5 stars out of 5
Sir Walter Scott's "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive" never was more meaningful than in this impossible-to-put-down adventure. Nothing is as it seems, at least for very long; every "Aha!" moment - and there are plenty - is followed by a sharp intake of breath and a "But wait..."
At a crucial decision moment in his life, NYPD Detective Declan Shaw gets a call telling him to get to a crime scene stat. In a building occupied by the hoity toity and well-heeled, he finds a woman covered in blood sitting next to a very dead body. She's Denise Morrow, author of best-selling true-crime novels. The dead guy is her husband David, a health-care executive. That's a bit strange, but not nearly as much as the fact that she refuses to let anyone near her except Declan, who's never even met her.
Needless to say, almost all the evidence points to Denise as her husband's killer. Still, Declan and his partner, Jarod Cardova, think something is off (well, besides her insistence on having Declan present). Why on earth would she want him, and only him, on the case? In fairly short order, Declan learns that she's writing a soon-to-be-released book on an old murder case involving a 14-year old girl in 2018 - a case that was closed when the murderer was arrested and convicted despite his pleas of innocence - even from the jail cell he now occupies. Why would that matter? It was Declan who led the investigation and produced the evidence that put the guy away. And now, it seems, Denise has come up with some new evidence of her own.
Readers, of course, see the events as they unfolded back then and in real time from various perspectives; the devil, of course, is in the details. And I wish - oh how I wish - I could offer up a sample of just one. But no; I have no intention of spoiling even a single one of those "Aha" moments for others who want to read it (and if you don't, you'll be missing out on an exhiliarating ride). All I can say is this one's another winner for sure - a don't-miss standalone that will have you chilled, thrilled and aghast from beginning to end. My thanks go to the publisher, via NetGalley, for letting me in on the whole thing by way of a pre-release copy. Wowser!
The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker (Little, Brown and Co., March 2025); 400 pp.