I like to read while I’m on the elliptical machine. For me, this makes the time go by much faster than listening to music or watching TV. When I read on the elliptical, I use my e-Reader, which makes it so much easier because I don’t have to worry about the book staying open. I have also found that reading a mystery/ suspense novel on the elliptical makes the time go even FASTER! Plus, I have found that I will download a wider variety of books onto my e-Reader because no one else can see what it is that I’m reading. So, I have a bucket of books that are mystery/ crime/ suspense novels on my e-Reader. The only thing I demand from these novels is that they make me want to keep turning the pages. That way, my 45 minutes will be done in no time at all!
The most recent book I read on the elliptical was The Postcard Killers, by James Patterson. Last year I started reading James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club books at the gym, and so when I read all of those, I looked for other James Patterson books to fill the gym void. The Postcard Killers… was a great choice for a gym read.
The Postcard Killers is about a NY detective (Jacob Kanon) who is in Europe following the trail of a serial killer that he believes is responsible for his daughter’s murder in Italy. The book is primarily set in Stockholm, where the serial killer’s trail has taken him. The book alternates from the point of view of the serial killer to the point of view of Kanon, to the point of view of the Swedish reporter who ends up joining with Kanon to find the murderers. This seems to be one of Patterson’s writing styles – to write from the point of view of the killers – and I find that I like that he does this. Because he writes from the killer’s point of view, I know who the killer is. For some reason, that keeps me drawn into the plot of the book.
All in all, I enjoyed The Postcard Killers. There were some extra plot parts that weren’t absolutely necessary (romantic attraction between Kanon and the Swedish reporter; Kanon’s misery about his dead daughter; Kanon’s cancer-stricken friend in CA), but all in all, the book was still easy and enjoyable reading. I had just finished reading Stieg Larsson’s trilogy when I started The Postcard Killers, so I think the fact that it was set in Sweden was a major plus for me as I was in a bit of withdrawal from the Larsson trilogy. The Postcard Killers did what I wanted it to – it kept me on the elliptical machine and not once did I push my e-Reader aside to see how much time I had left in my workout!
