NYPD Red by James Patterson and Marshall Karp

NYPD Red by James Patterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jacket Blurb:  It's the start of Hollywood on Hudson, and New York City is swept up in the glamour. Every night, the red carpet rolls out for movie stars arriving at premieres in limos; the most exclusive restaurants close for private parties for wealthy producers and preeminent directors; and thousands of fans gather with the paparazzi, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most famous and beautiful faces in the world. With this many celebrities in town, special task force NYPD Red is on high alert-and they can't afford to make a single mistake.

Then a world-renowned producer fatally collapses at his power breakfast, and top NYPD Red Detective Zach Jordan is the first one on the scene. Zach works with his beautiful new partner, Detective Kylie MacDonald-who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend-to discover who the murderer might be. But this is only the beginning: the most brutal, public, and horrifyingly spectacular crimes they've ever encountered are about to send all of New York into chaos, putting NYPD Red on the ropes.

Zach and Kylie know there's no way of telling what a killer this deranged will do next. With the whole world watching, they have to find a way to stop a psychopath who has scripted his finale down to the last explosive detail.

This was recommended by friend Tess and this did not disappoint.  Read as an audiobook.

I really enjoyed this book - it's not overly long (only 6 disks) and the plot moves smartly along.  The book avoids numerous annoying tropes such as:  protagonist sleeping with his female cohort (he had dated her prior to book starting and she's now happily married) and said protagonist needing to rescue his female cohort (well...there was a tiny bit of this during the climatic conclusion).

The audiobook used the talents of two narrators - one for the "good guys" and one for the "bad guys".  The talent they picked for this complemented each other in diction and intonation and made for smooth transitions and a very enjoyable read.  Usually I don't like knowing what the bad guy is up to, but in this book, it worked and I give some of the credit to the narrators.

I also enjoyed the psychological aspects of this book - the reader is shown with a deft hand just how disturbed the antagonist is.  Use of gross and graphic scenes wasn't necessary as the writers gradually spooled out bits of information over the course of the book.

The book also stepped away from the "lone detective" and "renegade cop" trope that dominates mysteries and thrillers.  The one time in the book when our protagonists forgo talking to their supervisor, the Chief acknowledges the situation, and chews them out later as the situation warranted.  I liked that. It worked, it's how it should work.

Overall, recommended.  I'll be reading the next in the series.



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