2nd Chance reconvenes the Women's Murder Club, four friends (a detective, a reporter, an assistant district attorney, and a medical examiner) who used their networking skills, feminine intuition, and professional wiles to solve a baffling series of murders in 1st to Die. This time, the murders of two African Americans, a little girl and an old woman, bear all the signs of a serial killer for Lindsay Boxer, newly promoted to lieutenant of San Francisco's homicide squad. But there's an odd detail she finds even more disturbing: both victims were related to city cops. A symbol glimpsed at both murder scenes leads to a racist hate group, but the taunting killer strikes again and again, leaving deliberate clues and eluding the police ever more cleverly. In the meantime, each of the women has a personal stake at risk--and the killer knows who they are.

2nd Chance speeds along at a Formula One pace through many tight curves, but unlike recent entries in the Alex Cross series, it doesn't sacrifice good characters to a twisted plot. Lindsay's the star, but there's a fine esprit de corps among the four women, who are even better developed here than in the first book. What makes them both convincing and interesting as a criminal-justice juggernaut is their willingness to stick their necks out, even if they suffer for it. If you haven't picked up a James Patterson novel in a while, this is a great time to start anew. --Barrie Trinkle

When a little girl is shot on the steps of a San Francisco church, Detective Lindsay Boxer knows its time to reconvene the Womens Murder Club. Working with Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas, assistant D.A. Jill Bernhardt, and medical examiner Claire Washburn, Lindsay tracks a mystifying killer who soon turns his pursuers into his victims. The unorthodox allegiances of the Womens Murder Club lead them to suspect the unexpectedthe killer may be an ex-cop. But nothing could prepare them for the demented logic behind his choice of victims. 2nd Chance is full of unexpected turns that could only have been created by the mind of James Patterson. This pageturning drama will enthrall his longtime readers and attract new ones to his latest bestselling series, the Womens Murder Club. 1st To Die, the first book in this series which was published in March 2001, became an immediate #1 bestseller with over 866,000 copies in print. A major feature film of Along Came a Spider recently reached theaters. The ABC miniseries of 1st To Die will air in Fall 2001.

This review is of the audiobook version.

This is the second story in the series and follows on a couple of months after the shocking conclusion to the previous book. In this story Lindsay Boxer, newly promoted to Lieutenant, finds herself investigating some race hate crimes. She discovers fairly quickly that the crimes are being committed by a person who is part of a specific white group with an identifying tattoo - but it proves very difficult to pin down exactly who he is. When he starts toying with Lindsay and the police department, including killing someone close to her as well as attacking her friends, the stakes are even higher.

There are some additional side-plots in this story, including the return of Lindsay's father into her life, some significant events in Jill Bernhardt's life and a romance for Cindy Thomas. As in the previous book, the Women's Murder Club seems a rather unnecessary plot device where Lindsay talks over the case with her friends.

The writing style in this book felt at times rather clunky. I lost count of the time James Patterson used phrases like "My heart was exploding in my chest" or some other overblown description for Lindsay's excitement or fear. Although the action kept going I found some of the events a little difficult to swallow and I wasn't as gripped by this story as I had been by the previous one in the series.

The reader of this book had a less enjoyable voice than the reader of the previous one with a rather harsh delivery at times. Chapters where the narrator is the murderer were read by a male reader and unfortunately the volume on these chapters was notably quieter so that the volume had to be increased to hear him properly, then reduced again for the female narrator.

Yes, this book has a nice simple story line that makes you turn the pages. But, those pages are usually three-page snippets (called chapters) and the four women characters of the "club" are stereotyped middle-class working women. The protaganist, Lindsay Boxer is the last person in the world you would want to see heading up a homicide squad: emotional, impulsive and not very bright. The turning point for me was when she and her department buddies wanted to apply a little pressure to a suspected murderer and parole violator. They couldn't figure out how to bring him in on murder charges, so they just showed up at his door to let him know they were watching. Why didn't they simply arrest him on the parole violation? Combine this with her impulsively chasing after bad guys by herself (twice) and her need to be rescued (twice) by a man or men (her father and homicide department buddies), and you've got a less-than-compeling lead character. I'd never heard of James Patterson before, and this book certainly doesn't incline me to read any more of his books. For my money, John Lescroarts' series of books set in the same place--San Francisco's Police Department homicide unit and legal community--are much more sophisticated and equally page-turning.

Sometimes it's hard for a second book in a series to live up to the first one. This one didn't disappoint. I did finish it and somewhat enjoyed the story, but decided I probably wouldn't get the next in the series. I guess I'm spoiled to the Alex Cross series and was hoping this would be as good, it wasn't.

This is the second book in the Women's Murder Club series featuring Detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends -- a crime reporter, a medical examiner, and an assistance district attorney -- who are the Women's Murder Club. They gather to discuss evidence that others in their workplaces may have missed as well as sharing support and friendship. This time it's another rather bizarre serial killer. Boxer's long-lost father, a retired police officer, makes an appearance in this book. This is a fast read with short chapters. The plot holds one's attention to the end.

Picked this up for another trip to Europe and eagerly finished it. I continue to enjoy the interplay of the four women. I do wish that Jill's character was developed just a little more. There were a few pieces that even after finishing confuse me, but perhaps that's part of the mystery. I'm curious to see if the Aaron Winslow character continues in the series.