The 5th Horseman

By James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

This is probably the strangest book I've listened to ever since I started listening to audiobooks on my commute. It's a murder mystery, like most of the other books I listen to. But it used background music at several points during the story to, I guess, heighten the drama. I didn't know if I was hearing it right: music? In the middle of a novel? Most novels I listen to start of with a short segment of music as the narrator begins the book—they're customary with most of the Spenser novels I've heard—but I've never heard music in the middle of a book. But sure enough, as it grew in volume, it was unmistakeable. At first, I didn't know if I liked it or hated it. Afterall, since an audio book is an audible medium, why not employ assets that can't be used with the straight, written word? Ultimately, I decided the background music was harmless at worst, but unnecessary for a truly skillful writer: the writing itself should communicate the mood the reader should be feeling. Background music is to audiobooks is what canned laughter is to television sit-coms. And the book isn't poorly written, the music isn't needed. I knew what to experience when something "big" happened.

I picked up this book more or less at random. The library was out of Parker novels I hadn't already heard and Patterson had a lot of offerings, so I assumed he didn't suck. Plus it was a murder mystery, for some reason the genre I most enjoy listening to... and what the library has a wide selection of. I saw this book was an entry in something called "Women's Murder Club" series of books. Though I had no idea what that was, I picked it up. It turns out that the Women's Murder Club is actually just a group of female friends (who happen upon murders from time to time, probably because one of them, the protagonist, is a police detective). The series is much like the Spenser series: a group of character who inhabit a shared universe between their novels. Unlike the Spenser books, this series is set in San Francisco. It was nice to hear a story that was set in my old stomping grounds of the Bay Area (though I never ventured up to San Francisco much, I was more or less somewhat familiar with it).

This story actually has several mysteries the characters try to unravel: they're tracking at least two serial murderers and a sociopathic doctor. One serial murderer kills professional escorts, dresses them in designer clothes, and leaves them in pricey cars. Bizarre, to say the least. The other serial killer kills hospital patients who are either well on their way to recovery or are in no danger of dying—at all—until the murderer kills them. The killer has the unusual (and utterly traceable) habit of placing buttons with a caduceus on each victims eyelids after they pass. In the last case, a fictional hospital, San Francisco Municipal, is sued for incopetance. A class action lawsuit, a group of victim's relatives sue the hospital after their loved ones die under their care. At least some of them are, no doubt, are the victims of the caduceus button killer.

The last case, probably the least interesting, is given the most coverage in the book. I found the other two more interesting, but they were given much less attention than the latter case. They were handled adequetly, I suspect, but the resolution of one was anticlumactic and seemed more of an afterthought than a gripping, final resolution.

While this book was fine, and actually drew Joan in while we drove together on an errand, a few deatils really bothered me. I'm no medical expert, but even I was able to spot these mistakes when I heard them:

• Diabetics don't take insulin in the middle of the night. They only take it right before eating. They don't need it while they're asleep.
• Insulin needs to be kept cold, usually refrigerated. You can't just leave it lying about and expect it to stay good.
• Children aren't required to stay alone in hospitals overnight. Children are almost always allowed to be occompanied by one parent. I know this for a fact since Kevin, when he was two or so, had to stay overnight at the hospital. Joan was permitted—actually required—to stay with him through the night. I can't imagine any parent so heartless as to leave their child alone in a strange place even for one night. Hospitals understand this and make permissions for family members of small children. "Visiting hours" don't apply to them.

I suspect this book was written with woman as its intended audience, but it didn't exclude men. It has some details which are rather "girly", but the author didn't dwell on them. It was a decent listen and often I looked forward to my commute to see what would happen next. But it wasn't as entertaining as the Parker novels: either the Jesse Stone or the Spenser books. But I wouldn't necesarily exclude Patterson as an author in the future. But if I were looking for reading material, I probably wouldn't buy a Patterson book. I understand that The 5th Horseman is the fifth in the "Women's Murder Club" series. While I was never lost as to who the characters were or their relation to one another—Patterson does a good job of explaining who people are just as Parker does for those readers who may be unfamiliar with their prior stories—perhaps I'd be more interested in the story if I had followed the series from the beginning. As it was, it was a fine listen, with passible voice acting (with a female narrator, which is a good thing since the protagonist, speaking from a first-person perspective, is female) and an interesting storyline that I didn't have to force myself to finish. I enjoyed it fine, but it falls short of Parker's books.

External links

• The 5th Horseman from Patterson's official website
• The 5th Horseman from Wikipedia