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 … 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 shock waves are rippling through the city’s elite, and 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.
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Really fun Patterson novel. Very entertaining.
Jumps back and forth from past to present, but doesn’t lose you. Every time I thought I had this one figured out, something changed. Great read !!
I couldn’t read this book fast enough, but yet I didn’t want it to end! James Patterson and David Ellis have always made for a great read, and The Black Book was no exception. Billy Harney and his twin sister, Patti are both cops in the Chicago police department, following in the footsteps of their father. Billy Harney has a tragic past, but Patterson/Ellis do not bore us with endless details and instead simply refer to it. Billy and his partner, Kate Fenton, make for a great team and they are set to raid a known brothel in order to capture a suspected murder. What the force actually ends up doing in the process is arresting some well-known, political figures in the brothel–people who cannot afford to have this information known. And where’s the black book every brothel has? The State’s Attorney, the Mayor, and even his own police department are impeding Billy’s investigation every step of the way. Billy’s new lover is dead, his partner is dead, and he has been shot in the head with no memory now of his shooter and the murderer. Is the truth too horrendous to remember? Patterson/Ellis lead the reader in many different directions, and just when you know who the bad guys are, you suddenly do not. Intense read!
10 out 10. I can usually determine the murdered 1/2 thru a book. This was a real page turner. I did not actually guess the murderer until it was revealed in the book and that is a rare experience for me. Great Book
This is an extremely awesome book. It will keep you on the edge of your seat and just when you think you have it figured out who is behind everything it turns out not to be them in the end.
I’ve never been let down by a James Patterson book! Always a fun read!
This might be one of my new favorite James Patterson books. First off, let’s get this out of the way because there seem to be a lot of complaints about how steamy this book got. Personally? I loved it! I’m a romance junkie snd thrillers that add it in only make the book better in my opinion. Now, from the sexy scenes back to the main plot, it was twisted in all the best ways. After years of reading these kind of books I can usually figure things out by midway at the latest but this one kept me guessing right to the big reveal. There is a LOT going on in this book and I already put the second in the series on hold at my library. I’m not sure how it could live up to this one but dang I hope it does.
Loved it. I try to read all of James Patterson’s books. They are always wonderful.
I’ve read 35-40 of James Patterson’s books and this is by far one of his best! The book kept me engaged from page 1 til the end. I’ve recommended it to all of my avid reader friends who are looking for a good mystery read.
The beginning of this story had my attention. As I keep reading this story became hard to keep up with. I feel this story had too much going on in it for me.
Awesome book
Great combination of suspense, romance and humor! I feel like I was getting over-anxious (and maybe a little frustrated) the whole book, waiting for the main character to get his memory back, though. But in the end, I was totally floored at who the real killers were. I never suspected them at all!
his was an absolute page-turner. A thriller that will keep you guessing until the end.
One of my favorites of his so far
I Loved the book. It was and interesting look into the different type of cops. Different ways of looking at cases and when there are bad cops how far will they go to protect themselves. Interesting characters and story plot.
This book kept my attention. I thought I had it figured out and then it was wrong. I had it figured out again and was wrong. I read it in two days because I wanted to get answers as to who did the murders!!
This is not Patterson. Yes, his name is on it, but the co-author is so much better of a writer. More in-depth into relationships. So many ways the plot could have gone. Kept me guessing the whole way through. Interesting bit of philosophy in Chapter 61 (at Stuart’s funeral).
This was not one of my favorite James Patterson novels. The mystery itself was challenging. The setting in Chicago was one I am not familiar with but seemed well-portrayed. I did not like the excessive sexual thinking. While the actual act was limited, I was disappointed in the overall language and sexual content. I had hoped that, based on an Alex Cross novel I read a while ago, those were two things that were much less than Patterson’s earlier mysteries. I’m not sure if I could go back to reading the two series of Patterson’s that I liked after reading this.
The mystery was well-crafted, one in which I could not learn who the bad guy was. When I learned who really had the black book, I was incredibly disappointed. It was just too far out of line from the way the characters were portrayed throughout. Sorry, I wish I could give this a better rating, but it just didn’t get any better. The narrator’s voice didn’t sound like that of a cop – more that of thug. The whole package just didn’t match up to the hype of television ads about the novel, or even the author’s name.
James Patterson has written many good books. This one is outstanding! The Journey through present to past is exciting and we’ll put together. Great Read!
This is another ‘series’ I can see happening. Billy Harney and his twin sister Patti can be a duo that will have more ‘situations’ to be resolved. This one: The Black Book gave so many suspects that it was fun to test my ‘figuring out’ skills. This is in Patterson form of short chapters so you can read quickly or take hours to absorb. I found myself up late each night wanting sleep, but not wanting to put down the book. Patterson & David Ellis is a good combo to read.