Patterson’s new thriller Lifeguard, in my opinion at least, is not on a par with Along Came a Spider or Kiss the Girls but it is still an action-packed thriller that will take the reader along with Ned Kelly, the story’s protagonist, on an ever moving train ride of adventure and keep you guessing who-dun-what until the end. As with all of Patterson’s previous books, Lifeguard, is full of plot twists while presenting you with a host of characters, any of which could be the piece’s villain.

You begin your journey in Lifeguard when contented, college graduate turned lifeguard, Ned Kelley (son of career criminal Frank Kelly) becomes entangled in a plot to make a one time big score with his long-time friends Mickey, Bobby, Dee, and Barney (small-time hoods) so that he can feel worthy of his new girl friend, Tess McAuliffe. Unfortunately, for all concerned nothing is as it seems and the whole heist turns out to have been a setup that will end with Ned, whose only responsibility during the heist was to be to set off various alarms around town as a distraction, (and the only survivor) framed for the heist, as well as, the murders of his friends and girlfriend. Once on the lam, Ned finds himself running not only from legitimate law enforcement and from an array of criminals but also from the infamous Dr. Gachet, the mastermind of the heist with only one, not quite so sure of his guilt, FBI agent trying to assist him in finding the real killers.

[tags]book review, James Patterson, Andrew Gross, Lifeguard, Action, mystery, suspense[/tags]