Don't Blink

James Patterson and Howard Roughan

THE GOOD

Lombardo's Steakhouse in New York 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 can achieve.

My Take:  

I have read a lot of James Patterson's books, and I feel like they are becoming less and less dynamic.  That being said however, his books (even the weaker ones) are more explosive than many out there.  Don't Blink was not the fastest paced book ever produced by Patterson, but I have the say the dynamic ending, and it's many twists and turns, gave the book a much needed oomf!  Just when you thought the story had been resolved BAM! Another twist! Then of course BAM!  Another twist! and for good measure BAM!  One last (and powerful) gut punch.  I enjoyed the main character, he was a snarky journalist (which doesn't usually appeal to me) but he also had heart and courage, though it may be argued that the courage was actually equal parts luck and stupidity.  I very much enjoyed Don't Blink, like I said before, the middle was less than stellar, but those trademark Patterson plot twists sure redeemed it.  I think I will assign the rating 3, Find a Used Book Store

Audiobook Review:  I was fortunate to have received this book in audio format, but I am sorry to say I didn't love the voice actor's performance.  Everyone had an uber scratchy voice ranging in intensity from common cold/sore throat scratchy, to Godfather scratchy.  The accents assigned to the various Italians, Russians, and others all sounded the same.  I dunno, maybe I'm overly picky and the accents drove me crazy because I have an Italian speaker for a father and Russian speaker for a husband. Overall it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either.

Do you agree with my review?  Do you think I'm totally off base?  Either way I'd love to hear from you, be sure to leave a comment and tell me how you feel!

If this book were a movie, it would be rated R for violence, strong language and sexual situations

***FTC Disclosure:  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review, no other compensation was given all opinions are my own***

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