Product Description

When a little girl is shot on the steps of a San Francisco church, Detective Lindsay Boxer knows it's time to reconvene the Women's Murder Club. Working with reporter Cindy Thomas, assistant DA Jill Bernhardt, and medical examiner Claire Washburn, Lindsay tracks a mystifying killer who soon turns his pursuers into his victims. The unorthodox allegiances of the Women's Murder Club lead them to suspect the unexpected - the killer may be an ex-cop. But nothing could prepare them for the demented logic behind his choice of victims...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #307206 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In 2nd Chance, a young girl is shot down on the steps of a San Francisco church, and Detective Lindsay Boxer decides that the time is right to reconvene the Women's Murder Club, the loosely-knit group that cracked a baffling mystery in James Patterson's earlier 1st to Die. Collaborating with assistant DA Jill Bernhardt, reporter Cindy Thomas and coroner Claire Washburn, Boxer is soon on the trail of a canny murderer who has the knack of making his trackers into his quarry. Boxer and the Women's Murder Club begin to believe that the killer might have been on the force, but his ultimate aims are unguessable--and the revelations in store shock them all.

Patterson is the maestro behind such winners as Cat and Mouse and Roses are Red, but his Alex Cross books are familiar territory for readers. His new team, however, are individually characterised with great skill, and though the short time we spend with each of them forces concision on the author--and his mysterious co-writer Andrew Gross's--part, the customary skills are all brought into play in this diverting mystery. It's always a gamble for an author who has established a highly successful series with one much-loved protagonist to inaugurate a new one with fresh characters but The Women's Murder Club has all kinds of possibilities and chances are will prove a formidable force. --Barry Forshaw

Review
Patterson's Women's Murder Club, a tenacious team of an attorney, a detective, a coroner and a journalist, make a second appearance after their inauguration in 1st to Die. A young girl is shot down on the steps of a San Francisco church, and Detective Lindsay Boxer decides that the time is right to reconvene the Women's Murder Club. Collaborating with assistant DA Jill Bernhardt, reporter Cindy Thomas and coroner Claire Washburn, Boxer is soon on the trail of a canny murderer who has the knack of making his trackers into his quarry. Boxer and the Women's Murder Club begin to believe that the killer might have been on the force, but his ultimate aims are unguessable - and the revelations in store shock them all. Less gripping than usual - the presence of co-writer Gross, perhaps?

Los Angeles Times
'Ticks like a time-bomb - full of threat and terror'

Customer Reviews

After some very hit and miss affairs, he's back on track
...Whilst this still doesn't contain the great writing he showed us in his first couple of books, it is still an excellent thriller. the plot is great, He doesn't overcomplicate it, and adds a really great twist at the end which works really well, precisely because it is simple. Yet still shocking and unexpected.

Character development has really been lacking in some of his latest books, but with this book the character development is very good. it's subtle so that you're not really aware of it, but it's definitely there. This time around the four women are much more rounded and believeable characters. His subsidiary characters are also drawn very well and effectively. They add weight to the story.

In Violets Are Blue there were far too many killings, practically one every ten pages. Here he has wisely cut down on the deaths. This adds much more emotion to the book, and we get time to feel sad at the character's deaths. As well as there actually being some real investigation, which makes for compelling reading (especially when Lindsay goes to visit Weiscz in the prison, a la "Silence of the Lambs").

The inclusion of Lindsay's father into the complex plot is good, and again gives weight to the story and Lindsay's character. It makes it more personal and interesting to read.

Overall, this is a very good thriller. Everything has been improved upon since his latest efforts. the plot is exciting, the book is a pageturner, full of emotion (which Patterson is undeniably very good at evoking). This new series is definitely going to shine...

Good, but no match for Alex Cross!
Patricia Cornwell was my first love when it came to crime thrillers. After reading her whole back-catalogue, however, I turned to James Patterson. I wasn't disappointed. The Alex Cross novels certainly do pack a punch.

In First To Die, Patterson introduces a new series of novels based around 'The Women's Murder Club', at the centre of which we find our heroine, Lindsay Boxer.

Second Chance is the second (obviously) in the Women's Murder Club Series and it is as much of a page-turner as the first. It's definitely not the best thing Patterson has written, however, and the 'twist' in the story doesn't shock as much as that in 'Along Came a Spider' or in some of Patterson's other work.

Definitely worth reading but if you've never read Patterson before, head back to his earlier work like 'Along Came a Spider', 'Kiss the Girls' & 'Jack & Jill' before trying this one.

Excellent Plot with Weak Character Development
You if enjoyed 1st to Die, you should definitely read 2nd Chance. The plot is even better this time, and you will probably be kept fascinated by this police procedural along the way. Even the patented Patterson "switcheroos" are not as annoying in this book as they are in many of his others.

The book is a quick read. Most chapters are 2-3 pages so there's a lot of white space.

Those who like action and fast-moving stories will find this book especially attractive. Those who like complex, constantly evolving characters will be disappointed. If you read 1st to Die, you know that the book has four female characters are part of its lead. I think it's hard for many male writers to tell stories that are convincing about female characters. I kept imagining how Sue Grafton would have handled the same story, and I missed the nuance and texture that her novels provide.

Lindsay Boxer from 1st to Die is now a homicide detective who's having a hard time adjusting to "normal" life after the events in 1st to Die. When a horrible shooting at a ghetto church happens, her old partner, Jacobi, asks her if she wants to take it on again. She decides to go ahead. Soon, there's a second death and Lindsay begins to suspect that their might be a serial killer involved . . . but she cannot make sense of the pattern except that it may be racially motivated.

The book uses a tried-and-true technique for stories about serial killers. The narration alternates between what the serial killer is doing and the police investigation. That leaves you comfortably ahead of the police, but not quite up to the serial killer. The story unwinds in a complexity and intimacy that are a rewarding variation on the usual "psycho" serial killer scenario found in so many books.

Mr. Patterson and Mr. Gross also manage to raise some good questions along the way about what the balance should be between one's commitment to work and to one's family and friends. Think about that as you read this story.

Be sure to start early in the evening . . . or you may miss some sleep due to this page-turner.