A review by elytalbot
The Chef by James Patterson, Max DiLallo

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

Super easy fast tempo thriller that was finished in 48 hours. The rapid pace and homage to New Orleans cuisine kept me engaged throughout the book. If you’re looking for something easy and dramatic with all the tropes of cops, terrorism, a damsel in distress, and a badass do it all kind of protagonist this is the good for you. Much of it felt cliche which I don’t remember from many other Patterson books however central storylines  lacked originality and characters motivations felt misunderstood and disorganized. The romantic pairing in this story was ill conceived in my opinion and the best relationship clearly was between the reader and all the food described through the book. This review may be coming off a bit harsh but at the end of the day writing a page turned that only takes 2 days to read just under 400 pages is impressive and usually doesn’t require excellent but rather engaging literature which is what this book delivers best.