Book 3 Review

James Patterson’s bestselling book, Now You See Her, is a thriller/ mystery that was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list and was released in 2012. It is about a senior in college named Jeanine who is on spring break in Key West, Florida. She is driving drunk and fast when she notices a man running out in front of her car. She tries to stop but it is too late, she has hit and killed him. The police officer that arrives at the scene helps her to get away with it. They end up getting married and having a happy life, until… Jeanine finds out about a dirty secret her husband has been keeping from her.  She runs away from her seemingly perfect life and renames herself Nina Bloom. All is going well with her new life until her ex- husband’s life and Nina’s, cross paths yet again. Now You See Her will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see how Nina will deal with her past life’s problems. This book is like a mystery that was solved but new evidence comes in that reopens the case. The feel of the book is fast, every page holding something new and exciting.

This novel was incredibly written with great writing craft and excellent diction. James Patterson really knows how to write thrillers to keep you on the edge of your seat.  Patterson has a way of writing where he can use the same plot as many other stories but twist it to make it different and it makes a completely different story that is brilliant every time. He always makes sure to tie up all loose ends at the end so you keep guessing until the very end of the book.  Patterson knows how to step into the book and adopt his characters thoughts so you can hear the characters voice and it makes this book unique.  James Patterson also uses different types of literary elements such as similes, metaphors, personification, etc. He uses these to help paint a picture in your mind about the scene and what the character is thinking. An example of this is, “I shivered like a cornered rabbit,”.  This quote helps you to know that the main character, Jeanine, is scared and she feels as if she has no way out of the situation that she is in.

There are strengths and weaknesses to this book as there are to any book. A strength of the book is that there is a lot of action and there is never really a dull part of the book, and if there is, it only lasts for a chapter or two. Another strength is that Patterson creates characters that everyone can relate to in some way. Everyone has thought about what it would be like to just leave their life and start anew with nothing from their old life to hold them back. You get to see what it would be like to actually do this because that is what Jeanine does in this book. A weakness of the book is that Patterson switches points of view throughout the book which can make the book difficult to read for some people. This book isn’t for anyone who likes slow, romance type books because it is fast and while it has some romance, it is minimal.

The plot of this book was very interesting because there were a lot of coincidences. It just so happened that Jeanine was staging her death from the Jump Killer when she actually got abducted by him. Also, Peter just so happened to see Nina at the baseball game after 20 years, “Because the good-looking blond woman embracing the teen girl reminded him even more of someone else. His dead wife, Jeanine.” It is a huge coincidence that they are at the same baseball game and Nina and her daughter end up of the big screen and Peter happens to look up and see them. In real life there is a small possibility that this could happen but it is very unlikely. There are a lot of coincidences in this book that if you reread the book would just seem weird, but while you are reading the book you don’t think much of it because James Patterson makes it seem like they all happened for a reason just as life may seem sometimes.

I would rate this book as 4.5 stars our of 5 because it was a good, fast read and it was very well written. Patterson really hit the bull’s-eye on this one. Patterson isn’t limited in his writing style, he uses great writing craft and he uses formal and informal diction when necessary. The fast paced novel will keep you on the edge of your seat and wondering what will happen to Nina next.