Lifeguard - James Patterson

The Lifeguard is one of a selection of James Patterson's books that he has co-written with an other author. This one is co-written with Andrew Gross, and it's not the first time the two have paired up for a novel. However, this one is a rather disappointing effort by both their standards, and I found the extravagant plot and an impeded writing style from Patterson didn't help. Ned Kelly is a lifeguard at a luxurious Florida hotel. When he thinks he has met the girl of his dreams, he finds out that they couldn't be more different, she rolling in money, he slogging a living to stay afloat. Desperate to impress, when Ned's cousin brings him in for a bank raid ...  Read the complete review

I always worry when I see a book which James Patterson has co-authored. He seems to lose his natural story-telling flair and get bogged down in too many concessions to the other person's style. The Lifeguard is unlikely to change my opinion. The Lifeguard's problems are many and varied. They start with a plot which is too far-fetched and completely unbelievable. It's packed with unlikely co-incidences and ridiculous scenarios which simply wouldn't happen in real life. Whilst this wouldn't necessarily be a problem (after all, many novels are escapist and feature "impossible" things), The Lifeguard makes everything so silly that it's just impossible to ...  Read the complete review