The Thomas Berryman Number

I have a ton of Patterson's old books that I haven't read yet and, because I was starting to feel guilty about it, I finally pulled this one off the shelf. It was truly not worth the time. I was surprised, because I love James Patterson, but I guess he hadn't yet honed in on his forever writing style since this was his earliest book published. It was literally all over the place and hard to follow. The only thing I found interesting was the wacked-out characters. They were crazy and so was the plot of a hired killer stalking another hired killer. Poor Oona Quinn!

Ha, the jokes on me. I recently saw James Patterson in person, and during his discussion, he joked around in a fun way. At some point he was asked if he had a favorite or best book, and he answered it was this one, his first book. Naturally, I "had" to read it. Oh my goodness, he's come a long way since he was 26, thankfully. This book was disjointed, didn't flow, did nothing to carry it along and was boring. I struggled to finish it. I don't think I'll bother to look for other early works.

My first thought after finishing this book was "I didn't get it!". It is written by one of the biggest selling authors in history who is known for thrilling, fast-paced, unputdownable blockbusters, and it has won The Edgar Award, so that should not be the reaction, should it? But, unfortunately, this book is a huge letdown, even for diehard fans of James Patterson, as I can see from the reviews here.
The narrative is utterly confusing due to its erratic jumps in time; it takes a lot of concentration just to be aware of what happens when. Also, there is a lot of atmosphere building that doesn't work for a reader like me who has negligibly little knowledge about the America of the sixties and seventies. And the author has left a lot for show more the reader to figure out by way of gaps in the plot.
Apart from some humorous descriptions of places, people and life in general, reading this novel felt like an unrewarding chore, which is a sad thing, really. show less

The Thomas Berryman Number was the first published novel of James Patterson in 1976. This book is written in the first person of journalist Ochs Jones as he tries to put a story together about Thomas Berryman an assassin. At the same time, he reports on three murders and the subsequent story behind them.

Ochs Jones has won a prize for a series of articles about former black mayor of Nashville, Jimme Lee Horn. That story was set in the glow of the break in segregation laws that the south had revelled in, Jimmie Lee Horn had been murdered while on the campaign trail to be a senator.

Jones has been contacted by a doctor at the William Pound Institute a mental hospital on Long Island, New York. An inmate, Ben Tog seemed to know a lot about show more the murder of Jimmie Horn and the assassin Thomas Berryman, so Jones goes to see him. This really does become the start of the chase to find Thomas Berryman and the truth will not be easy to find or publish. Jones feels like he is chasing shadows at times, but he slowly begins to put the story together.

The chase for information means Jones has to spend many days and weeks away from his own family. While chasing Berryman he seems to just miss him at every turn even when using film and photography nothing is very clear.

A good debut thriller from Patterson show less

I needed this book for a challenge, otherwise, I would not have finished it. The plot was too scattered all over the place. I'm still not exactly sure what happened in this one. I'm pretty sure someone was murdered. But, that's about all I got out of this novel.

I could see the potential for the famous author James Patterson eventually became. You could tell he was trying for his notorious plot-twists. But, he just wasn't there yet. I'm glad this wasn't my first book by Patterson, I just might not have picked up another. Fortunately, he was able to hone his craft.

I am reassured in reading others reviews that my feelings about this book are not misplaced. I did finish it, but I didn't enjoy it. I can't say that the writing is not good, but I do feel that the story is disjointed and therefore comes together in a confusing manner. Not enough of a story and not one I'd recommend.

I usually like Patterson's characters but really did not attach to any in this book. It was too choppy -and yes, he usually has short chapters but this one seemed more choppy than his usual.