Book Review: Sail by James Patterson

Before you judge, let me paint a not-so-pretty picture of my weekend.

Maybe I'm being a little harsh. It is beautiful here, even
without a beach. Man, do I love the badlands! <3

Outside, it was in the sixties (not exactly normal for a North Dakota March) with a light breeze. It was beautiful. Inside, I was curled up in a corner on my couch. Tissues were littered around me. My coffee table was full of mugs used for tea and glasses from 7UP. Yes, that was my weekend. So please don't judge that I read so much. The good news is that I think I'm almost over this flu/cold thing! But I really would rather have spent the weekend shooting, fishing, or outdoors doing something.

Now, onto the book. I replaced The Love of Her Life on Sunday with James Patterson's Sail (found by my silly little Goodreads scrolling technique). I actually ended up selecting this one twice, definitely a sign that it was "meant to be". I scrolled and my mouse landed on it. I resisted the temptation of falling into yet another Patterson book for the year. I scrolled again. Would you believe that, out of 170 books, this was the exact book my cursor landed on again? Crazy.
The cover promises the book to be a perfect beach read. I looked around at my land-locked, flat-ish surroundings and decided a 60-degree day 20 miles from a lake (aka in town) would have to do, since I certainly won't be seeing a beach any time soon.

Here's the Goodreads summary for Sail:
America's #1 bestselling thriller writer, James Patterson presents his most suspenseful, explosive tale ever. Only an hour out of port, the Dunne family's summer getaway to paradise is already turning into the trip from hell. The three children are miserable-and not shy about showing it. Katherine Dunne had hoped this vacation would bring back the togetherness they'd lost when her husband died four years earlier. Maybe if her new husband had joined them it would all have been okay.

Suddenly, a disaster hits-and it's perfect. Faced with this real threat, the Dunnes rediscover the meaning of family. But this catastrophe is just a tiny taste of the true danger that lurks ahead-somewhere out there, someone wants to make sure that the Dunne family never leaves paradise alive.

Patterson again kept me entertained with this edge-of-your-seat thriller. The characters were introduced to give readers a negative image, but as the characters develop, the reader's relationship with them does, too. I found myself so sucked into the novel that I read it for quite a few hours on end, unaware of my surroundings (except my stupid congestion!). It was quick-paced and surprising. I hadn't predicted the ending, which just kept getting better and better! Also, this Patterson novel isn't quite as vulgar or violent as many of his others, so it made for a bit smoother of a read.

Definitely recommend this one to those of you who like thrillers. In fact, for those of you who aren't big on Patterson, try him again. Try this one. I think you'll like it.

And time for my numbers (which were greatly increased, thanks to this weekend's reads):
Sail by James Patterson
Rating: 4/5
Pages: 414
2012 Reading Goal: 5,149/15,000 


I hope you all have a great week! I'm pretty sure I will, as it's going to be uber productive at work! Maybe I'll be able to hit the gym a couple of times, too.


Also, there's a poll at the bottom of my page. I'm curious to know your thoughts. Please cast your vote! :)