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"Beach Road" by James Patterson & Peter de Jonge (Little, Brown, ISBN
9780446619141, $9.99)

I must admit, that although it is said you can't judge a book by its cover, I am
often drawn to a book, initially, by its appearance. This is how I stumbled
across "Beach Road" by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge. The beautiful beach
scene caused me to pick the book up to investigate further. Although Patterson's
name was familiar to me, I didn't realize that it was his work with Alex Cross
upon which the movies "Kiss the Girls" and "Along Came a Spider" were based.

The jacket outlined the story of Tom Dunleavy, an East Hampton lawyer who takes on the case of a local basketball star named Dante Halleyville. Dante has been accused of murdering three young men in an execution-style shooting. Tom
recruits Kate Costello, former girlfriend turned high-power lawyer, to assist
him in proving Dante's innocence. What transpires had me turning pages well into
the night.

The story is told from the perspectives of Tom, Kate, Dante, Dante's
grandmother, Detective Connie P. Raiborne (a detective working a related case)
and a character named Loco that keeps you guessing about his/her identity until
the very end. At first I was put off by this "perspective" style of writing. My
mind had trouble assimilating the various voices. However, as I got further into
the book, I began to enjoy it and how it added to the suspense. The result had
my husband asking, "Can you stay up any later flipping pages?" My answer, "You
should read this book!" And so should you!

Review by Missy Abbott August 23, 2007
 

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