The Black Book

James Patterson · David Ellis

Mar 2017 · A Billy Harney Thriller Book 1 · Hachette Audio · Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

About this audiobook

The Instant #1 New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

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 with shock waves rippling through the city's elite, 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 page-turning best.

Ratings and reviews

This was not one of my favorite James Patterson novels. The mystery itself was challenging. The setting in Chicago was one I am not familiar with but seemed well-portrayed. I did not like the excessive sexual thinking. While the actual act was limited, I was disappointed in the overall language and sexual content. I had hoped that, based on an Alex Cross novel I read a while ago, those were two things that were much less than Patterson’s earlier mysteries. I’m not sure if I could go back to reading the two series of Patterson’s that I liked after reading this. The mystery was well-crafted, one in which I could not learn who the bad guy was. When I learned who really had the black book, I was incredibly disappointed. It was just too far out of line from the way the characters were portrayed throughout. Sorry, I wish I could give this a better rating, but it just didn’t get any better. The narrator’s voice didn’t sound like that of a cop – more that of thug. The whole package just didn’t match up to the hype of television ads about the novel, or even the author’s name.

About the author

James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.