When Jack Kanon’s daughter and fiancé are brutally murdered, the New York detective makes it his life’s mission to track down their killers. It becomes evident that related murders are taking place all over Europe—linked only by the mysterious postcards sent by the killers— so he follows the trail working alongside Dessie Larsson, a Swedish reporter who was the recipient of one of those postcards.

The Postcard Killers is classic Patterson, with chapters spanning a few pages and clear, concise language that keeps the story moving. The flaw in this book is that it takes too long for the story to start to unfold, and there are just too many murders with too many details and too many wild goose-chases to keep the interest of the reader. At times I was even tempted not to finish the book, but I was rewarded for plowing through much of the unnecessary fluff. Eventually the book somewhat redeems itself by presenting a unique (not to mention twisted) resolution.

The one thing about Patterson’s books is that even those that do not hit the mark are a quick, easy read. I would not say the book is a waste of time, but that is primarily because it will not take you more than a few hours to breeze through it and file it away. Rest assured, you will likely forget about this subpar book within a few months (or perhaps earlier) as soon as Patterson’s next bestselling successor is released.