Rating: 
Summary: What's wrong with these people?
Review: A great story. A group of Vietnam vets, upset (putting it mildly) over their treatment after returning from 'Nam fulfills a plot to disrupt, if not bankrupt, the US financial system. The plan is executed to military perfection and almost works. Why doesn't it? Someone else is controlling what happens but who? It's still a mystery which is part of the reason the book is so good. It's left me thinking about a number of things weeks after reading it. Why have vets been treated the way they have? How would I "re-adapt" to our society after going through what they've been through? How much do we really know about what controls our economy?
This is an exciting and thought-provoking book. My first Patterson story but certainly not my last.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you think
Review: This audio cassette was very interesting. This outfit, Green Band, is apparently responsible for bombing half of Wall Street and stealing bearer bonds, then fencing them. The plot is just a tad convoluted, but apparently a cabal of American elitists are behind the whole thing, fronted by a disgruntled former Vietnam POW, Colonel David Hudson, who ends up getting these so-called "patriots" back in the end. Meanwhile, an FBI higher-up turns out to be a world-renowned terrorist (modeled after Carlos Ramirez, the so-called Jackal), and this seems slightly implausible, too. But it does make you think: especially with all the current terrorist threats and the relatively recent concept of gauging the state of the world by the state of the stock markets. I wonder, though, if stealing bearer bonds and securities is such a big risk, why hasn't all of this been turned into an electronic system by now? We're talking, according to Mr. Patterson, billions of stolen stocks and bonds. Now, would an average consumer keep around cash in the house, when he has ATMs and credit cards? Why can't Wall Street do that? Or maybe they already have? Anyway, it seemed implausible to me that someone could actually steal that much from Wall Street, but this book was written about a decade ago and things can change pretty quickly. Archer Carroll, the hard-working cop who never gives up, even when his children are threatened, and who ends up "getting the girl" in the end, is the hero here. His wife had died years prior, and the head of investigations for the SEC falls in love with him. This also seemed slightly implausible, not that an SEC master bean counter can't fall in love, but, hey, being an acrobat in bed and all? Hmmmm...anyway, rates a 4 overall....highly relevant to today's world but some implausibilities and convolutions in the plot that may detract from those who prefer more realistic goings-on. Diximus.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone's Terrorists Come to Play
Review: 'Black Friday', although published in 1986, should ring as familiar on two levels with the current reader. First of all, over the course of the past year, Americans everywhere have dealth with the tragedy of September 11, 2001. As of the last couple months, investers all over the world have struggled with a slipping stock market. Now, put those two things together, and you kind of have James Patterson's 'Black Friday'.Arch Carroll is a counter-terrorist. Really, that means he is an American trained agent that uses questionable methods to track down the terrorists that threaten the United States. The tragedy of his life is that his wife, Nora, succumbed to cancer a few years earlier, and Carroll frequently finds solace in the bottle. His younger sister has moved into to help him take care of the children his wife left behind. Then something big happens. One day in December, a threat is sent to Wall Street by a new terrorist group that identifies themselves as Green Band. The financial district is about to go boom. It is not negotiable. Everyone should be evacuated. True to their word, Green Bay detonates most of Wall Street. The world's economy is on the verge of collapse. The most galling part is that the terrorists have made no demands! Nobody knows what they want. 'Black Friday' is an entertaining read in classic James Patterson style. The chapters are short and the novel is set to a quick pace. Also true to style are the plot twists and the vague clues that Patterson is known to drop through his novel. Fans of Patterson that are familiar with his Alex Cross series will probably find Arch Carroll a refreshing change. Unlike Cross, Carroll isn't perfect. He has a vice, and he isn't exactly the nicest guy to his suspects. Although, like Cross, he has a deceased wife and surviving kids that come to haunt him from time to time. Carroll's kids aren't nearly developed as well as Cross's though. A portion of the novel that really intrigued me was the search for Francois Montserrat, an elusive terrorist. There are a couple of 'Usual Suspect' moments as he is tracked down by Carroll and the FBI as they hope to find him and solve the mystery of Green Band. Not to worry though, he is only part of the intrigue. Caitlin Dillon is the co-protagonist. She is kind of a stereo-typical character nowadays. She is smart and beautiful, and she has to fight to get any respect among her peers. Sound familiar? The type has been used in countless other novels. Don't get me wrong, I liked her, but she didn't offer much new. After reading this novel and the Alex Cross series, I would conclude that Patterson is highly suspect of the government and their motives. In the Cross series, it seems like someone in the government is always near the source of the crime. Something similar happens here, but to say more would be to give away to much. This was a fun book. On some levels it was chilling. Its not deep or meaningful literature. I usually read it on the train to and from school. Fans of suspense, covert operations, and Patterson will really enjoy this. After some of Patterson's more recent efforts, which some say he mailed in, this was a refreshing look at what he is capable of.
Rating:
Summary: black friday
Review: I have read most of Mr. Patterson's books, and thoroughly enjoyed
most of them. Was there a follow up to Black Friday? I wanted
more!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD IN PLACES-----BAD IN PLACES
Review: Buildings are being blown up, people are being killed and nobody knows who or why. Done by a group called Green Hand, led by Colonel David Hudson. Arch Carroll, a federal agent and Caitlin Dillon, an attorney work to find out who and why. Vets are being mailed stock certificates in major companies. Hudson has a plan to bring the American way of life to an end. They appear to know everything ahead of time, so there has to be an insider. Besides Hudson the other man bad guy is Francois Monserrat or is that his real name???????? Who is he???????? I like the Alex Cross books much better. So much talk, talk, talk on many pages that I found myself just skimming them to get to the next good place. Parts made no sense to me. (...)Would not spend much money on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Beware, don't be tricked!
Review: I read this book a few years ago and thought it was okay. BUT THEN IT WAS CALLED BLACK MARKET. Black Friday is not a new book, but a reprint of another book. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a sequel, since many of Patterson's titles sound similar.
Rating: 
Summary: a disappointing story
Review: Like many other readers, I found that this "thriller" had no thrill and no characters I was interested in. More importantly, it is also factually absurd. The plot seems to be based on a high-school-level concept of how Wall Street works (or "worked," since the book was written in the mid 1980s). If you do decide to read this, keep in mind that the plot is pure fantasy. Since Mr. Patterson has so many admirers today, I can only assume that his work has vastly improved since this first came out.
Rating: 
Summary: Black Friday
Review: The main character, Arch Carroll, was a no-nonsense, go-getting guy, that I love to read about. This book had action and adventure, combined with a romantic twist at times. This book delves deep into the mind about government conspiracy. Right from the begining he pulls you in with action and excitement. Clearly one of his best books. He makes you want to never, ever put this book down!
Rating:
Summary: Theme is bothersome, facts are wrong
Review: This is a so-so book. I am a fan of this genre, but Mr Patterson is no Tom Clancy. My main objections rest on the central theme - I had thought we finally had progressed beyond the Vietnam Vet nutcase as subject matter, but here we go again. The book jacket stated a "militia" group was attacking the financial section of Wall Street. In fact, Mr Patterson has a group of disaffected Vietnam Vets as the culprits. This theme has always bothered me as it stereotypes a group of men who, willingly or not, suffered their time in an unpopular war at the request of their government and made the best of the situation. I suspect, but am not sure, that Mr. Patterson was NOT a Vietnam Vet himself, as he has several inaccuracies beyond the central theme in the details. He states that one wheelchair bound vet was a "Kit Carson" scout, for example. Kit Carsons were not GI's, but rather were captured North Vietnamese or Viet Cong who had been turned and were scouting for us. He states that the patch they wear for the taxi service is composed of two 82d Airborne eagles facing each other - in fact the screaming eagle was the symbol of the 101st Airborne Division, not the 82d. He also rather beats us down with his declaratory or exclamatory actions of the characters. In his trying to make a point of the anquish, confusion, whatever he has the character go on and on about it, usually at the end of a chapter. "Why did they do this? Why would somebody want to do this? Why why why." sort of thing - it gets tiresome and doesnt strike the reader as believable. It comes across more as whining than as anquish or confusion. One doesnt want the central character to whine. Overall, it fills the gap until the next Clancey novel comes out. I would rate it a so-so. Not horrible enough to throw away but not good enough to continue if something better comes out before I am done.
Rating: 
Summary: 7 bucks? Buy yourself a lunch before you get this book.
Review: It's your average suspense/action story. In this day and age, that just doesn't support a book anymore. The characters seem as though they were ripped straight from "Die Hard". There's the widowed New York cop with a drinking problem and a bad attitude. He has a friend/tutor (the only other man who still believes in him). And then there's the bad guy- an ex-military colonel set on revenge and wealth. You can't get any more redundant. Even so, the author doesn't seem to understand who his creations really are. He doesn't describe them, he explains them- looking at them from a third-person point of view. While reading the book, it seems as though Patterson was so focused on his idea of the bombing of Wall Street, he forsake all other elements. He often writes himself into corners, making the bad guys too good at what they do, so that the good guys can only find them through MANY strokes of luck. The hows and whys are not explained. It is still unclear as to why New York was bombed and how the stolen money was used. Details throughout the book are lacking, so that I'm not even sure how the money was stolen in the first place! The conclusion only blurs the picture more. What happens to our hero cop? DO the bad guys succeed? You sure can't tell from the way it was written. The chief bad guy isn't mentioned again until the Epilogue, almost as an afterthought. The guns and explosions were put in great detail, but everything else is only as clear as a paper bag. Stereotyped New Yorkers and B-grade movie lines add to the pain. It's a crowded genre, go find a better book to read.
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