Don't Blink

Title: Don't Blink
Author: James Patterson and Howard Roughan
Genre: Mystery
Published: 2010

Recommendation: A quick and enjoyable mystery read.
Rating: 7/10

Summary: Nick Daniels is a journalist working for Community magazine in New York. He is contacted to do an interview with Dwayne Robinson, a baseball star who ruined his career by not showing up to a key game. During their lunch they witness a murder and Nick's recorder picks up a scene that may be key to the case.

Reactions: I have picked up this book almost accidentally. It was yet another free sample offered by iBooks store that I started reading. The free sample gives you about half the book and then of course you are too hooked not to pay for the rest of it. A pretty smart strategy vs. just giving the first chapter if you ask me.

I am not all that well-read in the mystery genre and James Patterson's name didn't mean anything to me when I picked up the book. Having finished the book I found his biography and was impressed by the long list of publications and his Guinness World Record in the number of New York Times bestsellers.

I was even more impressed with how many people on Amazon.com gave this book a one-star review. Fans of Patterson found this a big let-down apparently. Having found the book decently enjoyable, I am now rather curious to pick up another Patterson novel to see what is it he wrote that's considered so much better.

The book itself, while as I mentioned enjoyable, is not by any means brilliant or outstanding as far as mysteries go. I liked the main character and the twists and turns he encounters in the search for truth. I suspected who the villains were and at the end I was correct in my suspicions, even though I almost got dissuaded from my hunch by the author.

It's a fun beach-type read book with some gore, mafia connections, and car chases. If anything, I can easily see this being made into a Hollywood action film. The plot flowed well and I liked the characters of the novel. Overall, time well spent.