What a complete load of garbage. A lousy plot, lame screen-play and the most uninspired acting I've seen in a long time (and I've seen these actors in movies where they were good). We kept saying "this has to be the worst movie we've seen in years". Eventually we checked how much time was left (because it was late and we were tired) and we realized this idiotic exercise in dumb-down had another hour to go. The most rewarding thing we did was skip the last hour and catch the "surprise" ending. Usually I can find some redeeming quality in a movie but in this case, no – nothing. Lead characters had zero chemistry and that cheesy blood disease sub-plot was just too contrived to do anything but irritate the viewer. The nosey reporter manages to become a key player but why? Because she's a woman? Shallow boring characters. The woman's murder club came across like a meeting of eight graders who read too much Nancy Drew. It was horrible. Stupid and sophomoric plot. James Patterson must be farming out his books or he has totally lost his creative gift or he simply does care if his work is garbage.Junk - don't waste your time. How anyone could give this a positive review is mind boggling.

James Patterson's bestselling novel 1st to Die is brilliantly displayed on the screen with Russell Mulcahy's made for TV film. As an avid James Patterson fan, I was unexpectedly very much impressed by this film, especially bearing in mind that it is a TV film.Patterson's pages fly by in a lengthy two and a half hours, and the length is a feat that I greatly admire, because it leaves less room for mistakes. The longer the film, the closer it can be kept to the text, and, with a few meager exceptions, this film is very close to James Patterson's novel.Inspector Lindsay Boxer (Tracy Pollan) finds herself in the middle of a grisly murder. Two newlyweds are found brutally murdered in their hotel room with both of their wedding rings missing. However, as Lindsay predicts beforehand, the killer is at large, and he's not done killing. As more newlyweds are found murdered, Lindsay's adrenaline shoots sky high, and she finds herself seeking assistance from her friends, medical examiner Claire Washburn (Pam Grier), D.A. Jill Barnhart (Megan Gallagher), and her newly obtained companion, reporter Cindy Thomas (Carly Pope). Together, they form The Womens Murder Club with the intent of examining evidence in a different way in order to solve cases.As the case starts revealing more evidence, Lindsay and her partner, Chris Ralleigh (Gil Bellows), find that their list of suspects is narrowed down to only one, but is he really their killer? Is there more evidence than meets the eye? Unfortunately, Lindsay is not only struggling to hunt down a madman, she is also fighting for her life. After being diagnosed with a very severe and potentially fatal blood disease, she fears that in near time, her closest friends will no longer have her in their lives, as her condition, even with treatment, seems to worsen. But will she be the first to die? With the exception of the ending of the story being slightly different, this film sticks pretty close to Patterson's novel. I was also surprised by how graphic the film is, again considering that it was made for television. Don't make the unwise decision to turn this film down just because of a negative review. If you enjoyed Patterson's novel, then you will enjoy this film.Also recommended to you is Womens Murder Club, coming to ABC on Friday October 12. The series will revive Inspector Lindsay Boxer and the other members of the Womens Murder Club in a television series based on Patterson's book series.8/10

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT!!!!I had read the book "1st to die" and wanted to see if the movie followed the book so I watched it. For the most part it did. There were some MINOR differences(location of the last violent scene for instance) but not many and for the most part the movie stayed true to the book more so then most movies.This may have been a mistake-although the movie was perfectly cast-with Pollen and Bellows especially-I was not that impressed with the book. Or let me take that back. I started off very impressed, gradually became more disillusioned and by the end was left completely unsatisfied and felt almost gypped. No difference with The movie. Here is why.There is no "payoff" in the book, or the movie. Rarely have I read a who done it thriller that has created such a letdown with it's final resolution and I had hoped the movie would vary a little.The whole-(he did it, NO she did it, NO they BOTH did it)-was not interesting, not fascinating and more confusing, annoying and depressing then anything else. Add to that, that the love of Lindsay's life dies at the end(after HER disease cleares and she cries at his grave).. and then cut to where she's contemplating suicide....then all of a sudden she's in a fight for her life with the REAL villain who was cleared after being arrested.. but it turns out he and the wife were in it together....HELLO!!! This whole thing has now become "GENERAL HOSPITAL" instead of a good old fashioned thriller. I felt cheated and ripped off by the book and watching the movie(I must admit it held my attention nicely -the acting was very good for a TV movie)was hoping it wouldn't follow the book which it wound up doing.I still think the movie is watchable and for some reason does not leave as bad a taste in your mouth as the book(or maybe it's just that I knew what would happen)But I have to say the way this story unraveled was not well done at all.

I like Patterson and really enjoyed the book, so, I made sure to record this when it aired. I find skipping the commercials adds somewhat to continuity if it exists. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it. It followed the book well enough to do it justice but did suffer some in my mind from missing elements. I missed the counter-point style of the murderer's perspective woven into the plot as well most of the character development. The women's murder club worked much better in the book and felt forced and phony in the movie. I also think moving to Seattle cost some atmosphere and would be a disaster for the sequel (Second Chance, another good read) if it's done. In the end, entertaining - yes; good movie - yes; great movie - no way. 7 stars of 10.