J. D. Barker

The Writer by James Patterson and J. D. Barker is a very highly recommended twisty procedural/thriller. Wow! This is an excellent, suspenseful, twisty roller coaster ride of a novel and it left me dizzy from the twists and turns.

NYPD Detective Declan Shaw is planning to jump in front of a subway train when he gets a call from his investigative partner, Jarod Cordova. He wants to know how fast Shaw can get to the Beresford building on Central Park West. A woman returned home to the tower show more apartment there and found her husband dead. She is asking for Shaw by name.

Once there Shaw sees bestselling true-crime writer Denise Morrow, covered in blood, sitting next to her dead husband. It seems a clear-cut case, but Denise has an alibi and it becomes even more complicated. Searching the apartment it is also discovered that she is writing a book casting doubt on a case that Shaw and Cordova worked on in 2018 that involved the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl in Central Park.

That's all you need to know - once you start reading you will be hooked almost from the start. There are chapters presented from Now and Then (2018) and also excerpts from police transcripts along the way.

The writing is absolutely exceptional, the pace is fast, and the plot is clever and intelligent. There are so many complications and layers of deception in this unpredictable procedural. What you can expect are several stunning revelations and absolutely jaw-dropping twists along the way in this truly addictive, un-put-downable novel.

As for the characters, you won't know who to trust or believe. The whole narrative is one shrewd complicated cat and mouse game where the roles keep changing and then another switch appears to shake it all up again. I'm not saying anything else but read this novel!

The Writer is a perfect choice for readers who love procedurals with plenty of twists. Thanks to Little, Brown and Company for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
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What if the dark tale of Dracula was not just a flight of fancy for author Bram Stoker? What if the origins of the story came from Stoker's own life? Dracul is a prequel of sorts for the classic novel, spinning a dark tale of death, evil and monsters.

OMG....I love this book! This isn't a re-telling of the Dracula story, but an imagining of the origins for the vampire story. Bram Stoker left diaries and notes behind, detailing mysterious happenings revolving around a Stoker family servant, show more Nanna Ellen. The story switches back and forth in time, alternating from Bram's sickly childhood in Ireland to his facing down unimaginable evil 12 years later as an adult. I was completely engrossed in this dark tale from beginning to end. Easily as horrific and well-written as the classic Dracula, this new tale of the undead is darkly disturbing and mesmerizing.

Like the classic Dracula, this book relies mostly on psychological horror, rather than more in-your-face type scary. The dark and bleak atmosphere, horrific discoveries and mysterious occurrences build suspense, revealing just a little bit of the truth at a time. The pacing is perfect. I don't usually like books that skip back and forth in time, but for this story it worked perfectly. Jumping from Bram and his sister discovering secrets about a beloved family servant to his facing evil lurking outside his locked, barricaded door years later just made the suspense stronger. The characters are awesome. The writing is descriptive, and the horror....chilling.

Full stars from me! Loved it!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Penguin via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** show less

Clearly, the authors thought the story was clever and engaging, and they were mostly right. The twist on the OG story of Dracula and its author is clever, and this book has been on my TBR pile for some time. Stoker's Dracula is one of my all-time favorites, and I've read it numerous times. In 6th grade, my first oral book report was about Dracula. (My teacher wouldn't let me do a book report on The Exorcist and I'm pretty sure my mom got a phone call.)

The chase and fight scenes are good, show more particularly when they stick to the established mythology. Ellen's story, which is the heart of the tale, is fantastic and would have made a great novel on its own.

The problem was the engagement.

Verbose and overwrought, the story suffers from too much information that's simply not needed. The descriptions of dirt are a great example of this. Once is enough.

Then there are the characters who strangely have 21st Century values. They are all slotted neatly into their modern fairy-tale squirrel holes as enlightened good-guys/girl bosses or throw-back baddies/uneducated idiots. I suppose I should have expected this.

So, this one was a mixed bag for me. I was glad to come to the conclusion, but it wasn't a waste of time. I liked it, but I would have enjoyed a solo tale about Ellen more. show less

Nope nope nope nope nope.

Seriously? Se7en meets Silence of the Lambs? How about, this author wishes he had half of Thomas Harris' talent to write a solid cat-and-mouse thriller?

This book read very much as a paint-by-numbers thriller, or something where someone pulled Thriller Plot #3 (copyright and patent pending) and just filled in the names. There's the deadly serious cop that's been chasing the serial killer for years. There's his wisecracking partner. There's the sassy female cop that show more has some slight sexual tension for the wisecracker, and nothing but sympathy for the lead. There's the bullish sergeant. There's the standard false leads (that broadcast their falseness far too loudly) and the inevitable puzzle pieces that the killer leaves to lead the cops on a merry chase. There's also the diary that details the ridiculous and patently stupid early childhood of the 4MK killer, who's father sounds like Beaver Cleaver's father from the late 50s/early 60s, even though it must have taken place in the late 90s, early 2000s.

It just felt as though the whole damn thing was crafted for maximum public appeal, and a nice bidding war for television or movies...apparently all of which it achieved.

So much bullshit.

Yeah, don't expect a review from me for the next book. I'm stating here and now that I'm totally bailing on this ridiculous series. What crap.

I'll go back and read Red Dragon or Silence of the Lambs before I'll wade into this particular cesspool again. show less