Anyone who has missed good suspense novels should put Honeymoon on their list straight away. James Patterson has always been fascinated by serial killers, yet he has tended in the past to stick with the boys; in Nora Sinclair, he and Howard Roughan create a classic Black Widow, who kills her suitors and husbands for their wealth. John O'Hara knows most of the truth about Nora, but until his investigations get close to her, he has no idea of just how much charisma and … mehrappeal she brings to the job of murder. And Nora, thinking him just an insurance agent, is surprised by how much she thinks about him, and not necessarily as a future victim. There is a quirky romance here, full of lies and deceit and also genuine feeling and a sense of menacing jeopardy for both viewpoint characters. The story-telling is Patterson's usual fast-paced staccato narration, but it has time for some interesting side-bar issues--there are things in both Nora and John's pasts and presents which only gradually come to our attention. --Roz Kaveney. weniger