Having not read the first book in the series I did struggle to get into this.

It was certainly worth persevering though, with the action coming non stop.

If you want an entertaining read and don't want to take things to seriously this is worth a read.

This LAPD detective novel is up to James Paterson’s excellent level. It is about a wise cracking detective who solves numerous crimes within the book whilst protecting his family and annoying the police hierarchy. Highly recommended.

This is the second book in this series and it was another fast paced thriller. After what I felt was a drop in Patterson's books, this series is back to his usual high standard crime thriller.

Billy and his sister Patti are back and Billy has a new partner Carla who has her own skeletons.

I am really enjoying this new series and hope there are more to come.

The Red Book is James Patterson back at his best. The central character is a cop with trauma in his past and a fresh start in a new department. There are lots of twists and turns in this book with several bad cops thrown in for good measure. Lots of murders and a sex trafficking ring all make for a thrilling page turner that I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I've read a few James Patterson novels, the most recent being his 'President Is Missing' written with Bill Clinton which I enjoyed, so I was keen to get stuck into 'The Red Book'.

Whilst it was an entertaining read, I did feel it was a little stereotyped in places, and also somewhat unbelieveable, although having not served as an Officer in the Chicago Police Dept I can't be certain! It took me a while to get into it, and I'll admit I almost gave up in the early stages, but once the plot began building, I did get hooked and wanted to know how on earth things would end up for Harney, his partner Carla and the multitude of gangsters involved!

There's an awful lot of shoot-outs, stake-outs and guns, but the action kept coming and it was a good read. Not my usual type of book but good to read something totally different every so often.

I can picture this as a quality American TV series. Set in Chicago, detective Bill Harney is one of those cops who has his own way of getting things done and doesn’t give up. He has a troubled past having to deal with the death of his family in such tragic circumstances. He was briefly arrested himself and has also been shot in the head! How does someone come back from that?

Bill gets assigned to a Special Operations Section deep in the heart of the city where major crimes are investigated. This case involves a drive by shooting which involves an innocent child losing her life. Rival drug gangs are involved and the case gets wrapped up fairly quickly. Is it really that simple? Clearly not! A great thriller with twists and turns in the unique James Patterson style of writing.

Well written with a great plot and believable characters. Although the pace is fairly slow to start with it soon picks up pace after the first few chapters.

I didn’t realise this book was a sequel but it works ok as a stand-alone.

Many thanks to netgalley, the publishers and the author for an arc.

The Red Book (A Black Book Thriller 2) by James Patterson is a 5 star read.
This book was amazing, I couldn’t put it down once I started it.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley.

This is a better than average police drama but, despite having lived in the US, I found the language too American. I'm sure most people will love this book but it just wasn't for me. I found it heavy going.

Billy Harney has been assigned to Chicago’s new elite strike force and it’s not long before he’s in the middle of a case which will pull him back into a place he vowed he’d never go to.
Billy investigates a drive-by shooting that quickly turns political. Every question he asks he gets rebuffed. Every door he opens gets slammed back in his face. It’s seems this case is rotten to the core but Billy is never one to give up, even if the truth is one that will hurt him. When he finally gets to the bottom of the case, it sends ripples through heart of Chicago’s hierarchy with devastating consequences.
A fast-paced book with twists and turns throughout. It has a great plot and super characterisation.
Personally think this is one of the best books James Patterson has written.
It’s one hell of a ride.

Another great read from James Patterson along with David Ellis.
Billy Harney is a Chicago Police Detective with a troubled past. He’s just returned from leave after being arrested for murder and being shot in the head.
On his first day back he is assigned to a new unit, SOS (Special Operations Section) set up to investigate major crimes throughout the city.
A drive by shooting in one of the suburbs kills two drug dealers, the girlfriend of one of them and a baby. There’s a great deal of media interest so the pressure is on to catch the killer.
Even though on paper this case is solved quickly, Billy is not so sure and sets out to investigate further in his own time. There seems to be a link between these killings and the case that his wife had been working when she died, so he can’t let that go.
This is a fast paced crime thriller that I really enjoyed.
Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Detective Billy Harney has been directly involved in exposing police corruption. He is transferred to elite strike force SOS and given a new partner. When local drug gangs seem to be going to war are their remnants still in the police pulling strings. Billy still doesn’t know who to trust when his own past and his new partners seems to have unfinished business. An exciting story that keeps you on your toes till the very end.
I was given an arc of this story by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Red Book is the sophomore instalment in The Black Book series, set in and around the city of Chicago. For Detective Billy Harney, getting shot in the head, stalked by a state's attorney, accused of murder by his fellow cops, and subsequently being exonerated, is a normal week on the job for him. He has been through the mill regarding his family too with his 3-year-old daughter having died from a stroke and his wife seemingly committing suicide as she was unable to handle the grief four years ago and having helped convict, and imprison, his own father, the chief of detectives, who was indicted on charges of federal corruption. Harney is back on duty after a period of paid administrative leave after unearthing rampant corruption rising to the highest echelons of the Chicago Police Department. Now that most of his colleagues distrust him and label him as a rat, Harney is assigned to the Special Operations Section (SOS), an elite strike unit put together merely a month ago to focus on the widespread and horrific gang violence happening on the city's West Side. Little does he know he will be working under Lieutenant Paul Wizniewski, the officer who had previously arrested Harney for murder. When a young girl is gunned down alongside 4 others in a K-Town drive-by, it rapidly turns political with pressure being piled on the police to quickly solve the case. To make matters his new partner, Detective Carla Griffin, is a miserable sod who has been sent by higher-ups to spy on him and report back in the hope of finding conduct that could destroy Harney’s career when revealed.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, the captain of the Bureau of Internal Affairs, Dennis Porter, is in over his head with those running an international human trafficking ring. As a population hungry for justice threatens to riot, Harney realised that the three known victims are hardly the only casualties. When he starts asking questions about who's to blame, the easy answers prove to be the wrong one's; they aren't looking at a normal turf war featuring Jericho Hooper's Imperial Gangster Nation. He discovers that the shooter's identity and motive are not as straightforward as they initially seem. Then Harney's quest to expose the evil that's rotting the city from the inside out takes him to the one place he vowed never to return: trauma from his own troubled past. This is a riveting, palpably tense and absorbing read with so much action you are left breathless and drama that never seems to end. Rapid-fire pacing, mystery and intrigue fill the pages and I always find I can never put a Patterson book down once I've started; The Red Book is no exception. It's quick and easy to immerse yourself in and the engaging writing allows you to race through it. Harney has one hell of a backstory and must be the unluckiest guy in the world given everything he's been, and is still, going through. It makes for interesting reading and is almost as scintillating as the gritty gangland plot. Patterson's abundant use of twists, turns and misdirection is second to none and you never know what is about to happen from one page to the next. Dark, violent and with continually rising suspense, this is a thriller Patterson fans will devour as I did.

I enjoyed this book although I hadn't realised that it was a sequel. It works quite well as a stand one as enough information is given to let you know what happened in the first book but I prefer reading in order.
Billy Harney is an appealing character, although he seems to be riding his luck a bit. I'm assuming that there will be more books in the series so it will be interesting to see how things develop, particularly with Carla who grew on me by the end of the book.

Wow read in a day so well written action packed a gripping read love the characters I felt I was there with them just so easy to reD jars is one of my favourite Arthur I love his way of writting so good

I should start by saying that this is a sequel to The Black Book, which I'd not read. However, this is a competent, stand alone (very American) cops and robbers thriller.

Detective Billy Harney has a chequered past within the Chicago Police and certainly isn't one for politics or BS. From page one it's action packed and romps along at pace.

It's a well written action book and as long as you go into it knowing that, it's a decent read. Not really my cup of tea, but, a Good Read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

James Patterson has been writing and publishing thriller stories (novels and short forms) since 1976 – both as sole author and in collaboration with a range of others. He holds two world records for number of books and number of best-sellers. This book is the second in the Black Book series co-authored by David Ellis, himself a writer of at least a dozen thrillers, but can be read as a stand-alone because enough background is incorporated inti the plot. In some ways, certainly at the start, it appears to be a formulaic police procedural. Billy Harney is a Chicago PD detective with a troubled past. He had unearthed a major corruption operation within the CPD which had brought down a lot of senior people and created extensive animosity within the force. During the course of that investigation, his young daughter had died tragically and his wife had committed suicide using his service pistol. He had also, briefly, been arrested for murder and had been shot in the head. Returning to duty he is assigned to a new unit, SOS (Special Operations Section) set up to investigate major crimes throughout the city . His new partner has personal problems of her own and they don’t, initially, get on.
A drive by shooting in the suburb known as K-Town kills two drug dealers, the girlfriend of one of them and a baby – hit by a stray round, inside the building. Because of the latter there is huge pressure to catch those responsible. Billy’s team appears to solve this in record time, earning him plaudits from the press and his colleagues. However, he has doubts at how easy it had been and the reader knows that his suspicions are correct because the actual background is known to us. He sets out to investigate further in his own time, haunted by evidence that these killings may be linked to the case on which his wife had been working when she died.
The story unfolds in a linear fashion and there is very little concealed from the reader, although there are a few surprises and one big reveal. This places it firmly in the Thriller genre and the pleasure in reading it is in observing Billy’s progress as he overcomes adversities and the occasional injury and bullet wound. The writing is quite tight and the language sounds authentic, so the story moves at a brisk pace which carries the reader along. Overall, it is an entertaining but undemanding read.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

A typical James Patterson novel. Fast paced, lots of action. This book 2 in the series and I hadn’t read The Black Book, book 1. I do think reading book 1 would have helped

Oh James Patterson has done it again. He is an author that I can always rely on for an addictive and fantastic read and The Red Book was exactly that. The long awaited follow up to The Black Book, it was great to have Billy Harney back. You don 't need to have read the first book but it will help understand the characters and why they do some of the things they do.

After the explosive events of Black Book, including being shot in the head, Billy returns to work in the SOS team for Chicago PD. He has a new partner, a woman who is not quite what she seems and he is trying to put his life back together. Called to the scene of a drive-by shooting that gives even the killers more than they bargained for. As Billy and the team get to work investigating they discover that the shooting is just the tip of the iceberg.

As always there is alot of tangents and characters but it never gets confusing or hard to follow. I enjoyed every minute of it and highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this pre-publication. This is 2nd in the series......oddly enough the first is called The Black Book both featuring Billy Harney. I really enjoyed this book. It moved at a fast pace with just enough characters to be able to keep track of. No gratuitous gory details just enough of everything.
Another good James Patterson & Co collaboration which I thoroughly recommend. (Am off to find a copy of The Black Book just now !)

I admit that I lost the plot a couple of times on my way through this red book but there was enough going on to keep my interest. Have to say that is the way that I find Mr P's writing, sometimes it grabs from page first to page last, sometimes it grabs not at all and sometimes. like this book, it falls somewhere between. I still take notice when he publishes something new because two hits out of three is enough to keep me interested and reading.