You may notice a trend in my reviews lately. I keep saying “I just got this book because I needed it for my A to Z Challenge.” You may also notice that I have REALLY liked all of them. And this one went way above and beyond.

I have always heard great things about James Patterson, but this is the first one of his that I’ve picked up.

I knew from the back of the book that cheating was involved and a murder, but I was shocked throughout the entire book how many twists and turns there were. Every time I thought nothing else could happen, another curveball was thrown. There’s really not a lot I can say about this book without giving things away, except don’t ever think you’re in the clear of the drama. It’s always around the corner.

One of the things I really liked about this book, and I’m not sure if it rings true for all Patterson books, but they have super short chapters. Most are 2-3 pages. Yes, there are over 100 chapters, but I’m the kind of reader who likes to pop open my book when I have a few minutes here and there. With such short chapters, I was able to knock out a chapter in my couple of minutes and not get stuck in the middle of something huge.

This book is definitely not the normal type of book I read. I am more of a fluff reader, but after this, I’ll have to start picking up more of his books. If they’re all this drama filled, I’m a lifer

I wish I could just spill all the drama, but I’m not going to. Instead, I am going to give this book 5 bookmarks. Yes, you heard right. There’s not one thing I have to complain about this book. Absolutely loved it! ( )

The books is not nearly as scandalous as the cover looks so don’t be dismayed. This book follows a NYPD detective who witnesses her husband murder a man and her attempt to save him from being caught.

I always love a good murder mystery book but I can usually figure out the outcome pretty early in the book. While I was correct in my assumption of the outcome of this book, the path to get there was not what I was expecting. There were quite a bit of twists and turns in this murder mystery. I found it hard to put the book down.

While the cover loves like the book would contain a lot of sexual situations, it really does not. Yes, it does contain some, but it is not the focus of the book.

If you like to read murder mysteries then I think you might just enjoy this book. ( )

This book is definitely a thriller with endless twists and turns throughout, but I couldn’t identify with any of the characters--particularly the female protagonist. I liked the short chapters because they added to the pacing and the drama, but I felt the ending seemed a bit contrived and underdeveloped. ( )

This is one of the worst books I've read to date.

Let me tell you why.

The plot is basically this - a detective from the NYPD cheats on her husband because she suspects he's cheating too. But after her boy toy hops out of bed and goes to get them some food, her husband shows up and kills him and dumps the body. So does she keep her mouth shut or tell everyone what she knows?

It's predictable. The plot twists and cheap thrills can be seen from a mile away and only serve to make me roll my eyes. The chapters are, on average, a page or two long. It's choppy and over dramatic. It makes me kind of sad that things like this are considered best sellers, much less actually get published. It's a waste of time and money. ( )

In The Quickie, Lauren Stillwell is an NYPD cop who has an affair with a co-worker, seeking revenge for her husband's supposed infidelity. But all is not what it seems, of course, and Lauren thinks her act of betrayal is the reason her husband murders her lover. It actually has little to do with her affair, but we won't get into that. I'd rather pose this question: What does a cop do when she realizes her husband is a psycho murderer? In Patterson's world, the cop covers up the murder without confronting the psycho husband. When she needs to return home to hide evidence, she says she forgot she's baking cookies and needs to get home before the house burns down. When she needs to bury evidence and her co-workers wonder where she is at a time when they're about to track down the criminal believed to have killed the cop Lauren slept with, she decides she needs to do some gardening. Come on!!! I'm sorry, but if my husband turned out to be someone I didn't know, I wouldn't put myself in danger of jail time by tampering with evidence, fixing phone records to hide my affair with the deceased, framing someone for murder, or blackmailing the attorney who knows something's up. This book was a train wreck from the very beginning, and the only reason I kept on reading was the plot got funnier as it went along. The ending, when you finally learn the truth about Lauren's husband and see how his psychosis plays out and how Lauren handles the aftermath of one bad decision after another...well, you just have to read it and laugh. (If you're curious, the book reads fast. I finished it in a day and a half.) ( )