The Black Book

James Patterson, 1947-

eAudio - 2017

The Instant #1 New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Three bodies in a beautiful and luxurious bedroom. Billy Harney was born to be a cop. The son of Chicago's chief of detectives, whose twin sister is also on the force, Billy plays it by the book. Alongside Detective Kate Fenton, Billy's tempestuous, adrenaline-junkie partner, there's nothing he wouldn't sacrifice for his job. Enter Amy Lentini, a hard-charging assistant state's attorney hell-bent on making a name for herself-who suspects Billy isn't the cop he claims to be. They're about to be linked by more than their careers. One missing black book. A horrifying murder leads investigators to an unexpected address-an exclusive brothel that caters to ...Chicago's most powerful citizens. There's plenty of incriminating evidence on the scene-but what matters most is what's missing: the madam's black book. Now with shock waves rippling through the city's elite, everyone's desperate to find it. Chicago has never been more dangerous. As everyone who's anyone in Chicago scrambles to get their hands on the elusive black book, no one's motives can be trusted. An ingenious, inventive thriller about power, corruption, and the power of secrets to scandalize a city-and possibly destroy a family-The Black Book is James Patterson at his page-turning best. James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family. Praise for THE BLACK BOOK: "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, and the leading characters and situations more memorable than Patterson's managed in quite a while."-Kirkus "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 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

Saved in:
Subjects
Genres
Suspense fiction
Published
[United States] : Hachette Audio 2017.
Language
English
Corporate Author
hoopla digital
Main Author
James Patterson, 1947- (author)
Corporate Author
hoopla digital (-)
Other Authors
David Ellis, 1967- (author), Edoardo Ballerini, 1970- (-)
Edition
Unabridged
Online Access
Instantly available on hoopla.
Cover image
Physical Description
1 online resource (1 audio file (10hr., 30 min.)) : digital
Format
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
ISBN
9781478914709
Access
AVAILABLE FOR USE ONLY BY IOWA CITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, HILLS, AND LONE TREE (IA).
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

At the start of bestseller Patterson's brilliantly twisty fourth collaboration with Ellis (after 2015's Murder House), Det. Patti Harney of the Chicago PD visits a horrific crime scene at a luxury condo. Det. Kate Fenton lies dead of a bullet wound on the bedroom carpet; on the bed are the naked bodies of assistant state attorney Amy Lentini and homicide detective Billy Harney, Patti's twin brother. It looks as if Kate shot Amy and Billy, and Billy managed to return fire and kill Kate. Amy is dead, but Billy survives, though he has no memory of what happened. Flashbacks reveal that the killings were prompted by a raid that Billy led on a high-class brothel, which netted such prominent Chicagoans as Archbishop Michael Phelan and Mayor Francis Delaney. The little black book containing the brothel's records is missing. The state is prosecuting Billy for the shooting and hoping to save the careers of the brothel's customers by proving the raid was unjustified. Everything is stacked against Billy, who needs an ingenious solution to escape a guilty verdict. Many readers will agree with Patterson that this is the "best book [he's] written in 25 years." Agents: Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell, Williams & Connolly LLP. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Review by Kirkus Book Review

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 mayoreven 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. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.