Don't Blink [Hardcover]

James Patterson (Author), Howard Roughan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 2010

The good

New York's Lombardo's Steak House 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 knows.

Editorial Reviews

Review

ACCLAIM FOR JAMES PATTERSON:

"The prolific Patterson seems unstoppable."
(USA Today )

"James Patterson knows how to sell thrills and suspense in clean, unwavering prose." (People )

"Patterson's novels are sleek entertainment machines, the Porsches of commercial fiction, expertly engineered and lightning fast."
(Publishers Weekly )

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 180 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. Mr. Patterson also writes the bestselling Women's Murder Club novels, set in San Francisco, and the top-selling New York detective series of all time, featuring Detective Michael Bennett. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Howard Roughan cowrote Honeymoon and Sail with James Patterson and is the author of The Promise of a Lie and The Up and Comer. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and son.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (September 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316036234
• ISBN-13: 978-0316036238
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (153 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

From my publisher:

James Patterson...


* James Patterson holds the New York Times bestsellers list record with 63 New York Times bestselling titles.

* JP has sold more than 220 million books worldwide. And considering pass-along and libraries, it's safe to say many more people than that have read a Patterson!

* In 2010, JP was named by kids everywhere the Children's Book Councils' Children's Choice Book Awards "Author of the Year" in 2010. More than 15,000 kid and teen readers voted for JP in a category he shared with Suzanne Collins, Carl Hiaasen, Jeff Kinney, and Rick Riordan. His Witch and Wizard series saw the biggest launch of a series for young readers ever, surpassing sales of first installments of Twilight, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, and Percy Jackson & The Olympians.

* JP has grossed over 3 billion dollars in worldwide sales. This is larger than the worldwide theatrical gross of Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time.

* JP has had 43 New York Times hardcover #1 bestselling novels, also a publishing industry record.

* Last year, JP has sold more books than John Grisham, Dan Brown, Tom Clancy, and Stephen King combined (source: Nielsen BookScan).

* JP properties are gaining wide interest amongst film and TV producers. JP's award-winning series for young readers, Maximum Ride, is currently with Avi Arad (Spiderman, Iron Man) and Universal Pictures. Lloyd Levin (Green Zone, Watchmen) is attached to produce a feature film adaptation of JP's newest young readers series, Witch and Wizard, and James Patterson Entertainment is set to produce the next Alex Cross film, I, Alex Cross which will feature Idris Elba (The Wire, The Losers) as Alex Cross. And, a television adaptation of JP's 2007 love story Sundays At Tiffanys aired in December 2010 starring Alyssa Milano and Eric Winter.

* JP's books are licensed in 43 countries worldwide, and are in print and actively sold in 100 countries.

* According to a 2010 Bowker Sisters in Crime Survey, JP is the favorite mystery writer amongst readers under 50...AND over 50! Survey respondents comprised American men, women and teens who bought at least one mystery fiction title in 2009 and/or 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

249 of 275 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than most of JP's more recent novels, August 9, 2010

By 

I Like Cheese - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Don't Blink (Kindle Edition)

Just recently I have seriously gone off James Patterson (an author that I have stuck by for nearly 15 years, buying every book he releases) especially when he brings out garbage like "Private" (I can't believe this has been picked up for a sequel next year!) and the truly disappointing "Worst Case" (the previous 2 Bennett novels were great, this was very "Meh!") but I though I'd give him the benefit of the doubt just one last time and gave "Don't Blink" a try. Thankfully this was actually pretty good.

The story was one of his fastest and most exciting that I can remember for a long while. The characters were not too bad (well, a considerable amount more likeable than the ones from "Private") and it did have quite a bit of action and suspense. It can be quite graphic and gory in parts that reminded me of some of his earlier books like "Hide & Seek".

The book was far from perfect though. For a start it felt like this was written for teenagers, being extremely simply written with poor dialogue and reminders of everything thats happened every couple of pages. Then there's the celebrity name-dropping all the time - I'm not sure why he keeps doing this but just lately all of Patterson's books are just littered with them and it really annoys me. Finally it is a little predictable - if you've read even just a handful of his other novels then you'll easily see what's coming next all the way through.

At the end of the day this is a Summer read. It doesn't claim to be clever or complicated and it isn't - it's just a fun to read book that can just be enjoyed and then forgotten about. If you've got a spare few hours and fancy a quick read that doesn't require much concentration or thought, then I recommend this is to you.

75 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Go Ahead. Blink. Close Your Eyes. Look Away., October 1, 2010

By 

C. Wallace (L.A.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Don't Blink (Kindle Edition)

I just watched the interview that Amazon has with co-author James Patterson regarding this book. Patterson indicates that it's about a struggle between the Italian Mafia and the Russian Mafia. In fact, the book scarcely mentions the Russian Mafia. The involvement of the Russians is very peripheral to the central plot.

I must assume that authors Patterson and Howard Roughan hope readers will identify with the main character, Nick Daniels, self-obsessed and totally uninspiring journalist. But I found virtually no character development for him. He's just there. (He's everywhere.) I never had any interest in his fate.

I (can't believe I) read the whole thing. Underscore whole. Something about eyeballs on the table. Other eyeballs on the floor. A romance that is not romantic. There are unfortunate police officers who are carelessly tossed about as the book lurches to the merciful final page, 370.

As for the conclusion, it's one of the most contrived pieces of melodrama that I have ever encountered in any medium.

I can only recommend that you spend your time and hard-earned money elsewhere.

26 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but whats up with you Kindle bashers?, October 6, 2010

By 

Will Redway (Amherst, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Blink (Hardcover)

Wow, lots of bitter Kindle folks here, huh? Please stop whining about the kindle price in a place that is meant for book reviews. If the kindle price is too high, then buy the paper book. Capitalism works,people, move on. Now to the matter at heart - the book - loved it. It does everything a Patterson book is supposed to do - amuse, titillate, scare, little bit of gross out, and a twist. He rarely disappoints, and this one I'd put in his top 10. Hot chicks, mafia, a good lead character surrounded by modern media metaphors....its the cheesecake of literary desserts. Uncomplicated and rich. Not expensive....rich.