Guilty Wives

On a girls-only ultra-glamorous vacation to Monte Carlo, four women get entangled in a high-profile murder. Before you can say boo, they are tried, found guilty, and imprisoned for life in a horrific French jail.

Now it is up to Abbie Elliot, the toughest of the four women, to find out exactly what happened that night and bring justice to them all. The rest of the story deals with how she struggles during the trial and her imprisonment and how she realizes the truth.

My Review

This book is typical of James Patterson fare. If you are a regular reader of his books, you know what to expect – ultrashort chapters, fast-moving action, and not many character development. Knowing that ahead of time, I was not disappointed. I needed something to kill time, which would not be too much of a strain, and this book delivered all that and more.

If you are looking for a more complex read where you haven’t guessed every plot twist by page 100 (ok, ok, there really isn’t any plot twist), then this book is not for you.

The story is fun, but the plot gets quite hokey in places. Things are made pretty easy for Abbie, and some too many convenient friends help her out when she is in a jam. It would have been nicer if the story was a little less simplistic, but then it wouldn’t be easy reading James Patterson style, would it?

What really made this book compelling was Abbie’s toughness and grit in the midst of so much uncertainty, and I loved how intensely she refused to accept her guilt in the murder even though it would mean lessening her jail sentence.

So, what I am saying in this review is if you are a regular James Patterson reader and love his writing style, you will love this one too.

If you are a thriller buff, this story sounds interesting, but my review seems meh; then try an older book called If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon – the basic premise of a beautiful young woman wrongly framed for a crime is handled better here.

Thanks to Random House for sending me a copy of this book for review.