Short Take: “Black and Blue,” James Patterson, Candice Fox

Pros: Decent detective story
Cons: A lot of unlikable characters
Rating: 3 out of 5

James Patterson and Candice Fox are the authors of Black & Blue (BookShots). The “BookShots” indicator means this is a novella, a short book meant to take up an hour or two. I find it great for when I just need a little break. In this case, the tale involves a woman who’s trying to steal a boat, and the owners of the boat who are on medically borrowed time if no one stops her.

I swear it seems like all the main characters (or major adversaries) in crime drama books are now from the foster system. I know it’s an easy way to give them “issues” to work out, or ways to empathize with other not-so-nice people, but I think it’s getting out of hand. Pretty much all of the characters in this book are difficult to like, which also seems to be a current trend that might have gotten out of hand.

It’s nice to see that Blue does make mistakes, particularly early on (I dislike infallible protagonists). I also like it when victims find ways to fight back, and we do get to see some of that. Guns with “silencers”, however, are not actually silent.

The story was reasonably good and I’ll say I love the ending, although I won’t go into more detail than that.