[mesquite]

TITLE: NYPD Red (NYPD Red #1)
AUTHOR: James Patterson and Marshall Karp
GENRE: Fiction/Thriller/Suspense/Mystery
PUBLISHED: October 8, 2012
RATING: ★★★☆☆
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes
MOBILISM LINK: NYPD Red

Review: 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. With larger-than-life action, relentless speed, and white-knuckle twists, NYPD Red is the next mega-blockbuster from "The Man Who Can't Miss." (TIME)

From the get go I REALLY wanted to like this book, but even though I haven't finished the book I've read enough that I feel I can give an adequate review.

I'm not dampening the skill of Mr. Patterson or Mr. Karp, they both are excellent writers but I think that collaboration on a novel that is over ridden with cliche police dialogue, ex-lovers as partners investigating crime is something grasping and reaching but not really clinging on for dear life. Apart from a few interesting moments between the 2 main characters. The only inspired and I'd have to say original concept was the killer and his lover. The writing style I came across while reading made me feel like I was back in grade school and reading the notes my writing teacher would leave me saying "too big of words" or "your writing an essay not a doctoral dissertation" gave me the impression that Patterson and Karp didn't get those notations and felt like it was okay to over express something that could have been summed up in a few more words instead of one or simplified it. I wasn't overwhelmed but it definitely left a bad taste in the mouth. Trying to impress the reader or at least me with big words from the thesaurus and a poor plot isn't something I appreciate.

A delusional fringe actor decides to write, direct, produce, and act out the "greatest script ever" to right the wrongs of the film industry as New York City welcomes Hollywood to the bright lights of Times Square for "Hollywood on the Hudson" week. With little tidbits of his so called script to set the "scene" for the reader, The Chameleon goes about his business blending in with the crowd and leaving little trace of his actual identity. He has gone so far down his delusional black hole with his lover that you sort of anticipate the trip up which is something you don't want have an anticipation for but in this case it's acceptable just so the story will move along.

Kylie MacDonald and Zach Jordan. Ex-lovers and Police Academy Alumni apart from the ex-lovers part they are typical generic cops. They aren't written or plotted out for you to want to embrace them as fictional characters, it's as if they are there to just fill the space on paper. I'll admit, they have an occasional bright moment but in honesty they are about plain and stall as can be. Even when introducing the Psychologist to kind of get a feel on The Chameleon, the dialogue for her is grade A cliche cause you get the fact that this guy is nuts and completely down the rabbit hole to completely come back to reality without having a fictional shrink tell you that.

The action? If it wasn't for the committing of the crimes then I highly doubt I would have finished 75% of this book. Like your typical middle of the road novel it has the mandatory sexual intercourse and language cause what good is a novel that is lacking in plot planning without sex and language to make it interesting?

I'll keep reading books by Mr. Patterson but from a re-read point of view? This book is one and done.

I'm sorry but each of James Patterson's get more and more implausable. The characters are all perfect people with fantastic lives. They are always great looking, kind, super intelligent, great cooks, amazing lovers, and wonderful family people. Only the criminals are allowed to have flaws. I also have a problem with endings of his books, as they always seem to be rush, and often don't bear any resemblance to what has gone before. Patterson's factory of massed produced work with co-authors has seen a sharp decline in standards.
NYPD Red is just another example of this.

[mesquite]

I'm sorry but each of James Patterson's get more and more implausable. The characters are all perfect people with fantastic lives. They are always great looking, kind, super intelligent, great cooks, amazing lovers, and wonderful family people. Only the criminals are allowed to have flaws. I also have a problem with endings of his books, as they always seem to be rush, and often don't bear any resemblance to what has gone before. Patterson's factory of massed produced work with co-authors has seen a sharp decline in standards.
NYPD Red is just another example of this.

I think your totally right! The "Private" series is a perfect example: only the rich people have REAL problems. Us, the "little people" don't in his eyes.

[twistydot]

I want to know what is going on that it takes two writer to write a book. Mr. Patterson has written several by himself, but he seems to need someone to help him out more and more. I can understand two people who are relatives or married or really close friends writing together, but I can't understand professional writers needing someone to help them write fiction.

[mesquite]

I don't think he is necessarily writing them himself as much as his co author is. I think of him as a production manager. Makes sure everything falls in line. He contributes some but the legwork is done by the co author which in this case is Marshall Karp.

[ephemeral]

I don't think he is necessarily writing them himself as much as his co author is. I think of him as a production manager. Makes sure everything falls in line. He contributes some but the legwork is done by the co author which in this case is Marshall Karp.

mesquite is too generous in his assessment. In fact, Patterson's contributions are:

1) His name (as brand identity)
2) The concept
3) Outline of story or series
4) Proofread
5) Shared byline
6) Payment

In essence, James sells his name to his publisher(s) (#1 above), and in turn negotiates items 2-6 with his 'co-authors' (which term I use very loosely). Each co-author is able to strike his or her own deal, based on many variables (negotiating skills, track record, etc). The co-authors are then able to market their 'success' to mainline publishers, typically as "NYTimes Bestselling author of --" For the co-authors, the payment for each book, while de minimis, provides a future reward that is wide open.

I suppose this angle is better than that used by other 'authors' who sharecrop their name.

Agreed. I started reading Patterson's Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross#1). Despite the gruesomely committed crime and the suspense, I couldn't bring myself to complete the book. Don't get me wrong, I love me some morbid psychopaths (Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter being my favourite) but I just couldn't immerse myself in Patterson's novel. The only thing by Patterson I liked is his YA, sci-fi series Maximum Ride.