Fifty Fifty

AUTHOR: James Patterson and Candice Fox

PUBLISHER: Random House RRP: $32.99

REVIEWER: Mary Ann Elliott

PROLIFIC thriller writer James Patterson has again teamed up with Australian Candice Fox for their second novel together. It’s the sequel to Never Never.

Detective Harriet Blue, “the terror at five foot two,” is shocked when her male colleagues make an arrest of a man they believe is the serial killer of three university students.

Their bodies have been brutally dumped in the Georges River, New South Wales.

Sam Blue is her brother and has been coerced into a confession. Believing he is innocent, Harriet is determined to do everything to help her brother go free. Will her determination and fearlessness get the result she wants?

Both brother and sister grew up in large foster families and soon learned to fend for themselves.

It engendered in Harriet a complete disdain for authority and she is soon sent packing to a tiny West Australian town.

Now she has a choice; either save her brother or save a whole town. In Last Chance Valley with a population of 75, there’s a killer on the loose and Harriet, with the help of local police, must hunt him down.

The dual plotlines of Sam’s case and the plot to destroy the tiny town interweave effectively.

Patterson’s direct style and Candice Fox’s in-depth character writing go well together.

With some unexpected twists in the storyline and action every bit of the way, it’s what you would expect from these talented writers – it’s a gripping page-turner.