Saturday, May 03, 2008
Black Friday
**** Black Friday by James Patterson. Suspense.
First, the warning: this was originally published in 1986 as Black Market.
A group of Vietnam vets known as the Green Band are fed up decide to fight back by attacking Wall Street, destabilizing the U.S. economy. It's up to counter-terrorism agent Arch Carroll and Caitlin Dillon from the SEC to find and stop them. Except the Green Band is being used by a shadowy Group of Twelve--the real powers behind the government.
Action, suspense, even a bit of a romance between Arch and Caitlin, and a hefty dose of intrigue. It's a fun, exciting book.
But it seems I have the minority opinion here. The average on Amazon is 2.5 stars. This surprised me, so I read through the reviews to figure out why I enjoyed it when so many people didn't. Maybe I only think I liked it, and on further reflection, I'll realize I hated it as well.
The objections:
- It's not an Alex Cross book.
Well, this is no problem, since I wasn't expecting one. - It's dated.
I knew before I read it that it was written over 20 years ago. - It was previously published as Black Market.
Since I hadn't read Black Market, I don't care. - There are typos.
Show me a book without typos. - It's not about serial killers.
This is a good thing. I am so very, very tired of serial killers. Even though I haven't read one in a while, I'm still recovering from the overdose. Serial killers are even worse than Navy SEAL romance heroes. - It couldn't happen in real life.
That's why they call it "fiction." - It's ridiculous to think there could be a secret group pulling the strings behind the government.
It's fiction. Another plus for me, by the way--I love conspiracy theories and shadow governments and intrigue. - There are inaccuracies in the details about Wall Street/weapons/the setting.
Since I'm not an expert in any of those areas, and since it's fiction, not a textbook, I didn't notice, and it didn't interfere with my enjoyment. - It was so bad the reviewer could only read 3 pages.
This type of review is so stupid I can't think of a scathing enough response.
Categories: Books, 4stars, Mystery
Labels: 4 stars, books, mystery
