After I finished the first book in this series, NYPD Red, I said this is the best of Patterson's works of late (and since he relies heavily on co-authors, I gave the lion's share of the credit to his co-writer on this one, Marshall Karp). I'm delighted to say this one's even better than the first - so my hat's off once again to Mr. Karp.
Almost all of Patterson's books are very easy reads, and this one is no exception; within a couple of hours, I was surprised to find I'd polished off half of it. I was even more surprised to realize I didn't want to put it away so I could get some sleep. Sure enough, a couple more hours the next day did the trick. The best part, though, was that I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.
This one follows the elite NYPD Red team of Detective Zach Jordan and his detective partner Kylie MacDonald (the two once were a couple) as they do their thing protecting the rich and famous and try to solve New York City's highest profile crimes. To start, a wealthy woman is murdered, dressed in a Hazmat suit and dumped on a carousel. She's the fourth in a string of similar murders, but since she qualifies for assignment to the Red team, they're called in.
The case means crossing state lines and offending not a few other police officers as they try to identify and arrest the Hazmat killer - before the city's election in the hope that the current mayor will keep his job. Meantime, Jordan has found a new love, although he continues to struggle with his feelings for MacDonald. The plot takes a couple of relatively unexpected twists and turns, ending with...oh wait, you really didn't expect me to tell all, did you?
NYPD Red 2 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp (Little, Brown and Co., March 2014); 417 pp.
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