Review - The 9th Judgment by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Title: The 9th Judgment
Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Hachette Audio; Abridged edition (April 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607881772
• ISBN-13: 978-1607881773

Author web site.

Rating: 4.0 

Product Description
During an intimate dinner party, a cat burglar breaks into the home of A-list actor Marcus Dowling. When his wife walks in on the thief, the situation quickly teeters out of control, leaving an empty safe and a lifeless body.

The same night, a woman and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down in an abandoned garage. The killer hasn't left a shred of evidence, except for a foreboding and cryptic message: WCF, the letters written in blood-red letters.

With two elusive criminals on the loose, Detective Lindsay Boxer calls on the Women's Murder Club to help her stop them before they continue their spree. But before they can break either case, the Lipstick Killer changes his act and demands a ransom--not for a single victim, but for all of San Francisco. Lindsay puts her own life on the line--but will it be enough to save the city from this deranged killer?

(This description applies to the Audio Cd Version.)

Review: This is an entertaining battle against a horrendous crime. There are a few controversial issues and a few loose ends but I found this abridged version to be a reasonably satisfying audio book.

The “Hello Kitty” cat burglaries are described from the view of the cat burglar herself who provides enough detail to give a sense of adrenaline and tension.  What bothers the burglar, Sara, is that she is falsely accused of murder at one of the jobs.  There is no evidence to link the crimes to her but she doesn’t want the murderer to get away with it.  The burglar is actually presented as a likeable character.  She does slip up on a later job and that part of the police hunt is left incomplete. The police have evidence but there is never an arrest or an explanation why they don’t tie the evidence to a perpetrator so that part of the story seems abandoned in this audio version.

The Lipstick Killer, on the other hand, is a despicable monster. He kills mothers and their small children in cold blood. As awful as this is I don’t feel it was exploitation but rather a story of a twisted killer.  This psycho uses Lindsay in a humiliating, not to mention life-threatening, way in trying to get a ransom delivered. The crime spree comes to a head more by accident than hard detective work.

I know some readers were offended and refused to read the book because the murders included the innocent babies.  There might be other readers who get upset by the love affair between the married Sara and her married female friend. In the audio book there is clearly a relationship but there are no explicit details.

I noted the Product Description for the book format referred to a love conflict between Detective Lindsay and her partner Rich Conklin.  Frankly, I am glad that the abridged audio does not include this as I would have really disliked it considering that Lindsay is living with her fiancé, Joe and Rich is in a relationship with Cindy, another member of the Women’s Murder Club.  So perhaps in this instance the abridged audio is safer than reading the full book or listening to the unabridged audio.