Macey’s parade when things take a drastic turn. A van runs into the crowd and a bomb goes off leaving people dead and injured. Bennett is on the case with the FBI to try and find out who is responsible. Patterson’s writing in short stories feels so much better than his full length novel. In his short story he gets straight to the point with everything and leaves no room for fluff. At the same time, there is only one point of view so the reader doesn’t know who the actual killer is and that leaves this highly suspenseful. This had short chapters that made this short story fly by and added to the suspense. Again, his characters are really well developed, we meet Michael Bennett and his family once more, but this time this really just sticks to the case. His new partner in this story was a badass woman who took no punches. Her character arc was really well developed. By the end the reader is unsure what to make of her; she’s very morally grey. This was a quick, fun detective case that left the reader hanging on the edge of their seats.