Title:	Hard to Kill
	Author:	James Patterson and Mike Lupica< /td>
	Published:	July 29, 2024, Little Brown
	No. of Pages:	371
	Cover Price:	$18.99 Hardcover, $29.99 Paperback, $14.99 Kindle

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Anytime James Patterson puts his name on a book, it’s an instant bestseller. He has several sub-authors, and most of them add a different style and improve the quality of the writing. Mike Lupica is the sub-author on the second installment of the Jane Smith Thriller series, Hard to Kill, and unfortunately doesn’t add anything – actually makes the style even worse than usual. There is more profanity in this novel than is classic James Patterson, just as many bodies (every time Patterson gets writer’s cramp, he adds more murders and bodies to the prose), but less blatant violence connected to the bodies. Another thing about Patterson’s novels is that they often make statements about things like drug use or medical problems without any research to back up his “facts,” and he misrepresent things like drug use, and in this case, cancer with chemo. The writing style is even sloppier than usual in this novel, and it’s difficult for a reader to follow. This is one case that the co-writer doesn’t improve the writing style.

Although Jane Smith (Jane effing Smith) is a fairly likeable protagonist, there is something missing from the development of her character and it hard to relate to unbelievable characters. The sub-characters are okay, but the same problem exists.

Jane Smith is an attorney representing a mob connected man who has been accused of killing a family of three, after getting off with Jane’s representation for a similar crime previously. Jane investigates and during this time, runs into more mob-connected people who are connected to the murders. The storyline is good and interesting, but the delivery isn’t.

Patterson’s books generally appeal to the lowest common denominator - LCD readers – who don’t want to think during a read. This one, however, is very sloppy and poorly written. It is definitely not recommended. Patterson fans will want to seek out some of his books with a better co-author. Poorly written, sloppy, and under-researched. Skip this one.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.