Swimsuit [Hardcover]

James Patterson (Author), Maxine Paetro (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 29, 2009

THE BEACH...
A breathtakingly beautiful supermodel disappears from a swimsuit photo shoot at the most glamorous hotel in Hawaii. Only hours after she goes missing, Kim McDaniels's parents receive a terrifying phone call. Fearing the worst, they board the first flight to Maui and begin the hunt for their daughter.

...WILL NEVER BE...
Ex-cop Ben Hawkins, now a reporter for the L.A. Times, gets the McDaniels assignment. The ineptitude of the local police force defies belief--Ben has to start his own investigation for Kim McDaniels to have a prayer. And for Ben to have the story of his life.

...THE SAME FOR YOU AGAIN.
All the while, the killer sets the stage for his next production. His audience expects the best--and they won't be disappointed. Swimsuit is a heart-pounding story of fear and desire, transporting you to a place where beauty and murder collide and unspeakable horrors are hidden within paradise.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A serial killer with an urge to break into print propels this thriller from bestseller Patterson and collaborator Paetro (4th of July). Ben Hawkins, a former L.A. cop turned reporter and author, travels to Hawaii to look into the disappearance of model Kim McDaniels, who has fallen victim to a sadistic fiend who calls himself Henri Benoit. Ben meets with Kim's distraught parents, but the investigation soon runs into dead ends, even as the body count rises. Back in Los Angeles, Henri gets in touch with Ben, and offers the story of his life and the reasons he continues with his murderous spree. As part of the deal, Henri asks the reporter to write his tell-all book. Ben can't refuse given the killer's threat to his life as well as his girlfriend's. In just one of many clever twists, Henri proves to be the consummate storyteller. Patterson fans will devour this one in a single sitting.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Patterson never, and I mean never, disappoints." (USA TODAY Larry King)

"James Patterson is king of the bestseller hill." (Publishers Weekly)

"Patterson has mastered the art of writing page-turning bestsellers." (Chicago Sun-Times)

"The Man Who Can't Miss." (Time Lev Grossman)

"When it comes to construction a harrowing plot, author James Patterson can turn a screw all right." (New York Daily News)

"America's #1 storyteller." (Forbes)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; First Edition edition (June 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316018775
• ISBN-13: 978-0316018777
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.3 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (323 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #216,976 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 Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#2 in Books > Literature & Fiction

#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 Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#2 in Books > Literature & Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

227 of 247 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars An actual review of the book - not the price June 29, 2009

By Mitzi Gee

Format:Hardcover

I read this via audio book and honestly, it was NOT the best Patterson book. As a matter of fact, if that had been my first Patterson book, I wouldn't have gone back for more. The book is basically broken into 3 parts.

The first third we are treated to horrendous descriptions of rape, torture and decapitation. Much too graphic and much too disgusting for just casual reading. The killer is pretty good because he's so rutheless, but some of the people that end up killed are just so unexpected and seem like we wasted time getting to know them only to have them murdered within the first third of the book.

The second third of the book is a cat and mouse type situation between the killer and the novelist.

The final third is more cat and mouse between the killer, the novelist and an underground group. And then *POOF* its all wrapped up in a neat little bow and its done. The ending was such a cop-out I was shocked. I kept thinking that maybe I didn't have the complete audio book because as I was nearing the end so much was still going on and still unanswered. But of course, the epilogue wrapped it all up and stuffed it in a box.

So I suffered through the must vile descriptions of murder and barely anything really happened and then it was over. I was disappointed, to say the least.

58 of 64 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars "Its to Die For" if you read it July 24, 2009

By J. Shafer

Format:Hardcover

Swimsuit, James Patterson's latest piece of dreck to be published, starts off with a swimsuit model mysteriously disappearing, leaving no trace of herself behind. Shortly after she goes missing, her parents receive a chilling call late at night from someone telling them that bad things have happened to her. After receiving the call they immediately book a flight to Hawaii - were the photo shoot was taking place - and with the help of ex-cop turned writer for the LA Times Ben Hawkins, they begin to search for her, hoping that the worst wont come.

Words cannot describe how awful this book was, and using the word awful doesn't seem to be a fair word to use either. Before even finishing the description on the book jacket, you can already tell were this book is going to be heading: the daughter is obviously dead, the parents will find her, and everything from that point on will be boring. The book even saves us the trouble from this by having the daughter killed within the first three chapters of the book. Sure the book was predictable, but the fact that we already know what happens in the beginning takes away any thrill or mystery to the story that could have been there if we hadn't known before-hand.

The story itself was tiring and trite. The only thing that was going on was some guy going around, picked up women, spiked their drinks, and then making a pornographic snuff film with them so he can sell the tape to a group of rich people in Europe. Yes, you read that right, a pornographic snuff film. For those that don't know, a snuff film is were someone tapes them self killing someone else, however this killer added a twist to this by having porno in it. It wasn't exactly porno per se, but it involved him hog-tying the woman down, raping them, and then proceeding to decapitate her with a knife, ignoring the fact that someone would probably hear large amounts of screaming coming from the hotel room, but Patterson skips this by not mentioning it, ever. Nice. Being a guy, I still found it somewhat offensive to a woman's intelligence in general, because according to Patterson, a woman's IQ doesn't exist if she's on vacation. Honestly, any woman reading this right now, can you honestly say that if some random guy were to walk up to you and offer you the world, would you go with him? Let me answer for you, no, you probably wouldn't, and yet he manages to pick up well over ten women. Apparently they don't bother to read the news either about a random guy doing this to women either because apparently people don't read about news anymore either.

While the two things listed above make the book bad, what does this book in is the ending. You'll just be sitting there reading the book when all of sudden, it just comes to an abrupt halt, like Patterson himself was reaching through the pages to give you the finger and tell you that he didn't feel like finishing the book. The sheer stupidity of this jumps out from the book and sears the readers eyes. Apparently its too much effort to add a few more pages, but I guess we'll never know what happens.

To sum it up, this book sucked. The story went nowhere, the characters were stupid and you could care less about them, and the killings - while somewhat original as I have never read this before in a book - were over the top with too mucn violence and unnecessary raping. There's a fine line between just killing someone, to cutting off their freaking head. A definite skip.

101 of 119 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Murder, She (and He) Wrote June 30, 2009

By C. Wallace VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Quite possibly, you'll see this book next to a towel and sunscreen. You'll see someone on a chaise lounge with a cold drink nearby. And they'll be reading this book at poolside or on a stretch of beach.

They'll be reading about Henri Benoit, master of disguise and master of disaster, one of the most sinister characters in contemporary fiction. He murders people due to a vicious inner compulsion and for the big bucks his super-rich clients pay him. These clients enjoy watching people who are brutalized and murdered. Henri films his murders and disseminates the film via the Internet.

The book has a lot of graphically described lust. A lot of graphically described violence. There's crude language. The authors, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, set much of the story in exclusive hotels. Fine wine, fine food; and, often, rotten people.

The plot spins off of the kidnapping of a beautiful young swimsuit model who has journeyed to Hawaii for a photo shoot. Her fate and the frantic fears of her parents launch the tale.

It's certainly a quick read. The prose flows very well, particularly the bit set in the trailer in the middle of the forbidding Joshua Tree National Park. It took me about ten hours of fairly concentrated reading to finish the novel.

Some of it is goofy. Much of it doesn't make a lot of sense: an L.A. Times reporter/failing novelist/fired cop is coerced to put together a soulless killer's autobiography. Sure....

But I don't think people will buy this book because they want a scholarly treatise on the criminal mind. People who buy this book are not looking for airtight logic. They want a little escape. Readers get to go to Hawaii, Paris, Amsterdam, and the Swiss Alps. Eat exotic food with names they can't pronounce. That sort of thing.