Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #118556 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-19
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Synopsis
A gripping and surprising thriller from bestselling author James Patterson. Tom Dunleavy has a law firm in the legendary East Hampton, summer home to billionaires and Hollywood celebrities. When an old friend of his is arrested for a triple murder near a movie star's mansion, Tom is in the public eye for the first time in his life. Dante Halleyville asks Tom to represent him in what could be the trial of the century. Tom knows in his gut that Dante is innocent, and recruits super lawyer Kate Costello to help fight the case. As Tom wonders whether ex-girlfriend Kate can ever forgive him for his past sins, the case takes on astonishing dimensions, revealing a world of illegal pleasures and revenge among the super-rich.

Customer Reviews

Utter total dross, terribly written and I've read Mills & Boons!
Admittedly this isn't my chosen genre and the first James Patterson book I've ever read but I think that should've leant me an edge with my lack of expectations and my attempted open mind. However this is without doubt, from the first page of the book, the worst written book I have ever read! The 'gangster speak' was so forced as to actually be embarrassing, kind of like listening to your grandma trying to rap, so much so that I cringed pretty much constantly. Then, not to spoil it for you because it's by far the only bit in the book that'll get you going, the 'twist in the tale' ending is just beyond a joke and so utterly ridiculous! I really wouldn't bother reading this, read a proper book!

TALENTED ENSEMBLE CAST DELIVERS SUPERB NARRATIVE

There's nothing like a talented ensemble cast of narrators to bring an audio book to vibrant, exciting life. There's Broadway quality drama that a single person reading usually cannot create and nail biting suspense propelled by the emphasis placed on each character by a different voice. All of this is found in Beach Road, the story of a barely-making-it lawyer who suddenly finds himself in the middle of an over the masthead headline case.

Former NBA star Tom Dunleavy is an attorney in a well heeled resort town, East Hampton. Unfortunately for him, his door isn't darkened by any of the rich who summer there, jut by the year round folks who work for the wealthy.

Then, a good friend of Tom's, Dante Halleyville, is arrested for a triple murder. Believing in his friend's innocence, Tom calls on former girlfriend, Kate Costello, to help him. Although she's now a lawyer for super powers in Manhattan she comes to help out. (Romance? Of course.)

All they have to do is find out who really did the killings and why that person or persons wants Dante to take the rap for it.

Trust Patterson to deliver a shocking trail that leads to an even more astounding conclusion.

- Gail Cooke

An OK holiday book
I applaud James Patterson and Peter de Jonge for trying a different sytle of writing with this book where they tells the story in the first person using different characters per chapter to build the plot.

However like other reviewers Tom Dunleavy does feel like a poor man's Myron Bolitar (see Harlan Coben books) without the wit. Surely JP and PdeJ recognised this - as all three write are thriller writers - and saw that any comparisons wouldn't be in their favour.

My own reading style is that I like to have several books on the go at once and to be able to pick them up and put them down according to my mood. So I'd have to say the narration by different characters sometimes meant that I lost the plot a little and had to retrace my steps a bit which was slightly irritating. If you only read one book at a time then this is probably easier to follow.

Unlike other reviewers I quite enjoyed the twist at the end - OK it may be a little far fetched but at least I had a little bit of a wow moment so I didn't regret reading this book.