The Black Book (Billy Harney Thriller #1)

by James Patterson, David Ellis

Overview

Originally published by Little, Brown and Company.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455542673
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Series:	Billy Harney Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	73,467
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.12(d)

About the Author

James Patterson holds the Guinness World Record for the most # 1 New York Times bestsellers. His books have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide. He has donated more than one million books to students and soldiers and has over four hundred Teacher Education Scholarships at twenty-four colleges and universities. He has also donated millions to independent bookstores and school libraries.

Hometown:

Palm Beach, Florida

Date of Birth:

March 22, 1947

Place of Birth:

Newburgh, New York

Education:

B.A., Manhattan College, 1969; M.A., Vanderbilt University, 1971

Website:

http://www.jamespatterson.com

Editorial Reviews

"Behind all the noise and the numbers, we shouldn't forget that no one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent—which is what James Patterson has, in spades."—Lee Child, #1 bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series

"It's no mystery why James Patterson is the world's most popular thriller writer: his uncanny skill in creating living, breathing characters we truly feel for and seamless, lightning-fast plots. I do this for a living, and he still manages to keep me guessing from the first to last page. Simply put: Nobody does it better."—-Jeffrey Deaver, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Collector

"James Patterson is The Boss. End of."—Ian Rankin, bestselling author of Rather Be the Devil

"The plot twists will give you whiplash."
—Washington Post

"Brilliantly twisty...many readers will agree with Patterson that this is the 'best book [he's] written in 25 years.'"
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The mystery is authentic, the lead-up genuinely suspenseful."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Full of startling revelations...pitch-perfect pacing, plotting, and characterization."
—BookReporter.com

From the Publisher

Narrator Edoardo Ballerini takes listeners through a twisty thriller set in Chicago and steeped in city and police politics… Ballerini has a subtle take on the Chicago accents yet shines with the banter between cops—getting the pace and sarcasm just right. His greatest contribution is keeping the emotional pitch high. It propels listeners through the changes in time sequence and keeps the tension ratcheted up. Patterson and Ballerini make a great pair for good listening.”

AudioFile

It's almost as thrilling to see a writer like James Patterson at the top of his game as it is to read THE BLACK BOOK—a total page-turner that will keep you guessing from start to terrifying finish.

Karin Slaughter

The plot twists will give you whiplash.”

Washington Post

THE BLACK BOOK has more twists than a Formula One race, and the pace is just as fast. Deeply rooted characters, a touch of humor, and a climax nobody can see coming—it's vintage Patterson.

Brad Taylor

Narrator Edoardo Ballerini takes listeners through a twisty thriller set in Chicago and steeped in city and police politics. Family solidarity seems to be the only thing Billy Harney can depend on when the deck is seriously stacked against him. The young detective is embroiled in corruption and multiple murder charges with little but an amnesia defense. Ballerini has a subtle take on the Chicago accents yet shines with the banter between cops—getting the pace and sarcasm just right. His greatest contribution is keeping the emotional pitch high. It propels listeners through the changes in time sequence and keeps the tension ratcheted up. Patterson and Ballerini make a great pair for good listening. R.F.W. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

JULY 2017 - AudioFile

2017-03-07
Peerless networker Patterson (Woman of God, 2016, etc.), who's become as ubiquitous as Betty Crocker, latches on to a co-author who ups his game in several welcome ways.Called to a crime scene, Detective Patti Harney of the Chicago PD finds her twin brother, Detective Billy Harney, shot and left for dead in the bedroom of assistant state's attorney Amy Lentini's condo. Amy is also present and even more dead. So is Billy's partner, Detective Katherine Fenton. Working backward and forward from this opening tableau, the authors ask who shot whom and why. The answers are clearly rooted in a warrantless raid Billy led into an apartment building he'd become certain was operating as a sex club catering to Chicago's finest, including the archbishop and the mayor—even though, as cautious percentage player Lt. Paul Wizniewski warned him, Billy was Homicide, not Vice. The blowback from the raid is predictably intense, entangling Billy, Kate Fenton, and Amy Lentini, who overcomes her initial animosity toward Billy sufficiently to take him to bed. The central mystery is the question of what's become of the little black book in which Amy is certain Ramona Dillavou, the manager of the sex club, recorded the names and particulars of all her celebrity clients. She's convinced that some bad cop pounced on it and spirited it away. But which bad cop? Billy, surviving the shooting that left his partner and his lover dead only to find himself accused of murder on the strength of forensic evidence, is helpless to defend himself because he's lost all memory of what happened in that bedroom. Will he recover it in time to save himself and finger the perp? Most readers will be ahead of the twin investigators in identifying the guilty party. But 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. Co-author Ellis is definitely a keeper.

Kirkus Reviews