Sunday, May 29, 2011

Review: Don't Blink by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

Don't Blink by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

Amazon Product Description:
The good
New York's Lombardo's Steak House is famous for three reasons--the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police's fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit. 

The bad

Seated at a nearby table, reporter Nick Daniels is conducting a once-in-a-lifetime interview with a legendary baseball bad-boy. In the chaos, he accidentally captures a key piece of evidence that lands him in the middle of an all-out war between Italian and Russian mafia forces. NYPD captains, district attorneys, mayoral candidates, media kingpins, and one shockingly beautiful magazine editor are all pushing their own agendas--on both sides of the law.

And the dead

Back off--or die--is the clear message Nick receives as he investigates for a story of his own. Heedless, and perhaps in love with his beautiful editor, Nick endures humiliation, threats, violence, and worse in a thriller that overturns every expectation and finishes with the kind of flourish only James Patterson knows.
My thoughts:
I am one of those people who will buy anything that says James Patterson.  One of my closest friends will buy NOTHING that says James Patterson.  Thank goodness there are so many books out there and we can all choose.  I didn't say I get to read everything he writes, just that I buy it - - hoping I will find time to read it.  This book I won on a blog - Martha's Bookshelf.  It is the audio book, I love audio books.  I seem to find myself in my jeep long enough to listen to them.  Sometimes I end up driving around or sitting in the driveway to finish the chapter.  So on that note, what did I think of this James Patterson co-written with Howard Roughan?
It was an entertaining enough story to drive to.  It is a bit on the gruesome side - the scene in the restaurant with the eyeballs...
The characters were interesting.  I liked Nick.  He has some issues that he is trying to work out in the story and I found myself cheering him on at times.  I enjoyed Courtney's character.  She is spunky and snarky.  I was thrilled when her boyfriend is "found out" by her.  I like how supportive she is of Nick - who has been in love with her for so long.  
The storyline moved along quickly.  The bad guys were effectively bad, the good guys wore obvious white hats, and it was easy to dislike the right people.  If you enjoy Patterson, check this one out.