Maly Poŭsviž, Beyaz Rusya
I read an interview with James Patterson where he said that his co-written books are those he dreams up the idea, roughly outlines it, then turns it over to the co-writer to write. He later looks it over then off to the publisher it goes. This means that his co-written books actually have more of the co-writer in them than James Patterson himself. This book, like his THE POSTCARD KILLERS, is most definitely the work of the co-writers. In this case, it is Marshall Karp. Set in New York, Paris, Venice, and Amsterdam, we follow what seems to be a graduate student majoring in art named Matthew Bannon who is poor and in love and having an affair with one of his professors at Parsons in New York. One day at Grand Central Station when a member of a Russian diamond syndicate Walter Zelvas is killed by a professional killer for stealing diamonds from the syndicate, Matthew finds a medical bag with 13 million in diamonds in it inside the locker the man was trying to reach as he breathed his last. Since there was pandemonium due to what seemed to be a terrorist attack on Grand Central, he is able to cleverly escape with them. The poor student will now be able to give his beloved professor Katherine the good life. If he lives long enough. The Russian syndicate had hired The Ghost, the best professional hit man around, to kill Zelvas and now to hunt the person who grabbed the diamonds. They also hire two crooked cops and a second professional killer Marta, a German who used to be a model and enjoys slowly killing people and watching their agony (she will almost kill them then restart their hearts via electricity so to torture them some more). When Matthew takes Katherine on a romantic trip overnight to Paris and then on to Venice, we see the frantic actions of Marta, the cops, and the Russians to find and kill him and retrieve the diamonds. We also learn that Matthew IS The Ghost. Yes, Matthew, it turns out, went into the Marines for 4 years, served in Afghanistan and Iraq, then returned home only to be told by his dad that all those years Dad was a "security consultant" he was really a professional killer and now he wants Matthew to become one too. He does. Matthew's mother stayed with his dad but when Matthew tells Katherine about being a hit man and about the diamonds, she runs back to New York. I won't give away any more except to say that this is one wild ride. Vomit Alert- If you are anything like me, you need to know this. One of the head Russian syndicate leaders Nathaniel Prince is near 60 and years earlier a cab driver hit and killed his wife and son and nearly killed his daughter Natalia. He stayed by her bedside willing her to live and they became super close. TOO close. When Natalia became 17, they became lovers and it is revolting to read the very graphic sex scenes between Daniel and his daughter Natalia and to see Natalia pregnant by her own father with him looking forward to strolling with her with his baby/grandchild in a stroller. Vile! I also found it unrealistic when one of Katherine's friends who collects art for an unnamed wealthy art patron who has paintings from masters like Monet begins paying up to $50,000 for beginner artist Matthew's paintings. I paint and sometimes sell my own work but geez, $50,000 for an art student who is acknowledged to be a rough beginner because he might one day become a great artist? Folks, it does NOT work that way in the art world.
2022-09-02 16:37