Don't Blink [Paperback]

James Patterson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 20, 2011

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

"An action-packed, edge-of-your-seat thriller . . . There are twists and turns to the very end that kept my eyes riveted to the pages . . . you won't want to shut your eyes or put the book down until it's finished." (BestsellersWorld.com )

"Thrill-a-minute . . . twists and turns . . . another winner for Patterson and Roughan." (BookReporter.com )

"Every year, I look forward to Patterson's new releases. DON'T BLINK was no exception . . . There's just something about reading a James Patterson book." (MeMyBookandtheCouch2.wordpress.com )

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

"A page-turner that's perfect for killing an afternoon." (ReflectionswithCoffee.com )

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 240 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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (September 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446568848
• ISBN-13: 978-0446568845
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (193 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #312,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

It is no surprise that in January, 2010, The New York Times Magazine featured James Patterson on its cover and hailed him as having "transformed book publishing," and that Time magazine hailed him as "The Man Who Can't Miss." Recently, NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams profiled Patterson's prolific career, AARP named him one of the "50 Most Influential People Who Make Our Days a Little Brighter," and Variety featured him in a cover story highlighting his adventures in Hollywood.

In 2011, it was estimated that one-in-four of all hardcover suspense/thriller novels sold was written by James Patterson, he is the first author to achieve five million ebook sales (and is expected to hit ten million in early 2013), and he holds the Guinness record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers of any author. And his success isn't based solely on thrillers like the perennially popular Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club and Michael Bennett series. Patterson is now also the current bestselling author in the young adult and middle grade categories.

He's been called the busiest man in publishing, and that's not just because of his own books. For the past decade, James has been devoting more and more of his time to championing books and reading. From the James Patterson Pageturner Awards, to his website ReadKiddoRead.com, to his College Book Bucks scholarships and his regular donations of hundreds of thousands of books to schools here in the states and troops overseas (see interviews on Fox & Friends, The Dennis Miller Radio Show and CNN.com), Patterson has passed on his passion of books and reading and supported those who do the same. Jim personally funded a major ad campaign re-printing a recent opinion piece on CNN.com about how it is our responsibility to get our kids reading. The ad has run in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and USA Today. Those ads are a call to action to parents to make their kids reading a top priority; and were featured by USA Today here. Patterson believes that we cannot rely on schools, teachers or the government to get our kids reading; only parents can make this crucial change in the reading habits of our kids. Here are links to some interviews on his first-ever dual lay down (two books, one for parents and one for kids, in one day): AOL's You've Got, NBC's "Today Show" with Hoda and Kathie Lee, USA Today and Family Circle, NBC's "Today Show" with Al Roker, as well as an interview with AARP.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#2 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#1 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals

#1 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#1 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#2 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#2 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#1 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals

#1 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#1 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#2 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#2 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

254 of 281 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

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

82 of 93 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 VINE™ VOICE

Format: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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Meaningless book further dilutes Patterson's brand October 29, 2010

By Bill Garrison VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

DON'T BLINK is another meaningless book from James Patterson and some other person that actually writes the novel. While meaningless, it isn't horrible...I take that back...It doesn't start horrible. But, by the end, I couldn't wait for it to be over.

As I listened to this supposed "mafia" thriller, I could see where Patterson populated the scenes with "by-the-numbers" plot points and scenes. Action Scene? Check? Character conflict? Check.

Nick Daniels, a reporter for Citizen magazine, is meeting ex-New York Yankee pitcher Duane Robinson at Lombardo's Steak House when the man next to them is brutally murdered. It was a mob hit, and Nick may own the key to who the murderer was and why. That's the basic plot. There's the love triangle with his boss Courtney and her fiance. There are the squabbles with local law enforcement and politicians. And then there are the mafia guys. As soon as the second one was introduced, I could tell none of them apart.

The novel is really about Nick, with mob characters appearing in an occasional and stereotypcal fashion. They all have knicknames and all say the same lines we've heard in all the movies. Nick is just a standard guy who isn't bothered when people around him start dropping like flies. But wait, he's a caring guy, as witnessed by the random scene of him taking his blind neice to a Yankee game, or the throwaway line about both parents dying from lung cancer after a life of smoking. Of course, the neice shows up later in the very unclimactic climax.

The Cross books are good, and the Women's Murder Club and Michael Bennett books are decent. But, Patterson's stand alone efforts have been horrible lately. Part of being a good author is having an identity. What are you known for? What are you good at? By trying to write a novel for every genre, Patterson is turning out to be good at none of them.