My first reaction as I read this book? Wow, what a motley crew of misfits. Every single one, including lead character Detective Harriet Blue, has issues so deep it would take a bulldozer to dig them all out. And quite honestly, with one possible exception (Harriet's partner, Detective Edward Whittacker), I didn't care enough about any of them to look for even a shovel.
Set in Australia, where Harriet is a sex crimes officer with the Sydney Police, the story begins with her efforts to free her brother Sam. Despite a ton of evidence to the contrary, Sam was found guilty of murdering three young women. He insists he's innocent, and Harriet is certain (as is he) that he's been framed.
But best-laid plans often get derailed, and after Harriet - who clearly needs several courses in anger management - smacks a prosecutor in the nose, she's banished to a nine-day stint in Last Chance Valley, a remote area of New South Wales with just 75 residents. Being driven into the community by a local cop turns out to be a blast - literally - wherein the local police chief is blown to smithereens (smaller bits than that, actually). Initially, that gets the attention of an egotistical international terrorist expert who happens to be in the area, giving Harriet a case into which she can sink her teeth while she worries about her brother.
Back home, the aforementioned partner has promised to continue the investigation, and from this point on readers follow two storylines (each detailing, as much as anything else, the horrifying childhoods that I suppose are intended to explain - if not justify - the grown-up behavior of just about every character).
Both plots thicken till near the end, when there are a few surprises plus a cliffhanger that might entice me to look forward to the next installment - if only I liked the character. Fact is, I may or may not read it; trite as they may be, it's rare for me to pass up a Patterson-and-friends book. This one really isn't awful, but neither will this series ever come close to being a favorite.
Fifty Fifty by James Patterson and Candice Fox (Little, Brown and Co., February 2018); 400 pp.
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