The Black Book

De: James Patterson, David Ellis

Narrado por: Edoardo Ballerini

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 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 best.

©2017 James Patterson (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Gripping Storyline

I like stories that keep me guessing and this one definitely achieved that. If you like books that jump between past and present and keep building as the story goes on, you'll enjoy it.

The one downside for me was the narration. This book takes place in Chicago and growing up near there, I know the accent very well. Although the narrator was very lively and animated, I could not - could not! - get over his Boston-like accent for the main character. It just kept throwing the story off for me because I kept focusing on "that's a Boston accent."

A bit boring

I expected more from this book. James usually does great work. Normally I enjoy his books but not this one.

Awesome

One of Patterson's Best! Loved it..I couldn't wait to finish it & was sad when I was done

Not worth the hype.

Other than the insufferable fake feminine voice he made for every female character, the narrator did a good job. The story itself was exciting and had intense plot twists but the characters were shallow stereotypes. I'm glad I chose to try it out but I probably won't read another James Patterson book.

Agatha Christie meets the Hill Street Blues

I expected this to be a typical "cop story" and was surprised to find a mystery with all the twists, turns and red herrings of a good mystery. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is the descriptions of sex were gratuitous and only tangential to the story line. Fast forward thru these sections and you really don't miss anything. j

Repeative easily predictable, possible spoiler

Omg!!! Explain the Facebook video upload thing one more time!!! I literally rolled my eyes and at one time I screamed!! “ I KNOW” good story other then the obvious give away ....gee I wonder why you told me about the video uploading 10 million times.

Not up to usual standards.

This book was predictable and dragged in many places. Knew the end almost immediately! not sure how what could have been a great story took such a horrible turn but this one did. if the was a surprise at all, it was minor. betty disappointed in the writers.

loved it!

great story! lots of twist and turns, couldn't put it down! just when you think you have it figured out, you'll be wrong! a must read!

The Black Book

This is my 1st audio book. It was a great story. I guessed wrong & was excited to hear who the killer actually was. Can wait for my next book

Past his prime

What did you like best about The Black Book? What did you like least?

Ok, used to love this author. This book is very trite, predictable story line, overworked and tired. I used to love James Patterson.....this is NOT the author I enjoyed years ago with sharp characters and story lines. This book could have been OK as a short story, but not worth a credit or the time I spent listening to it. Sorry.....Baldacchi still holds up, perhaps Martini and Turow also. This book was a ho-hum waste of time.

What could James Patterson and David Ellis have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Better more original story line, better character development, fresh ideas.

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

Good narrator.

Do you think The Black Book needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Absolutely not. Very overworked, drawn out story and not worth the time with this trite writing. Could have been good, and other characters in the book with their own story lines, but this was totally boring and predictable. What a shame.