Book Recommendation – Paranoia

Every once in a while I need to bump a book on my “To be read” list up. This happens for various reasons. Sometimes the audiobook becomes available sooner than expected. Other times it is because I really have waited to read the book. This one – well, it was the book my wife got me for my birthday. It was Paranoia from James Patterson and James O. Born.

My wife had been out shopping and saw the title and cover. She read the back of the book and thought it might be something I’d enjoy, so she picked it up for me.

I was a bit worried about reading it because I found out that this is actually the 17th book featuring the character of Michael Bennett. There have been a lot of “series” that I stopped reading because the books were often half recaps of previous books and half new story. I didn’t know what to expect. My hope was that it would read well as a stand alone story. Thankfully, it did.

Thinking back on it now, I can see where some of the things that were briefly mentioned might be familiar to readers of the series. As a new reader, I took those things as something used to further the story.

Here is the Goodreads Synopsis:

NYPD Detective Michael Bennett will stop at nothing to protect family: his wife, his kids—and his fellow officers—in the latest psychological thriller from bestselling author James Patterson.

At every death scene, Bennett says a prayer over the victim. But recently, too many of the departed have been fellow cops.
“I want you to look at these deaths on special assignment,” NYPD Inspector Celeste Cantor says. “Report only to me.”
Bennett excels as a solo investigator. But he’s chasing a killer who feeds on isolation… and paranoia.

The synopsis doesn’t really say much. So I will expand just a bit, which may make it more intriguing to you.

Deaths tied to drugs and gangs are commonplace in New York City. They are nothing out of the ordinary. Strange and multiple deaths of retired police officers, however, raise a red flag. As the deaths pile up, it becomes clear that the dead police officers and the dead drug/gang members have something in common – an interest case from the past.

When Bennett is approached by Inspector Cantor to “look into the matter,” he does so. The more he investigates, the more complex and odd the case becomes.

The book was actually quite good. I had my suspicions about characters who may or may not be involved in the murders throughout the first half of the book. My pick changed a bit throughout the story, but I was able to figure it out. The fact that I did, didn’t make the rest of the story a bad read.

Will I go out and pick up another Michael Bennett book? Maybe. It was good, but it wasn’t necessarily a character that I was like, “I gotta read more about that guy!”

3 out of 5 stars.