Tick Tock/James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge/387 pages

This Patterson novel features Detective Michael Bennett, one of my favorite Patterson characters. Michael is a widower and a single-dad of 10 adopted children and the grandson of one wild and crazy Irish priest. His deep love and his close relationship with each of his children really seems to be almost as much a focus point of the book as is his handling of insane killers. Though still grieving Maeve, his saintly wife, in this book Michael starts to acknowledge the more-than-a-friend and more-than-a-nanny feelings he has for two women in his life. When you see a book with chapters that average no more than 3 pages, you know it's a plot-driven, nail biting, race to the end with pretty much formulaic characters. In fact, you know how every Patterson book will end, but maybe in our wild and crazy world, those endings are what we crave the most.