The Black Book

By: James Patterson, David Ellis

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Just OK

Would you try another book from James Patterson and David Ellis and/or Edoardo Ballerini?

No, I was disappointed this was my first James Patterson book & it wasn't that great.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Just ok.

What three words best describe Edoardo Ballerini’s voice?

Annoying - trying so hard to have a "tough guy" persona.

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

No I wouldn't buy a second one.

Good story but ending is predictible

The main character's accent is annoying but the book is good in spite of this.

great book, surprise who done it,well written

beautifully narrated, I will get another book written by this author and another book by this narrator.

a great listen!

Enjoyed listening, lots of plot turns.
never could guess the ending.
just buy the book.

Ehhh

It was a decent whodunnit but was pretty predictable in my opinion. Also, a bit dragged out with the ending. All in all tho I’d say it was a decent book.

Not as good as expected

I had not read/listened to any previous Patterson books but always heard how exciting they were. This just didn't match that description for me. It was overlong and seemed to trudge over the same information repetitively. Not anticipating future choices of his/theirs.

Good.

It's a good story but the narrator butchers the entire thing. They should have picked somebody else to narrate the book.

Let's Do The Time Warp

A multi-layered mystery that jumps between past and present. At times I would forget if the story was in the past or present. The story was pretty good, but I just felt it lacked a bit of heart. What I mean it the central character is obviously "haunted" by something that occurred prior to the events of this book, it's a secret that is guarded and hinted at for most of the story as being central to what makes this character tick. When we learn about the event it is done in like 3 or 4 sentences in the middle of two or 3 other events like it isn't especially important. Overall it was a solid book with enough plot twists to keep it interesting and guessing until close to the end.
Edoardo did a good job and I would listen to him again.

typical Patterson

it was a nice break... but it read like most of the others by him. fairly full characters, but predictable .

Virtual page turner!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Black Book to be better than the print version?

Could not stop listening! Very nicely done. No way to predict what is going to happen. Terrific detective story.