Talking about jumping the shark… That alone would make me give this one a two-star rating, mostly out of kindness.īut this review is going to get even more twisted.

It was like watching a Saturday Night Live skit on the behavior of sexist, old school NFL owners or watching the famous Dynasty Moldavian wedding murder massacre all over again. This is by far, the most extremely over-the-top novel by Patterson that I have ever read. It’s like pretending the television show “The Office” is based on actual real-life events or that the movie “Blazing Saddles” is a realistic western that actually took place. There is just no sense of any realism in any way. Every character is so unlikeable (except for Jenny and Cantor) and just downright evil in all of their behaviors. The bad news is that there are so many plotlines running over the top of each other, so many cliched characters that are paper thin on any level of authenticity, and so many ridiculous twists and turns that come across as so melodramatic that you feel like you’re reading a science fiction or fantasy novel rather than a thriller. This novel is being promoted as “The most suspenseful family saga since Succession or Yellowstone” but it is more like Dynasty in that is unashamedly over the top and any other cliché you want to use. I hope you notice my subtle attempts at sarcasm because there is more to come.

Oh, and did I mention that she is also coaching a high school football team? Nothing is beyond her abilities in this one. Jenny, who is the family outcast, has been put in charge of both the football team and the newspaper with her brothers reporting to her.Īs with any Patterson novel, the family conflict and drama are unbelievably high as Jenny tries to save her team from a forced takeover, fight off her brothers attempts to undermine her and find her father’s killer. The result hits his fighting selfish children, 3 sons – Danny, Joe, and Thomas and 1 daughter – Jenny, with a shocking surprise. Or did he? It is very apparent from page 5 that he was murdered. That is until he was found drowned in the bay, somehow falling overboard off his boat. The father Joe was the patriarchal owner of the San Francisco Wolves NFL franchise and the San Francisco Tribune newspaper. “The House of Wolves” is the story of the dangerously disjointed, rich, and powerful Wolf family. Parker’s classic series Jesse Stone, Spenser (taking over from Ace Atkins), and Sunny Randall (handing off to Alison Gaylin).

In this outing Patterson has teamed up for a second time with Mike Lupica, a veteran sports writer, novelist, and current caretaker of Robert B. I have really enjoyed some, liked some, and didn’t really care for others. Some might ask why and that’s another whole discussion best saved for another day. I read most of his books and have for several years. Let’s start this off with my usual upfront James Patterson disclosure.

The House of Wolves by James Patterson