Patterson, James and Maxine Paetro Confessions of a Murder Suspect, 372 pgs. Little, Brown and Company, 2012. $19.99. Content: Language: PG (10 swears; 10 God); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.
Tandy comes from a family that excels in everything they do. They are smart, athletic and emotionally detached, because their parents believe that emotions shouldn’t rule one’s behavior. So when Tandy’s parents are found poisoned to death, Tandy and her brothers become the suspects. Tandy attempts to figure out who the murderer is before the police, even if it includes accusing her own family members. She uncovers family secrets and starts to question who she is, all while investigating her parent’s deaths.
The cover of this book is fantastic, the title catches the attention of any passer-by, and the big name of James Patterson will even convince some adults to give this young adult read a try. However, this book is very frustrating. First, the narrator talks to the reader, and while doing so comes across patronizing. Second, it felt like the narrator stopped at least fifteen times, just when the story was getting interesting, to say “I can’t talk about that right now” or “I’ll explain that later”. Which by the way, the narrator didn’t always come back to and answer, leaving a huge hole for the second book to fill. Third, I didn’t feel like the characters were relatable, they were robotic, which I guess was part of the storyline, but I was waiting for the point when I would care about what happened to any of them-and I didn’t. All that being said, it’s an interesting story and I found myself wanting to know what happened. I will probably even read the second book to find out some of the answers to the mysteries that weren’t answered. Overall, the good doesn’t outweigh the bad.
MS, HS-OPTIONAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson.
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