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BOOK REVIEW: THE BEACH HOUSE (JAMES PATTERSON)

Jack Mullen, a young and talented law student, finds out that his brother has been killed. It is claimed that Peter Mullen drowned, but the bruising and cuts all over his body show otherwise. He was murdered.

Jack then finds out that Peter died with almost 200,000 dollars in his bank account - strange for someone who did odd-jobs and parked cars for a living. He enlists the help of a colleague from his law job with whom he consequently falls in love, and they investigate the sordid web of sex, lies, photography and bribery that enshroud this death.

Due to a corrupt cop, Jack has to take matters into his own hands, particularly when his father dies of a stress-related heart attack and approaches the owner of The Beach House where he is convinced the guilty parties lie.

Eventually, with the help of his new girlfriend and his close friends, Jack takes control and broadcasts a pirate legal investigation on TV.

Another full-flowing Patterson read (with the aid of co-writer Peter De Jonge) and one that allows you to closely associate with the characters, feeling what you think they feel. Not a complicated plot and I’d guessed most of it by the time I got half way through the book, but another good throwaway read.

Jonola rating out of 10: