1st Case

1st time in an age I went by the New York Times BS list and will not do that again. Written for a young teenager at best. Very juvenile writing style, no substance or deep thought and what's with the 2 or 3 page chapters. Maybe James Paterson used to be a good writer,actually I don't believe he even wrote this kids book, King, Clancy and the rest of the so called top writers now write under the "puppy mill" style with multiple people working on the book and then they put their names on it to sell this NYT's Bestselling junk'

Angela is an interesting character. But, she is reckless – to a fault. I wouldn’t mind seeing her story made into a series. If she stays in her current career path, she sure could go through some interesting experiences. What kept my interest is that she deals with the virtual world which, as we knows, is always changing. While the app in this book would have sounded impossible in the not-so-distant past, it’s a horrifying possibility these days – maybe not in the exact way that it played out, but similar. I’m not sure that she would have gone without punishment had all of this actually happened. She made a lot of choices that could have severely messed up the investigation. But, I guess it’s fine if it works out in the end. The flirtation and attraction between Angela and Keats was a bit ridiculous right off the bat. But, just like the book I read previous to this, it’s just something you get used to when reading books with a female protagonist. I’m going to make a comparison - partly because these two are linked often, and partly because I’ve read a lot from both of them this year. James Patterson books and Dean Koontz books that have a female protagonist always have a male love interest. And there is often a “damsel in distress” moment which typically involves something along the lines of “thank god he got here when he did.” Oy. You get used to it, I guess. But, it does get old. That said, where they differ is what most of the descriptions are about. I’ve found in Dean Koontz’s books, most of the descriptions are about how beautiful the woman is. Especially in the case of the Jane Hawk series. It’s basically beat into the reader’s brain that Jane is ridiculously beautiful. It gets old. In Patterson’s books, I find that you see more of the admiration of the male love interest from the woman’s point of view. Not that it matters all that much, it’s just something that I found interesting. Overall, I enjoyed the ride. The story was interesting, and I liked the new angle of seeing cases from the tech side. 5/5 Stars

Quick paced thriller. A genius or 2, FBI and a case to solve. What could be better on a summer day? Nothing. I hope Hoot and Billy have a 2nd Case!

This was a terrible, poorly written mishmash that had nothing good about it. I think i am done with Patterson and Co. after reading this one.

Fun, fast-paced, suspenseful thriller. Wow! Patterson's focused, short-chapter format always makes an exciting escape read. Liked this new character, Angela Hoot, as a newbie FBI intern, way over her head as she tries to deal with life-and-death situations. The problem is that her IQ is too high and her impulse control is too low. A dangerous combination. Yikes! I found the story's premise intriguing and original, especially because it's written first-person from Angela's overly confident and quirky perspective. Her overactive mind and divergent thinking, mixed with her scattered and often conflicting perceptions, creates a strong-willed character too willing to rush into unstable situations. Lots of intese excitement here as plotline and effective storytelling make it hard to put the book down. Overall, the novel works well, but Angela's self-absorbed perceptions create a disjointed and often disturbing sequence of shocking circumstances. Seeing everything through her eyes often distorts our perceptions as Angela sees others as flat or cut-out characters she only superficially understands. One of her major weaknesses. The book is both a good standalone read and a good foundation for a new series. However, I hope if future installments are in the making that the author's develop her personality more, while allowing her to quickly outgrow her confused relationships and potential instabilities. I also purchased the Audible narration, although it was not directly available at the time with my Kindle purchase. This dramatic supplement enhanced my reading experience greatly. Many might find the language of the younger characters objectionable and distracting because it's a bit too stereotypical and distracting to the storyline or plot.