Season of the Machete

Rating:
Summary: Not typical Patterson stuff, his worse book yet.
Review: I agree with the other reviews, Mr Patterson just threw this one together, don't waste your time reading this one his others are great but this one is lacking in everything.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but ultimately confusing
Review: I couldn't make heads or tails of this book. It was difficult for me to follow and I quickly grew frustrated with the dates and times given in each chapter. When I read a book I prefer to imagine it in my own framework of time rather than to be given specific chronological information like that(especially since the chronology didn't seem to be accurate). Although this book was definitely not one of Mr. Patterson's best, it does have several redeeming qualities. The protagonist Peter McDonald, was a total bore but the two antagonists, Damian and Carrie Rose, were fascinating. They were very Bonnie and Clyde- like and I found that murderous bond between them oddly amusing. Okay, yes, Damian and Carrie were cold-blooded killers but they were also very fun (in a twisted sort of way), unlike the one dimensional Peter McDonald. I also found their names to be a neat play on words and connotations. Damian as in the Antichrist, Carrie as in the Stephen King novel, and their last name Rose, as in Rosemary's Baby. I especially enjoyed the outwardly soft and lovely and inwardly cold, calculating,brilliant,cruel and homicidal personality of Carrie Rose. She seemed to be the real brains in the book. Her self-interest and instincts for self-preservation were fun to see in a female character.She didn't fit into any of the sterotypical female roles. She makes no excuses or apologies in the end and that is very refreshing. It's not often that you read a book where the female character holds the cards, so to speak, and the male characters are left clueless.This book has a great ending and the ending is reason enough in itself to read the book. I hope that Mr. Patterson will bring Carrie Rose back in a future book. She was a truly memorable and fun character.

Rating:
Summary: Pitiful...
Review: I wish they'd pull this one from the market. I've never heard a soul say anything good about it. It's just out there so Patterson fans will accidentally buy it. DON'T BUY IT!! It is nowhere near the quality of any of his other books! Get ANYTHING else by Patterson and it will be better than this.

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: If this would have been the first James Patterson book I ever read, it would have been the last (and that would have been a shame!). Too gory (without any real purpose), too many characters (who are very one-dimensional) and too much stuff going. That being said, I did quit reading this book about 1/3 of the way through (which I hardly ever do). Maybe I missed out on the good stuff in the last part of the book, but I really doubt it!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Patterson
Review: James Patterson's books are usually a page turner. The suspense holds the reader until the last page. However, I find this statment to be true for the Alex Cross novels because this book not only did not take hold of my attention, but I actually stopped reading half way through. I'm not sure if the book gets better, but it is not the usual Patterson which is interesting from chapter 1. Simply put, this book was a bore and a disappointment. Patterson does have some other great books out there, especially those with Alex Cross.

Rating:
Summary: Better title would be Season of Confusion and Mayhem
Review: My head literally hurt trying to keep up with all that happened in this book. I gave up after 100 pages and donated it to Goodwill.

Rating:
Summary: Another great one
Review: Once again Patterson's book is good. I love his alex cross books and this was good too

Rating:
Summary: Confusing
Review: Patterson writes great stuff that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This one seems to cheat. The dates set up a mystery that is not only not resolved but becomes contradictory........Jim.... HELP.... what is going on in this book

Rating:
Summary: Read on the beach-of all places
Review: Read this in one day while sitting on the beach! What a confusing ending-I had to read the last few pages twice since the characters were confusing-who were the "good"/"bad" guys? Patterson has come a long way as a writer since this book was originally published in 1977.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written and constructed
Review: Reasonable story idea but very poorly put together. Got some free used Patterson books from a friend, "The Thomas Berryman Number" was a similar type book about crime, but much better than "Season of the Machete".

Guess Patterson was still learning with this book.