As I was reading THE 24th HOUR, I had the strangest feeling that I was holding two books in my hand. In today’s tough economy, two books for the price of one is a pretty good deal. Then I surmised that James Patterson and Maxine Paetro must have spun their own separate stories and merged them in this highly unique mashup.

THE 24th HOUR is indeed the 24th entry in the Women’s Murder Club series. For the uninitiated, the Women’s Murder Club is comprised of SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer, Medical Examiner Claire Washburn, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, and crime writer Cindy Thomas. Each of these powerful women deals with murder and other crimes on an almost daily basis, so any opportunity for them to get together and share notes on a current case is sure to be explosive --- and fodder for Cindy’s next story.

"THE 24th HOUR is another quick and relentless read from the dynamic duo of Patterson and Paetro. It is quite unpredictable, and it was a pleasure getting reacquainted with Lindsay, Claire, Yuki and Cindy."

Lindsay, Claire, Yuki and Cindy are at a restaurant celebrating Cindy’s engagement to one of Lindsay’s pals, longtime friend and partner Rich Conklin. However, their fun get-together is cut short when they hear screams coming from the second floor. They find a mostly disrobed woman on the ground, obviously the victim of an assault. She utters the troubling words “He raped us.” This leads to a search of the entire place and ends with the discovery of a man with no pants stuffed behind a locker trying to hide. He is Tyler Cates, an employee of the restaurant, who claims that the young lady requested that he engage in rough sex with her in the changing room.

The victim’s legal name is Mary Elena Hayes, but during her initial interview with the Women’s Murder Club, she jumps between names like Loretta and Lily. Mary Elena suffers from and is being treated for dissociative identity disorder (DID), which explains why she referred to herself as “us.” Her many “alters” will only appear when she requires protection, which is what happens here.

Yuki and her second chair, Nick Gaines, plan to defend Mary Elena in court. They are filled with much trepidation as most judges and juries do not believe in or support multiple personality disorder as a defense. To take it a step further, prosecutor Ed Schneider is described by Yuki as a pit bull and is not one to give clinical or scientific value to DID should it come up. If any of Mary Elena’s alters emerge during the testimony, he will laugh and tear Yuki’s case to shreds. To make matters even trickier, there are no medications to handle DID, which also will not help the defense.

Cates is not a credible individual by any stretch of the imagination, but Yuki and her legal team are walking a slippery slope. Under normal circumstances, it would be a slam dunk for them. Despite these challenges, things are going well, and the Women’s Murder Club is doing their fair share to assist. Thankfully, no issues with unexpected alters have derailed the proceedings just yet. But then, out of the blue, while Mary Elena is testifying, Cates jumps up and begins shouting. His outburst includes accusations that, if true, could blow up the entire case for all involved.

As all of this drama is unfolding, Lindsay is investigating the high-profile murder of a billionaire couple. However, while fascinating in its own right, I found myself much more captivated by the DID storyline than I was with this one. I have always been intrigued by fiction revolving around multiple personalities. It provides a great plot point in thrillers and legal-themed novels, and probably was best used in William Diehl’s 1993 book, PRIMAL FEAR.

THE 24th HOUR is another quick and relentless read from the dynamic duo of Patterson and Paetro. It is quite unpredictable, and it was a pleasure getting reacquainted with Lindsay, Claire, Yuki and Cindy.