Richard North Patterson has written some truly gripping thrillers in his day. The compelling Eyes of a Child springs to mind immediately as an example of what this writer can do when he's on top form -- a rollercoaster ride, where the reader never really knows which way is up and who to trust. Unfortunately, in this return to the genre (after recent books that have too often been tedious reads set in the world of presidential politics and the supreme court, where Patterson allowed his passion for causes like gun control to take priority over the telling of a great story, a big no-no in my opinion), the bad guy was obvious to me from very nearly his first appearance on the scene, long before the commission of any crime. (I can't say why without a giant spoiler, alas.) So my only question revolved around the specifics of 'how', and a bit of the 'why', rather than the 'who'. The result? A disappointing book.

The plot revolves around Mark Darrow, a lawyer who owes his current life and career to his football scholarship to Caldwell College and, especially, to his mentor, philosophy professor Lionel Farr. Now, Farr calls on the recently-widowed and directionless Darrow to give back to his alma mater, asking him to return as the college's president and rebuild its reputation in the wake of an embezzlement that the last president seems to have orchestrated. Together with the murder of a young African-American female student in Darrow's final year, a crime of which Darrow's best friend was convicted, this scandal leaves Caldwell College vulnerable, and Darrow accepts the challenge.

It's an intriguing premise, but it never really pans out. The characters' relationships (with the exception of those between Darrow and Farr and his daughter) are very sketchily developed and never really convincing. The plot twists were modest and telegraphed in advance, and the whole book felt rushed. Patterson himself has tackled this theme -- that of a man going back to the place where he came of age, solving a contemporary crime as well as one in the hero's past -- before in one of his best books, Silent Witness, and did it again with a female protagonist in the book now titled Caroline Masters. One of the strengths of those two books were Patterson's courtroom scenes, which are typically fabulous -- and which are absent in this book, which wraps up not in a trial with Perry Mason-style fireworks but in a series of sudden revelations that appear suddenly at the end of the book.

This is a ho-hum effort by Patterson, and I'd recommend it only to the author's die-hard fans who have already read his other books. For those new to Patterson's works, by all means seek out -- as rapidly as possible -- books like those above as well as Degree of Guilt or Dark Lady. Generally, I'd advise getting this from a library, and turning to other thrillers, like those by Greg Iles or Thomas Perry, if you're in search of some real dramatic tension.

I really enjoyed Richard North Patterson's latest and found myself hooked within the first few pages. The idea of a former college football star coming back to his old college as school president sixteen years later to handle a crisis, while suddenly re-investigating an old, presumably solved murder case, struck me as a brilliant premise, and it was handled very well. Clearly a skilled writer, Patterson slowly reveals clues while amplifying characterizations, constructing a murder mystery alongside a seemingly unconnected financial mystery with a poignant, if slightly underdeveloped, love story forming its emotional center. One might argue that the novel's middle is a little flabby with dialogue-heavy chapters as the protagonist informally interviews person after person involved in the sixteen-year-old murder of student Angela Hall. However, all great murder mystery novels use this device, and while it can be tedious in the hands of a less skilled author, I found myself eagerly turning page after page even when two characters are sitting in a diner, chatting over coffee.

The most surprising part of my reading experience was the novel's ultimate predictability. In no way am I skilled at guessing the endings of books; indeed, quite the opposite. I'm usually guessing until the final chapter and always am I most surprised at the end. Strangely, I had this one figured out about fifty pages in, and was both pleased and disappointed when every subsequent clue simply confirmed what seemed to be the obvious outcome from the start. Yet I remain steadfast in giving this novel a glowing review because it is well written and, even though I was able to figure it out well in advance of the protagonist, I very much enjoyed the ride. Four big stars, minus one because, in the end, I was hoping for a little out of the blue twist that never materialized. Still, highly recommended!

Just when I was about to give up on Richard North Patterson's ability to write a novel that doesn't serve as a vehicle for him to preach on his particular political and social viewpoints, he comes out with The Spire, a highly entertaining novel of psychological suspense that is reminiscent of the suspense thrillers that had, at one time, made him one of my favorite authors. The basic plot is "old school" Patterson; i.e., On the night of Mark Darrow's greatest achievement as the star quarterback at a small college, he discovers the body of a black female student at the base of the Spire, the bell tower that is at the forefront of the college campus. His best friend was charged with the girl's murder and sent to prison. Now, sixteen years later, Darrow has been hired to be the college's new president; and Darrow discovers that the case against his friend left crucial questions unanswered. As a result, Darrow, a former trial lawyer, begins his own inquiry into the murder. (Please be aware that none of what is written above is a spoiler, as it is all described in the book's jacket). In typical "old school" Patterson fashion, The Spire is a real page-turner that is heavily driven by its rich, multidimensional characterizations. While I guessed who the murderer is quite early in the story, it in no way detracted me from zipping through the pages to find out if I was correct or not and to learn more about the psychological relationships between the main characters. If you're looking for a good book to lose yourself in at the beach or on vacation, The Spire is a book you should definitely consider. It is not the best of the "old school" books, but it is a very enjoyable one.