Black Friday (Maggie O'Dell Series) [Abridged, Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Alex Kava (Author), Tanya Eby (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009 | Series: Maggie O'Dell Series (Book 7)

On the busiest shopping day of the year, some idealistic college students believe they’re about to carry out an elaborate media stunt at the largest mall in America. They think the jamming devices in their backpacks will disrupt stores’ computer systems, causing delays and chaos. What they don’t realize is that instead of jamming devices, their backpacks are stuffed with explosives, ready to be detonated by remote control and turning them into suicide bombers. Caught up in a political nightmare, battling a new interim director and still mourning the death of her boss A. D. Cunningham, FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell must put her own troubles aside and fly to Minnesota to help figure out what’s behind this terrorist attack — a massacre that is all the more frightening because no group has claimed responsibility. The search becomes personal when a tip reveals that one of the college students involved is Patrick, Maggie’s brother. Afraid and on the run, Patrick must decide if he can finally trust Maggie enough to help her unravel this horrifying nightmare. Sifting through the debris for answers, Maggie is joined by Nick Morrelli, who has recently taken a job with a national security company that oversees security for the mall. Although Maggie and Nick have investigated several cases together in the past, they’ve never investigated a relationship with each other. Nick would like to change that. When an informant confides in Maggie that there are other attacks on the secret agenda, she knows that she’s running out of time. In less than twenty-four hours she’ll need to figure out exactly when and where the second attack will take place, who to look for and how to keep her brother from becoming one of the casualties.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bestseller Kava's superb Maggie O'Dell thriller (after Exposed) features a particularly memorable villain, the Project Manager (aka Robert Asante), the third party behind 1995's horrifying Oklahoma City bombing, along with real-life terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Now Asante has directed an attack on Minnesota's Mall of America during Black Friday, the big retailing day after Thanksgiving, that kills 32 people, including two students who were duped into carrying devices that they believed would just create an electronic blackout. FBI profiler O'Dell, still recovering from the death of her boss, must work with her new superior, hypercritical Raymond Kunze, as well as her ex-boyfriend, security consultant Nick Morrelli, to prevent a second major terrorist outrage Asante has planned to follow shortly after the first. Kava peppers the breathless action with enough intel to make the premise scarily real. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Move over Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs and Karin Slaughter... Alex Kava steals the chills from these erstwhile ladies of crime." - Guardian "Kava's most terrifying psychological thriller to date." - Publishers Weekly, starred review of EXPOSED "Not for the faint of heart." - Peter Robinson" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD; Abridged edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596009128
• ISBN-13: 978-1596009127
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,864,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ALEX KAVA's two stand-alone novels and seven novels featuring FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell have been published in more than twenty countries, appearing on the bestseller lists in Britain, Australia, Poland, Germany, and Italy. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. Alex divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska, and Pensacola, Florida.
Photo credit Deborah Groh Carlin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Take the Escalator to Terror, April 22, 2010

By 

Trisha Koerner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Friday (Maggie O'Dell Novels) (Hardcover)

Black Friday by Alex Kava is the first book by her that I have read. I thought it was great! In our new world that includes terrorism, it is a scary thought that this could really happen!!!
It is a Maggie O'Dell novel. The story is about five college students that go to the Mall of America the day after Thanksgiving. The day the retail world calls Black Friday. Sounds normal right? Wrong! These students are called castaways by someone known as the Project Manager. This man talked three students into carrying a red backpack into the mall with "jamming devices" inside. They were told that these devices would screw up the store and mall computers. Being the busiest shopping day of the year, it would cause mass confusion. Little did the students know but they were being turned into suicide bombers.
One student named Dixon brought two friends along.He wound up being called from the mall by his Grandfather because his Grandmother had to have heart surgery. Thinking nothing of it he handed his backpack over to his friend Rebecca.
After Dixon left, Rebecca had to go to the bathroom. Their other friend Patrick waited for her in the food court. The other two students with the backpacks were walking seperately through the mall as instructed. Rebecca went to the bathroom but forget to get the backpack off the hook on the stall door when she left.
When she got back to the food court, she told Patrick she would be right back and left to retrieve it. As she approached the bathroom it happened. A huge explosion! The Project Manager had used his remote and detonated two of the bombs. The third would not go off for some reason.
Chaos...confusion...death...body parts was everywhere.
I have to stop so I do not give away who is involved and what happens next. Read the book! It was a fast reading page turner. It will make you really think about how vulnerable we really are.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Black Friday was a sad day....., April 18, 2010

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Friday (Maggie O'Dell Novels) (Kindle Edition)

I love Alex Kava books. I eagerly await the next novel however, this one was a disappointment for me. The story started off with a bang (literally) and I was hooked but as the story went along it lost my attention. Details seemed to be unresolved or very weak and took the story somewhere I was bored with. One thing I enjoy about Alex Kava is that the novels tell stories that are fictional yet have underlying truth which as a reader makes me feel there is a "chance" that these terrible things could happen and these characters could be real. But this story went from scary reality to a government conspiracy which I didn't find enough detail in to believe or even find enjoyable. It was sad not to have Cunningham but new characters were introduced andi look forward to see how they develop in future novels.I enjoy these novels for the crime-fighting and not the romance. I hope this is the final novel that develops the "possible" romance with Morelli. This novel it seemed like an after thougt just thrown in. All in all I still look forward to the next Maggie story but on the list of favorties Black Friday is at the bottom

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another 5 STAR book from Kava & Maggie O'Dell, October 8, 2009

By 

FictionGuru.com "Deb@Fiction Guru" (Milton, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Friday (Maggie O'Dell Novels) (Hardcover)

I always wait for Alex Kava books. Wish we could get her to write 2 books a year. Her books are fast paced and each of the chapters leaves you wanting more. I find myself reading late into the night because of this. I enjoy how Kava writes true crime into her novels -- bits & pieces from the news, past & present. Its WOW, that she even considered "backpacks" for her crime -- and look how that was actually being considered???

In this latest thriller she brings in surrounding characters and their interaction with Maggie O'Dell is what we're all looking for - more Maggie. I was impressed that she's making something happen between Nick and Maggie. That's been important to my following her series. If you enjoy fast reads -- and like true life thrillers, this one couldn't have come at a better time. Read for entertainment!