Young Adult Book Review~ Confessions: The Private School Murders by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Confessions: The Private School Murders (Confessions #2) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Hardcover, 448 pages

Expected Publication: Oct. 7th, 2013 by Little, Brown and Company

Source: Publisher/ Big Honcho Media

Wealthy young women are being murdered, and the police aren't looking for answers in the right places. Enter Tandy Angel. Her first case was the mystery of her parents' deaths. Now she's working to exonerate her brother of his girlfriend's homicide. And danger just got closer.One of the recent victims was a student at Tandy's own elite school. She has a hunch it may be the work of a serial killer... and Tandy perfectly fits the profile of the killer's targets. Can she untangle the mysteries in time? Or will she be the next victim? James Patterson keeps the confessions coming as Tandy delves deeper into her own tumultuous history and the skeletons in the Angel family closet.

It's kind of amazing, I read the first book and this book back to back, one right after the other.  I NEVER do that.  I don't remember the last time I was able to read two books from a series back to back.  So that actually speaks volumes about how much I've enjoyed these books.  Not to mention, I had a HUGE grin on my face the entire time I was reading them.

I absolutely ADORE Tandy and her family.  These are characters that really stand out. Characters that you want to know personally, that you want to hang out with and even live with.  They are fun and crazy and weird and so, so awesome!  If you read my review of the first book you saw that Tandy was an unreliable narrator and you actually find out why.  Things change a lot for this book; the narration, while similar, has changed because Tandy has changed.  She's changed a lot actually.  And I love it! I loved her from the beginning, but you'll see... there's a reason for some change here.

This book is full of mysteries and the Private School Murders is only one.  And in my opinion, is one of the lesser ones.  But fortunately that keeps the description spoiler free, because there's a major mystery from the first book that's carried over into this one where it's explored more thoroughly.  There's another, smaller mystery regarding some stuff happening in the building she lives in, then another that's carried over from the first book that isn't exactly a mystery, but sort of turns into one, and then the private school murders on top of that.  Poor Tandy has her hands full! But she's pretty brilliant in figuring things out, put Tandy on the case and it's sure to be solved! 

An amazing cast of characters with twisty and unpredictable mysteries and you've got an unputdownable story! I read this sucker in only hours while running my errands and hated every time something was finished and I had to put it down.  I read this book at the auto repair shop, a diner and a tire store and in each place I got a lot of comments as there were lots of expressions shooting across my face.

This book has a conclusion, while there are still things that could be explored, the mysteries have been solved.  I really hope that this is a series that continues on as I'm not at all ready to say goodbye to this amazing cast of characters!

Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Young Adult Review: Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetra

Paperback, 372 pages

Published: September 24th, 2013 (in paperback, hardcover was Sept. 2012) by Little, Brown

Source: Publisher/ Big Honcho Media

James Patterson returns to the genre that made him famous with a thrilling teen detective series about the mysterious and magnificently wealthy Angel family . . . and the dark secrets they're keeping from one another.

On the night Malcolm and Maud Angel are murdered, Tandy Angel knows just three things: 1) She was the last person to see her parents alive. 2) The police have no suspects besides Tandy and her three siblings. 3) She can't trust anyone—maybe not even herself. Having grown up under Malcolm and Maud's intense perfectionist demands, no child comes away undamaged. Tandy decides that she will have to clear the family name, but digging deeper into her powerful parents' affairs is a dangerous-and revealing-game. Who knows what the Angels are truly capable of?

This was my first James Patterson book and wow, I was blown away! I have been in the mood for more mysteries lately, which is weird as I use to not really read mysteries at all.  But unraveling things as the story goes on, piecing clues together and being surprised over and over again is turns out to be a lot of fun!  And I really enjoy the young adult mysteries even more for some reason.

In this book we get a different style as Tandy is talking directly to us, the reader.  She addresses us as the reader and everything.  If I hadn't just read it and experienced it, I would say that that is weird and that I probably wouldn't like it.  But that wasn't the case at all, I loved it!  It not only made it a different experience, but it allowed even more mystery.  Tandy is one we could say is an unreliable narrator.  She even addresses that in the beginning of the book.  As we read on we see that's not exactly right, but there are things from her past that are a mystery to us, and even a mystery to her, she's unraveling these things that she partly knows, but partly doesn't.  That may sound confusing, but it isn't.  As a matter of fact, this book was very easy reading.  It was easy to understand, but not easy to piece the clues together.  There was twist after twist after twist and I honestly had no clue which direction the book would take.  When things finally came together and we found out the truth my jaw dropped.  I was NOT expecting that.  And I loved being surprised!

Tandy was a great character to read, I really loved her voice and how she addressed us.  But in this book we see her grow and change quite a lot.  There's a big reason for that, which is one of the twists in the book so I won't be telling you.  Tandy's family is eccentric, to say the least.  They've been raised to be geniuses in one way or another.  They have not had a conventional child hood in any way, shape or form.  I felt bad that they never got to be normal kids and I saw that pretty much everyone had a reason to kill the parents.  On the other hand we see the good in the parents that were killed as well, and this made some good reading because my emotions were all over the place.

While it would be too lengthy to talk about each secondary character individually I will say that they each stood out in some way.  They had strong personalities that made them each memorable.  We see the good and the bad in each of the children.  While they are a little crazy in their own ways and while we don't know what to think of them, we can't help but love each of them a little. Or in some cases, a lot.  It's very easy to spoil things for this book, so I'll leave it at that.

I was surprised with how much I loved this book.  I've gone back and forth on my rating.  I'm giving it 4 stars, but it's good enough that I would say even 4.5 wouldn't be too generous.  Now I'm off to read the next book, Confessions: The Private School Murders.  I look forward to reading more about this crazy and eccentric family and to see what happens next as there are still plenty of unanswered questions.

Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Confessions and Clues Week for Confessions: The Private School Murders + Giveaway!

I'm excited to be part of the Confessions and Clues Week for Confessions: The Private School Murders by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Set-up:

There have been a string of murders on the Upper West Side in NYC.  A killer is on the loose targeting private school girls, and while the police look for all the right answers in all the wrong places, Tandy Angel is determined to uncover who is really responsible.  Tandy has shared these five clues that hint at who the killer may be. 

But what is going on in Tandy’s mind as she tracks the footsteps of a killer?  Here is one of Tandy’s true CONFESSIONS, an inside look at her thoughts and feelings.

To piece together the full story and get an inside look at this thrilling story, you’ll have to pick up a copy of Confessions: The Private School Murders, on-sale October 7^th however books are sold.

Confession #1:

Tandy Angel, mastermind determined to track down a serial killer targeting private school girls on the Upper West Side, has been trained her whole life to downplay her emotions and not to feel.  Great skills in a detective, but in Confessions: The Private School Murders, Tandy’s emotions are starting to come through. 

“Maybe I wasn’t a good detective.  Not anymore.  Now that I was off the drugs, I was feeling everything, but did I still have the sharp and rational mind of an ace detective?”

-Confessions: The Private School Murders (page 25)

Now be sure to stop by Book Hounds as she's featuring a Clue today!

 

Confessions: The Private School Murders by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Confessions: The Private School Murders is the gripping second installment in James Patterson’s #1 New York Times bestselling new teen detective series!

Wealthy young women are being murdered, and the police are looking for all the right answers in all the wrong places. And Tandy Angel wants to know who’s really responsible.

In the meantime, Tandy’s brother Matthew is on trial for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, actress Tamara Gee, and Tandy is delving deeper into the Angel family closet to uncover the mysteries of her scandalous family

As the victims continue to pile up, can Tandy untangle the mysteries in time? Or will she be the next victim?

The first book: Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Learn more at http://jamespattersonya.com/
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Spill Your Confessions

One winner receives a journal, a custom t-shirt and copies of Confessions of a Murder Suspect and Confessions: The Private School Murders!

(Prizing provided by the publisher)

 Open to US addresses only.

Must be 13 or older to enter.

Ends 9/19

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