The Last Days of John Lennon

If there's anything that really pisses me off when reading, it's wasting my time. James Patterson and team wasted my time.

As I noted in my status update, the book starts with a dedication, and the very first sentence contains a factual error. Lennon recorded Give Peace a Chance in Montreal, not Toronto.

From there, the authors proceed to do two things, and neither of them very well. The first is to create a menacing character for Lennon's shooter—whom I refuse to name because he shouldn't be given any recognition—by giving us an almost minute by minute account of his time from his arrival, through the shooting of Lennon, to his ultimate home in prison. And yes, he gets the last word in this book. I know that's a stylistic choice to show more make him the ultimate villain of the piece, but seriously, fuck him. The book has Lennon's name in the title, not that dickhead's so why give him the final scene?

Second, instead of the promised "last days" of Lennon, we're given a protracted, yet also truncated history of Lennon almost from birth, through a few brief highlights leading up to the Beatles, a year-by-year history of the Beatles, and then brief highlights through the 70s and leading to Dec 8, 1980. And why? Why did we, for example, need to read about Lennon's friendship with the doomed Stu Sutcliffe who would die almost two decades before Lennon and play no significant part in the rest of the story? I think the writers (or Patterson, who knows?) decided to include all that history just so they could stop at times and point to any mention of guns, such as the highlighting of Lennon's Happiness is a Warm Gun song on the White Album, or to wallow in any aspect of the "bigger than Jesus" blow up. Any aspect of Lennon and impending death, or perceived doom is gleefully highlighted and exploited as much as possible.

Of course, the standard Patterson stamp is all over the book: the stupidly short chapters, the quick offering of anecdotal facts, while skipping over truly important stuff, the blatant portrayal of Lennon's killer in the most menacing light possible, and the incorporation of as many Beatles/Lennon lyrics into his thoughts and dialogue as possible (he meets Sean Lennon and tells the nanny he's a "Beautiful Boy"...just one example of many). At the same time, we're treated to all of his demented thoughts, schemes and machinations, that I sincerely doubt anyone but that death-dealing asshole would be privy to.

But...we know Lennon's killer is evil. That doesn't need to be sold to the reader. Anybody reading this book very likely knows 99% of the history of Lennon provided. So that doesn't need to be sold to the reader.

What, exactly was I looking for in this book? I guess I'm not totally sure, but I was hoping that Patterson and writing team might attempt a nuanced look at the last days, or weeks, or even the last year of Lennon, and give us some insight into the man as he staged his comeback to the world.

But hey, this has James Patterson's name stamped all over it, who's aim seems to be to have his name imprinted on as many book covers as possible, and it was produced by Jerry Rivers...erm, I mean Geraldo Rivera, who is a self-marketing freak, so really, I'm not surprised that the outcome was so pathetic.

I just assumed there might be something of worth here, instead of the total waste of time I got instead. show less

I have always been aware of the Beatles and I remember toasting John Lennon's 40th birthday in the high school cafeteria. And then the unbelievable news of his death so shortly afterwards. His genius and impact on the world still resonate and can easily eclipse his life story.

James Patterson continues to be one of my favorite author with his Alex Cross series, so when I saw this book at a chain bookstore I decided, sure, why not? Patterson writes about crimes and solving them, and this book is no exception.

Yes, we all know how he died. There were conspiracies throughout the 1980's about Mark David Chapman being affiliated with the CIA, or FBI, or just simply a deranged fan. Patterson examines the latter probability as the most likely show more and begins the book with Chapman's plane trip from Hawaii with his loaded gun in his luggage.

There is also ample room given to Lennon's childhood and early bands, culminating in his partnership with McCartney that grew into The Beatles. The details in these sections were well done, fleshing out otherwise quick mentions in newspapers or magazines, especially Pete Best and other early band members' names. And the German club scene - what incredible endurance the Beatles and every other band hired must have had in order to play for 12 hours at a time.

This book is also well-organized, so that one lives in the world of Lennon and the Beatles for a good bit, including their camaraderie, break-up, and John's struggles as Julian's dad. Lennon's activism is also detailed and put into chronological order. Chapman begins to take more space as 1980 draws to a close. Much of the thoughts and words in these pages are taken from interviews Chapman has given over the years, giving this part an authenticity and not just speculation.

In addition, Patterson gives pages of end notes at the end of the book to provide documentation for what he's written. I rather prefer this method, in case there is a section or quote without the bother of seeing a footnote throughout this volume. show less

Our Costco magazine had an article about this new release that piqued my interest. I was pleased to see my library offered it as an ebook upon release. John Lennon died, was assassinated, murdered, killed, taken from the world 40 years ago on December 8, 1980. Not coincidently I am sure this book was published December 7, 2020.

The opening of this story packs a punch. I have never had a desire to look inside the head of a killer. It is unsettling how the author reconstructs thoughts and actions.

I lived through the times of The Beatles, I've read a bit about the Beatles, seen numerous films including Ron Howard's recent one and 'Backbeat', the story of the early days with Stu Sutcliffe, so I was familiar with much of the story and show more Patterson gives the reader a compressed view of how Lennon and McCartney came together, and their early life.

Despite the title, this is more or less a bio of John from 1957 onward and his interactions with the other Beatles and the world. For a mini view it seems to have been done well enough, but as I read through the book it should have resonated and plucked all those nostalgia chords ... but it didn't. There's a strange vibe to this, an emphasis on the unstable genius of Lennon and almost a putdown of the other Beatles, and I'm guessing here, but it seems the authors are trying to set this up as some sort of predestination thing. The storytelling is too often disjointed, dropping things in and coming back to them later as if trying to create 'Aha!" moments, or whatever.

There are some nice pictures tacked on at the end of the ebook. I learned some things about John's later life. Surprisingly, much of the latter part of the book is uninteresting. A few good bits, but otherwise this book is a disappointment and quite skippable if you already know the Beatles story. show less

What I liked: I enjoyed reading about the formation of the group and John's younger days in Liverpool and his attitudes toward their sudden super stardom. It was also very interesting to read about his life after the breakup of the band. Also there is information from interviews with several popular artists of the time which I found very informative.

What I didn't like: There wasn't much new in this book - it was mostly a regurgitation of previous articles over the last 50 years. I also didn't like the way that Mark David Chapman (the man who murdered John) was humanized often in a sympathetic way. Plain and simple, he was a killer and there is nothing sympathetic about what he did.

Overall, if you are a Beatles fan or a John Lennon fan, show more this is a great book to read to bring back the memories of the group that changed music during a simpler time in our world. show less

I am a Beatles fan so reading about John and as a whole the Beatles this book was awesome. The book is more about the Beatles and John than about his last days.

John-centric chronological storytelling of the Beatles, written in Pattersons fast paced style.

If you are a fan I think it's a must-read, if you're not a fan then you can probably skip it.

https://amzn.to/3CqCa9k

I was not a big fan of John Lennon or head over heels for the Beatles, but this was interesting how the group evolved and their relationships with each other. Lots of number one songs.

Not rating this because it was not great writing, just pasted together from other publications, and has a misleading title.