I actually award this 10 stars. And I have only ever offered that once before.
Patterson and Barker have grabbed the golden ring on this one.
Fabulously entertaining: a suspenseful, riveting "whodunit" to rival the best of Agatha Christie.
NYPD Set Declan Shaw is called to a murder scene in a luxurious NY apartment. The wife of the dead man is frozen in place, on the floor, next to the body with the apparent weapon on the floor near her. She is covered in blood and can barely put two intelligent words together.
To Declan and his partner and the DA, it seems like an open and shut, slam dunk.
Until it Isn't.
The tale takes off with twists and turns that will keep you engrossed in trying to figure it all out.
Sterling characters with personalities that will astound.
The very best mystery I have read in ages.
And I have read dozens.
Gave my crime solving vibes a real run for their money on this one.
And I wasn't even close.
Superb novel.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

James Patterson has done it again! Denise Morrow is a crime writer that has been very successful. She comes home from a book signing to find her husband dead. On the 911 call, she is asking for detective Declan Shaw. When detectives arrive on the sign, they can't figure out why she won't let them in the apartment, and where the blood is coming from.
There are so many twists and turns in this book, that every time I think I have it figured out, I really don't!!

SPOILERS AHEAD

I was surprised to find out that Declan and Denise were sleeping together and the whole plan they had once the smoke cleared from everything.

The ending with the 'quimby cam' was the absolute best!!! Overall, I really loved this book and it left me wanting more.
Thank you to #netgalley for this #arc

As a huge fan of Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series, I knew I was going to love this one. My assumptions were correct! I could not put this twisty, heart pounding cat and mouse chase down!

Incredible! I couldn’t put this book down! I already knew I was going to love it, but it was unbelievable!!

Just as incredible as I knew it would be going in. Wow! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This had that murder-thriller element that I was looking for and enjoyed about James Patterson and J. D. Barker’s writing. The characters were everything that I wanted and enjoyed the overall story being told. I enjoyed the way everything worked out and had that suspenseful feel and glad I got to read this.

📖 ARC Book Review

PUB Date : March 16th 2025

I LOVED this book !!

This is my first Patterson book and what a wild ride ! I have been reading more police procedurals thanks to you book pals as of lately so when I read the synopsis I immediately requested it from NetGalley .

The Writer is a police procedural that was one of the best cat & mouse chases I’ve read in a long time , it had more twists than a bloody corkscrew “no pun intended “ 😛

Read this if you like :
✍️ Police Procedurals
✍️ Smart Dialogue
✍️ Classic Who done it
✍️ Tape recordings
✍️ Surprising Twists

I don’t really want to give anything away, so I’ll just say this . Do you ever sit down to read a book and your like ok I’ll just read a few pages to see if this is what i actually want to read next and then 💥 you’ve just finished the book because it was that good and UNPUTDOWNABLE, yah that was this for me .

So make sure you have put everything aside before jumping into this one because you’ll want to make sure nothing gets in your way !!

I literally said “ What the F , no way “ more than once ! 😉

Thank you NetGalley , Little Brown and Company & James Patterson & J.D. Barker for this wild ARC !!

James Patterson has been on a roll with killer books here lately and his latest with J. D. Barker, "The Writer" is another reason why he is always a go-to author! Great read!

Wow! It’s been a lot of years since I’ve read a James Patterson novel and I could not put this one down. So many surprises and twist as soon as you think you have it figured out and you know the big twist coming up. There’s another one right around the corner. Definitely recommend.

I know it sounds crazy, but I've never read a James Patterson book before. I have read the Four Monkey series by J.D. Barker though, and it's one of my favorites. So I was excited to read The Writer and see how I liked them writing together.

I thought it was good. It was a quick read, it never really had any moments where it got boring or lulled. There were plenty of twists. Just when you thought a twist was THE big one, you'd read a little further and there'd be another...and then another. That made it pretty enjoyable to have multiple surprises.

Going back and forth between two timelines, you'll have lots of twists to surprise you.

Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC.

Fast-paced and exciting police procedural from two great authors. When Declan of the NYPD is called to a super posh building for a breaking and entering, it’s more than he bargained for. There’s one man dead and the prime suspect is the man’s wife, a successful crime novelist. Weaving back and forth between this case and a previous case regarding a murdered child, this one was hard to put down!

Thanks for the opportunity to read in advance!

This book was another quick read from the author. It was filled with the authors usual mix of mystery and suspense. A few twists and turns keeps the reader interested. This is a book which I would recommend to all who enjoy a good mystery.

Twists, twists and turns abound in this absolutely readable Patterson/Barker mystery. When a detective is called to the ultra-posh Beresford in NYC, he is moments away from his own suicide…or not? With a start like that, I couldn’t put down this book. Hero or anti-hero? Victim? Killer? So many questions.

Starting with a dead body, the book includes more deaths and clues and conflicts than anything I’ve read in a long time. It’s certainly a book that draws the reader into the unpredictable plot.

Enjoy!

Thank you Netgalley for this corkscrew of a mystery!

The Writer is James Patterson’s, with J.D. Barker, best crime thriller yet. With a labyrinthine plot, constant surprises and characters who are not who they say they are this wild ride starts with a simple premise. A woman comes home to find her husband stabbed to death in their apartment. She calls 911, then sits waiting for the detective she requested. Declan Shaw, the only policeman she will speak to. Why? She’s Denise Morrow, a best selling writer of Crime fiction. Why is she concerned about a past case Shaw was involved with? This is an impossible to describe without spoilers story. I read it in one sitting and so will you! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown and Company, James Patterson and J.D.Barker for this ARC.

I remember, years ago, when I would await the release of a new James Patterson novel. Nowadays, they are released monthly, and unfortunately the quality has suffered as a result. I haven’t picked up one of his books in years, but wanted to give one a try. Sadly, nothing has changed. Patterson makes a lot of money for his publisher, and I guess that’s what’s important to them

Twist after twist after twist up until and beyond the end. Declan Shaw is called to the apartment of famous true crime writer Denise Morrow as she discovers her dead husband. But the problem is Declan and his partner can’t decide if she’s innocent or she killed him herself. Roller coaster of a ride.