BLOODY VALENTINE

TITLE: BLOODY VALENTINE
AUTHOR: JAMES PATTERSON
Pages: 122
Date: 14/03/2011
Grade: 4-
Details: Quick Reads
Library

This is a book in the Quick Reads series. These are shorter books by well known writers specifically aimed at people who want to improve their literacy skills, but interesting for anyone who loves reading a good story and wants a shorter read.
The story in this book is typical Patterson fare. A gruesome murder and quite a few suspects.
The story starts with with the line: "Killing isn't murder when it's necessary" as thought by someone who is moving through a house in London in the middle of the night, preparing for something.
The next day is Valentine's day and Zee Barnes, the younger and pregnant wife of famous and wealthy restaurant owner Jack Barnes is on her way to meet him when she meets someone and is horrifically murdered. Shortly afterwards her heart is delivered to her husband.
The police get involved and investigate all those living in the same building as Jack and Zee, which leads to a remarkably fast solution of the mystery.

This was a fun read, if even more improbable than Patterson's books can normally be. The time frame in which autopsy and test results came back was astonishing and completely unrealistic. And because the book is so short there really wasn't a chance to get any feel for the characters. But, as always, I did find myself compelled to keep on reading until I knew what had happened and who had done it. I can imagine this book being a great introduction to Patterson for the one or two people in the world who haven't read a book by him yet.