Sunday Synopsis

The Black Book by James Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Patterson has a new co-author, David Ellis, and I like him so far. There's only one thing he did that annoyed me. Hyperbole in the guise of similes. Examples: Chapter 14, "It was colder than a landlord's heart out there..." Chapter 34, "It was colder than a mother-in-law's glare out here." Chapter 42, "It was colder than a witch's nipple in a brass bra." See how irritating that is? Otherwise, I really liked it.

Billy Harney and his twin sister Patti were destined to follow in the footsteps of their father, Chicago's Chief of Detectives, and become cops. Billy gets drawn in to a raid on a brothel that services high profile Chicagoans including the Mayor himself. Later, Patti is called to the scene of a murder involving her twin brother Billy. His partner is dead. The assistant state's attorney is dead, and Billy is left for dead.

They also find out there is corruption in the police force, and someone has been taking kickbacks to keep from blowing the whistle on the brothel, a protection scheme. Now that it has been raided, everyone wants to find the elusive black book that contains not only the high profile clientele but the name of the cop who's running the protection scheme.

Several people are murdered, and the blame is pinned on Billy, and since he was shot, too, he has lost pieces of his memory. Will he be the fall guy, or will the truth come out? And if the truth comes out, who will be cornered?

This was an exciting ride! There are twists and turns along the way. Things aren't always as they seem. That's the kind of book I like.

Kirkus Reviews says this, "... the mystery is authentic, the lead-up genuinely suspenseful, and the leading characters and situations more memorable than Patterson’s managed in quite a while."

View all my reviews

Subscribe in a reader