Rating: 
Summary: Why trick us with a new name?
Review: I saw that there was a "new" James Patterson paperback on the best seller list, so I rushed to the book store and purchased it. That night, I put aside the novel by another writer and anxiously opened Black Friday. "Whoa! This sounds familiar", I thought. "Ah, maybe this will be a book related to Black Market, an older book by Patterson. A new story that develops some of the characters we last saw in Black Market." But, alas, it is the same book with a new name and almost new cover. Boy, do I feel dumb and taken in. Actually, it was a very good book with lots of great action when it was called Black Market. Why did the publishers think they needed to issue a slightly reworked issue under a new name? Now, I see from the write-ups at Amazon that his next "newest" is a rewrite of another old book. I'm sorry if James Patterson has writers block or something, or perhaps he died and I didn't hear about it. But don't fool us with new names for the same old good stuff we've read before. If you haven't read Black Market, then get Black Friday. It's certainly worth the cover price.
Rating: 
Summary: I want my $8 back.
Review: I'm usually a fan of this particular genre of books, and Black Friday looked interesting so I bought it. Just not a good effort. The characters lacked any depth and were quite one-dimensional, with drab personalities to boot. The plot didn't capture my imagination. A group of renegade Vietnam Vets whom were distraught by the war (talk about cliched) orchestrate a number of terrorist attacks on Wall Street, resulting in a financial crisis. FBI agent Arch Carroll and an SEC bureaucrat try to solve the mystery, and become romatically linked (another cliche). The book lost all credibility when an FBI higher-up and Arch's mentor turns out to be a well-known terrorist who Arch has been after for years. Totally unbelievable sequence. As if it doesn't get more unbelievable, the US Government tries to hunt down Arch as he finds out more damning information on the terrorist attacks (yes, the US gov't, specifically a "committee of 12" was responsible). That last part by the author was hard to swallow, as such a thing sounds more appropriate in the old Soviet Union. Bottom line, the author tried his best Tom Clancy impersonation and failed miserably.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I love James Patterson's Alex Cross books, and even though this book is not an Alex Cross novel, this is still great. This story is interesting and has the plot of a Tom Clancy novel, but moves along with suspense like a detective story. It is packed with action and interesting characters. It is difficult to follow in some parts, but it is still great.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book, except for the mistakes
Review: I'm a huge fan of James Patterson, in fact I can consume one of his books in a weekend -- they keep me that entertained. But I had problems with this book. The plot, the story itself, is great -- clever as per usual to our Mr. Patterson -- but there were several glaring errors in the book. See if you can spot them: * Grammatical problems where inanimate objects are personified. * Plot problems (and this is my chief complaint): ~* The main character is running into Bed-Sty at the end of the book to capture the Green Band leader. The building is in flames, and there are two men on the roof arguing when he shows up. The main character knows the Green Band guy is there, but he doesn't know, at least according to how the story is written, who the second man is. The reader knows who the second man is, because it's written in the previous chapter, but the protagonist does not. However, when the protagonist gets to the roof, he suddenly knows who both men are -- both bad guys he's been after (and the second is supposed to be this great unknown -- no one has ever seen his face sort of deal). Is the protagonist suddenly clairvoyant? ~* Second: The protagonist, in this same scene, is badly beaten up -- he mentions that something's seriously wrong with his body, he can feel it deteriorating, his skull is cracking, etc ... -- and the next thing you know this issue is dropped and he's driving back home to his family to flee with them. Miracle healing? ~* Third: Before the rooftop scene, he goes down in a helicopter crash (upside down no less!), and walks away alive from it -- what next? Will he walk on water? I think to make this scene more credible, there needed to be more details, rather than action to more action. A book is supposed to be a luxurious distraction -- don't rush to the end to finish it Mr. Patterson, take your time. There are other plot problems, as well -- generally towards the end of the book -- perhaps Mr. Patterson should reconsider who's editing his books to catch these gaffs, because it detracts from the enjoyment of the story. However, if you can ignore these problematic plot issues, then the book is, yet again, another Patterson goodie. If you haven't read any Patterson, and you are considering buying one of his books, try one of his earlier publications with Detective Alex Delaware -- all of those are great reads, it's a shame he let this character drop.
Rating:
Summary: Why trick us with a new name?
Review: I saw that there was a "new" James Patterson paperback on the best seller list, so I rushed to the book store and purchased it. That night, I put aside the novel by another writer and anxiously opened Black Friday. "Whoa! This sounds familiar", I thought. "Ah, maybe this will be a book related to Black Market, an older book by Patterson. A new story that develops some of the characters we last saw in Black Market." But, alas, it is the same book with a new name and almost new cover. Boy, do I feel dumb and taken in. Actually, it was a very good book with lots of great action when it was called Black Market. Why did the publishers think they needed to issue a slightly reworked issue under a new name? Now, I see from the write-ups at Amazon that his next "newest" is a rewrite of another old book. I'm sorry if James Patterson has writers block or something, or perhaps he died and I didn't hear about it. But don't fool us with new names for the same old good stuff we've read before. If you haven't read Black Market, then get Black Friday. It's certainly worth the cover price.
Rating:
Summary: A prequel to 911
Review: After reading most of James Patterson's other novels, I decided to listen to this one. The story which would appear contrived in the 1980's has a new sense of realism today. It appears that many of Arch Carroll's characteristics have been adopted into Alex Cross. I found the book very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Not typical James Patterson
Review: I have to say I love most of James Patterson's books. I love the Alex Cross Series and The Women's Murder Series, but this book was a complete disappointment for me. If your looking for a book that will take a month to read, this is the one for you. It did not catch your interest, as most of his books do. I have to say it was the worst book I've read by him. I'm looking forward to the release of the new Alex Cross book in November!!
Rating:
Summary: Black Market/Friday still not that good for a Patterson nove
Review: Definitely the least good of Patterson's crime novels (originally titled Black Market). This one doesn't take you deep enough into the characters' personalities so you really don't care what they achieve or if they get killed while reading. It does have the usual short chapter Patterson style which does make getting through it easier. It is an effort to finish though and a lot of the information in dated now both the Russian and terrorist New York react to it stuff. Unless you're a huge Patterson fan give this one a miss. If you've just heard Patterson is the greatest crime writer there is and you wish to sample his work you're right, but try his others books first. For a substantial number of novels series try the Alex Cross ones they're brilliant. If it's only a short series you want then the women's murder club may be for you with the novels 1st to Die and 2nd Chance. All Patterson books can be read alone but once you've read one you'll want to read all the rest so you're better to start off with the initial novels in the series otherwise it spoils it a bit for the previous rest of the series. The Midnight Club is an excellent stand alone novel as well.
Rating:
Summary: After the realities of 911 this book will shake you up
Review: While the book was written years before 911, it hits home with this brand of terrorism. The reader on the audio tapes was very good and held my interest throughout. Some of the technology things are dated now, but even so you'll enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Worst book I've read by Patterson!
Review: I can't believe I would ever be saying that Patterson wrote a bad book, but I have to. I've read A LOT of Patterson books and this is the first one that took me more than a week to finish. It too me almost a month. It was terrible. I couldn't get into it and it was just weird. Too slow! I still recommend Patterson, because I've loved all the other books I've read, but will not recommend this one! Awful!
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