Customer Reviews

The Thomas Berryman Number

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

I found reading the other readers' reviews (almost universally bad) of The Thomas Berryman Number a real education. It might interest you all to know that when this, Patterson's first novel, came out in 1977 it won the Edgar for the best first crime novel of that year. Yes, this book is very different from his Alex Cross series: The plot is subtle and provocative, the characters are complex and compelling, and Patterson's writing here makes it a pleasure to deal with every page. The Cross books, on the other hand, feature a one-dimensional cardboard hero, comic-book villains, and simplistic writing in very short chapters. No, Patterson's writing has not improved with the years. He's just lowered his standards and is aiming at a larger, dimmer audience.

If you are looking for the same type of writing and the same intensity as Patterson's more recent books, you will not find it here. Though many may find this novel dissapointing, I can not imagine that this is the worst book that any one of you has ever read- unless your reading list is quite miniscule. I can think of many books that are worse than this one. My advice to other readers is to read this book just to read THIS particular book. If you dive into it with any preconceived notions and are looking for another Kiss the Girls, then you will most definately be dissapointed. This book is another side to Patterson. It is a completely different style of writing than his recent novels- but is still unique and worth reading. And keep in mind that someone must have enjoyed it- it won a major literary award. If you want Alex Cross, you won't find him here, but you will find a novel that is still worth exploring. Remember to keep an open mind and you may just find that this novel is worth more than mere kindling for your fire.

I usually like James Patterson but this book was absolutely horrible. Not only was it hard to follow, but I never ended up caring about any of the characters. I can't believe he was able to get this published AND win an award. I guess I just don't get it.

I read this to see how Patterson got his start. I'm still wondering. This book is choppy, boring, undeveloped....need I say more? Save your money. My conclusion was that it was a brave editor who decided to publish this book. Clearly, Patterson must have had friends on the review board to win an award for this work.

The reason I got this book was because I heard that it won the Edgar that year. It must have been an awful year, because this is one strenuously lackluster novel. It's story is not compelling, the characters aren't interesting, the narrative style doesn't work and the resolution does almost nothing to answer the questions raised by the plot. This doesn't reflect on Patterson's talents as an author, after all, this was his first novel. That being the case, it still should be regarded as craft honing piece and not something you should spend your money on.

I went to a tremendous amount of trouble to get this book via interlibarary loan and what a disappointment. I enjoy the implications that I'm too plebian to enjoy such a rich and deep work of art. I can enjoy a sophisticated, subtle plot as much as the next yahoo, but this is horrible.

I enjoy the excitement of the Alex Cross stories. This book, on the other hand, was slow paced and hard to follow. The only reason I finished the book, was that I was waiting for that James Patterson twist at the end, which did not come. I do not recommend this book.

This was a disjointed and confusing story. By the time I came to the end, I really didn't care how it all came about

I found the method with which Patterson chose to tell this story to be quite fascinating. While it didn't always work (at times it became quite confusing), I had to applaud his effort and sheer guts for trying it.

What James Patterson did in this book was to tell the story from the point of view of a reporter who is following the story of an assassin - Thomas Berryman. We are basically reading over the reporter's shoulder as he writes his journal, conducts his interviews and puts together his story ideas. Where it falls off the tracks are the occasional places where we are suddenly put into Berryman's mind when Ochs Jones (the intrepid reporter telling the story) doesn't ever manage to talk to him. Ochs talks to Berryman's girlfriend Oona Quinn (neat name, huh?), his friend Ben Toy (who is in an asylum), and various other people surrounding the case, but never Berryman, so putting us into Berryman's mind feels a bit like cheating.

Nonetheless, this is an interesting story and Patterson does a good job of putting us into the mindset of the late 1960s and early 1970s, especially in the south, where racial tensions were still high and segregation was still the norm. Busing was still an issue and the election of a black man (Jimmie Horn) to be the mayor of Nashville was a big deal. When Horn decides to run for Governor, that's when things start to get really ugly and the death threats start to kick in.

It would be very difficult to provide much information about the plot without throwing out spoilers, so I will leave it at that. Please note that this book is written in the vernacular of the time - late 1960s and early 1970s - not the modern "PC" jargon - so if you are going to be the type to get offended by that, please bear that in mind. However, overall I think this is a book that is worth reading - the style is unusual and I'm always about enticing people to read material that pushes the boundaries of normalcy. Give this one a try, won't you?

I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as others by this author. I was a bit glad when I finished reading it.