Recently, I read the newest James Patterson novel - Run, Rose, Run. The New York Times Bestselling Author teamed up with the Country music legend Dolly Parton, who recorded a companion album, Rose's Story. (Note - Sorry, folks, the album isn't included with the book. You have to purchase it separately. Or you can do what I did, listen to the album on Dolly's YouTube Channel.) 

"Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? The Shadow knows!" 

My knowledge of The Shadow franchise is limited. I recall watching the campy 1994 feature film adaptation starring Alec Baldwin, which I didn't like at all. And that's it. Yeah, I said my knowledge about The Shadow is limited, right? Now, I'm not completely clueless. I am well aware The Shadow began as a series of pulp magazines in the 1930s written by Walter B. Gibson under the pen name Maxwell Grant. Before the vigilante character appeared in literary form, he was the narrator of the radio program Detective Story Hour. Later, the character appeared in comic books, comic strips, movies, serials, and video games.

New in bookstores this week from Jimmy Patterson Books (Little, Brown, and Company) is Middle School: Field Trip Fiasco by James Patterson and Martin Chatterton. It's the 13th installment in Mr. Patterson's popular Middle School series for middle graders.

The Middle School series centers on Rafe Khatchadorian, a kid with a wild imagination. In this installment, the Advancement of Writers and Contemporary American Artists (IAWCAA) has picked Rafe to attend an educational art trip with other students from around the country. It's a week-long "Camp Culture" in California, and at the end of this event is an art exhibit. Sounds exciting, right?

Little Brown & Company; 400 pages; Amazon

Final Thoughts: Honestly, it took me over a month to read Never Never, which is probably the longest it has ever taken me to read a James Patterson novel. The problem for me is that I couldn't connect with the main character, aka Harry Blue. Her, along with most the other characters, felt very flat and one-dimensional with absolutely no character development; just a wooden by-the-book character similar to the ones on television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.