Book Review: "The Cat's Pajamas" by Gilbert Morris

Lights, Camera, Meow!

A movie is being filmed in White Sands and Kate, Jake, Jeremy and the cats are all involved! They soon find out that the Hollywood lifestyle isn't all that it's cracked up to be. When the acting double of an old flame of Jake's turns up dead, everyone's a suspect. From the nasty producer that everyone hates to the costar to wants a bigger role to even Jake himself, the small town becomes shaken by the murder. But when a second killing happens just days later, the only ones who can solve the case have four paws and a tail. It's up to Jacques and Cleo to come to the rescue again!

I thought that this book was lots better than the first book in the series. The cats get more talking time and a bigger role in this book. They even get to star in the movie! I liked how Jacques and Cleo have more conversations and more opinions on their owners. I think that they are smarter than Kate and Jake in regards to their relationship. There are more new characters introduced in this book. Because of the movie being filmed in the town, many Hollywood type folks enter the scene. Avis, the lead actress, and Jake have a past but their relationship felt very fake. I felt that the remarks by the producer, Aaron Tobin, were quite harsh especially the racist comments he made. He definitely comes off as a character everyone loves to hate. Jake still comes off as a very unlikable character to me. Even though there are several scenes where he helps out those around him (ie taking care of Ocie) he still acts like a jerk. Two scenes that come to mind are when he gets mad at Kate for going out with Bev and tells her he would give her a whipping if she was his daughter. This comes off very chauvinistic because he's acting jealous for no reason and plus Kate had done absolutely nothing wrong. The other scene is when he throws Jacques, who has very dangerous claws, at an actor simply because Jake doesn't like his choice of career. Eric ends up getting hurt but Jake never apologizes which I felt was really distasteful of his actions since Kate had warned him that Jacques could do serious damage.

The mystery once again is a good one. I did guess the ending this time but overall I enjoyed the whole story. I always enjoy reading books about what it is like to make a movie. Overall I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next one. I just hope that Jake's character will change in the third book, as it stands I'm still not a fan of him.

The Cat's Pajamas by Gilbert Morris is published by Harvest House (2007)