Why would a sci-fi buff such as I read a romance thriller book like Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan? Because it was homework. I'm taking the new Patterson Masterclass course, which uses this book in examples. My reaction: I hope the course uses the book to show what works and what doesn't -- we'll see.
Craig Reynolds is an undercover detective investigating a series of suspicious deaths. Nora Sinclair is the black-widow woman who loves men and kills them. While this is all going on, the Tourist is trying to figure out what's in that suitcase that's getting people killed.
What works: the book is very easy to read. As one may expect from Patterson, it's a page turner. The prose is no-nonsense right-to-the-point English. That is, there's no flowery language to slow one down.
The well-planned-out plot is interesting enough to hold my attention, even though it uses many cliches.
What doesn't work: The book relies very heavily on "things aren't always as they appear." I love books that use this device effectively, but this isn't one of them. The writers withhold several details from the reader that are easily known to the characters. Thus the reader is the only one not in the know. Some reveals toward the end didn't even do anything for me.
Also, the characters are as shallow as they come. They exist, they do things, and it's hard for me to care when one of them bites the dust.
My recommendation: if you happen to be going on some beach trip, and you want to take a book to pass the time, and you don't want to remember the experience years from now, this is the book for you.
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