Eyes of a Child

This is the third in Patterson's 4-book Christopher Paget series. Paget is a high-priced defense attorney who this time finds himself the suspect in a murder case. The book is very well plotted and Patterson goes out of his way to give depth to his characters, their situations and their relation to each other, so the book is enjoyable.

Unfortunately, as in the series' second book, Patterson still displays hack writer's penchant for referring to his characters way too often by their full names. As in, "Christopher Paget gazed at Theresa Peralta and wondered what she was thinking." I find that seriously distracting when it is repeated throughout the narrative, as it is here.

Also, Patterson has a fairly pronounced case of "all at once" show more disease. Meaning, characters all too often experience things "all at once." "All at once, he saw what the problem was." "All at once, he wanted to put his arms around her." Once or twice per book at most, my brother. After that, drop it. And it's curious, since Patterson is not a hack writer. Perhaps some hack editor went through the manuscript inserting the full names and all-at-once's without Patterson's knowledge.

Anyway, the book is quite enjoyable, although the ending is not all that hard to figure out. So I do recommend the first three books of this series, although those unfortunate tics drop my rating down from 4 starts to 3 1/2, and I'm not sure I feel compelled to read the series' 4th and final installment. show less

An odd book. The title leads you to believe the child is like kidnapped or something, but really it's a book about divorce and a horrible man. The suspense and twists keep it alive.

The husband of a woman in the middle of a custody battle turns up dead - was it murder? Or suicide? Never was there a more deserving victim, This book features characters from "Degree of Guilt," and is a great read.

lawyer novel good

Ricardo Arias is found dead, the gun still wedged in his mouth. It looks like suicide, but the physical evidence strongly suggests murder. The police investigation uncovers an estranged wife, Terri Peralta; an ugly custody battle over their six-year-old daughter, Elena; heated charges of child abuse; and a murder suspect: San Francisco defense attorney Christopher Paget.

Thriller

this was a really good book

First edition as new