1st to Die by James Patterson

1^st to Die is about a serial killer whose victims are newlyweds. Lindsay Boxer, a homicide inspector, forms “The Women’s Murder Club” which includes herself, a reporter, assistant DA and medical examiner. I don’t think they are very good at solving crimes because they get it wrong so many times. The story provides plenty of suspense and action but I didn’t enjoy the story. This is your typical cat and mouse thriller.

I thought the story was very depressing and I couldn’t wait to be done with the book. That said; Patterson fans gave the book an average of four out of five stars and most readers found the book exciting. 1^st to Die was also a TV miniseries which is now available on DVD.

The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho

This is very different from any of his previous books. A psychological thriller based at the Cannes Film Festival, Paulo seems to hate everyone and everything about the festival. He doesn’t say anything positive about any of the characters and they are utterly pathetic. The book was so depressing, not inspiring, with no silver lining at the end. “Vanity all is Vanity”

Igor is a psychotic Russian executive who has everything and comes to the Cannes film festival in pursuit of his ex-wife, Ewa, who ran off with Hamid, an Arab clothes designer. Igor kills a few people and sends messages to Ewa on her cell phone, believing she will understand that he will do anything to get her back. The story is supposed to show us the emptiness of pursuing fame and fortune at all cost.

I did not like this book; not because it wasn’t well written but because I think the message got lost in all the negativity, hatred and anger that were the focus of the characters. His disdain for the rich (The Superclass), the media, film producers and super models is overwhelming. Paulo Coelho is a member of The Superclass, how does he separate himself from what he describes in the book.

I was interested to see how the book would end but overall not my idea of entertainment/good read.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell looks into the different reasons why some ideas spread like viruses. He discusses that it is not easy to pin point why some messages spread like wildfire while others don’t. This book is very informative and raises your awareness of how powerfully you are influenced by your surroundings. His examples are simple and clear. I like the way he connects ideas to things that people are exposed to in everyday life.

He explains three things that can bring about fast changes in society:

 1) The Law of the Few (a few exceptional people can spread the word)

2) The Stickiness Factor (There are specific ways of making a message memorable)

3) The Power of Context (Human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment that they may seem) p.29

Tackling the small problems is as important as going after the big ones

We should think about preconceptions of what character is

“Character, then, isn’t what we think it is or, rather, what we want it to be. I isn’t a stable, easily identifiable set of closely related traits …”p.163

You never know what you will do in different situations

The rule of 150 – It’s easier to have a close united group when the number of people is 150 or less. When that number rises close to 200 the people tend to become disconnected and begin to create their own groups.

The scary questions are: Can we control the outcome of people/society? Can people/society be manipulated? How important are peer groups and environment when growing up?