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16th out of 73 books
—
26 voters
Black Friday
by
James Patterson (Goodreads Author)
A string of #1 blockbusters from Along Came a Spider to Cat & Mouse. Now read James Patterson's BLACK FRIDAY.
The breathtaking suspense of Kiss the Girls and the authenticity of N.Y.P.D. Blue: Welcome to James Patterson's classic superthriller, BLACK FRIDAY. A courageous federal agent, a powerful and resourceful woman lawyer -- only they can possibly stop the unspeakabl...more
The breathtaking suspense of Kiss the Girls and the authenticity of N.Y.P.D. Blue: Welcome to James Patterson's classic superthriller, BLACK FRIDAY. A courageous federal agent, a powerful and resourceful woman lawyer -- only they can possibly stop the unspeakabl...more
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
April 1st 2000
by Vision
(first published January 1st 1986)
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Originally published in 1987 as Black Market, this book brings readers back in time when the world was still swayed by the Cold War and a lot of today's international issues are different. The book starts with a thread (and the follow through) by terrorists under the name Green Band promising to blow up the buildings that make up the economic entity that is Wall Street at the close of the day on a Friday afternoon. As you can expect, this causes a bit of havoc on the markets in America and aroun...more
This book is one of the finer ones i have read in a long time. I am not an avid reader nor do i like reading, but this book was very interesting. There's tons of action and not alot of romance in the life of arch carrol. He is the main character of the book, one of the best detectives in new york, a loving father, brother, and a widow. He was married to nora carrol for 9 years before she tragically died of cancer in a hosiptal bed. He now raises his 3 kids with his sister, mary, and she watches...more
This Patterson crime-suspense novel from the late eighties is an interesting read today from our perspective in the next century. The plot of a terrorist attack on New York City and the crash of the stock market and hence the world economy somehow seemed much more apocalyptic thirty years ago than it does today---probably because it all happened and we lived through it. Not in the same way of course, or in the same order and not by the same enemy and with a totally different outcome---somehow a...more
#44
Pretty sure this was my first James Patterson book, but I have 4 more in the pile I inherited so I am about to get to know him VERY well!! I like his writing style as it lends itself very well to my desire for short chapters and keeping background information simple. When I pick up a thriller/mystery book I just want interesting/intelligent characters, a plausible plot & then some good action with just enough twists to make it surprising. Patterson met all the criteria for me *expect* for...more
Pretty sure this was my first James Patterson book, but I have 4 more in the pile I inherited so I am about to get to know him VERY well!! I like his writing style as it lends itself very well to my desire for short chapters and keeping background information simple. When I pick up a thriller/mystery book I just want interesting/intelligent characters, a plausible plot & then some good action with just enough twists to make it surprising. Patterson met all the criteria for me *expect* for...more
Flying on Eastern Airlines or dealing with Lehman Brothers. Reading a book first published in the 80's provided much unintended amusement. State of the art computers with only green letters and dot matrix printers seem so quaint.
This is tale of stock market manipulation that seems as current as now. "It was the boardroom coldness, the sterile, Big Business atmosphere that was growing up everywhere in the government. It was all this super-secrecy, the super-deceit - usually under misleading cove...more
This is tale of stock market manipulation that seems as current as now. "It was the boardroom coldness, the sterile, Big Business atmosphere that was growing up everywhere in the government. It was all this super-secrecy, the super-deceit - usually under misleading cove...more
Early James Patterson trying (and failing) to write a Ludlum/Clancy-esque thriller. The conspiracy was actually very interesting and well done (albeit very 1980sish) but Patterson bogs his tale down with cliches, love stories and cliched love stories that are inessential to the plot. This is but the second Patterson book I've read but his other one followed the same vein. Baldacci is like that too. It just doesn't work for me guys, two beautiful people (including a usually underwritten female ch...more
A militia group made of ex-soldiers has bombed key spots of the financial district in New York. As the feds try to find out exactly who they are and what they want, the story takes us through the stock exchange, stealing bonds, to foreign countries and ultimately to the highest powers in the US.
I was between books, and couldn't think of anything to read, so I picked up an old paperback from the shelf and this was it. I don't normally like terrorist type plots, but this was enough of a who-dun-it...more
I was between books, and couldn't think of anything to read, so I picked up an old paperback from the shelf and this was it. I don't normally like terrorist type plots, but this was enough of a who-dun-it...more
Jul 03, 2010
Sheila
added it
I’ve read a lot of James Patterson’s newer novels and decided to start reading some of his earlier ones. This one was published in 1985 which made it a rather eerie book to read due to the subject matter.
1. It deals with a crash of Wall Street aided by the greed of the wealthy and the big banks.
2. It deals with terrorism long before we were introduced to Timothy McVey and Osama Bin Laden
3. It deals with disenchanted veterans of the Viet Nam war suffering from PTSD.
It just seems like James Patter...more
1. It deals with a crash of Wall Street aided by the greed of the wealthy and the big banks.
2. It deals with terrorism long before we were introduced to Timothy McVey and Osama Bin Laden
3. It deals with disenchanted veterans of the Viet Nam war suffering from PTSD.
It just seems like James Patter...more
Black Friday is one of James Patterson's earlier works. NYC is under siege by a secret militia group calling itself Green Band. The stock market is thrown into chaos when Green Band blows up several Wall Street institutions, essentially creating an economic world war.
The entire first half of the book was unbearable. My lack of interest in Wall Street and anything to do with the Stock Market just made a large portion of the book hard to understand and follow. About half ways through, when it was...more
The entire first half of the book was unbearable. My lack of interest in Wall Street and anything to do with the Stock Market just made a large portion of the book hard to understand and follow. About half ways through, when it was...more
Beware. This is not a new novel; it's a retread from a poorly written novel from the 1980s. I can excuse the author from recycling his old,poorly written novels to capitalize on his recent fame, but at least do some editing and rewriting to bring the novel up to the current times. The gist of the story is: a group of ex-soldiers blow up Wall Street, run off with a couple of billion of stock certificates, and try to destabilize the US economy. Well, where do we start. First, a company like Citigr...more
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Not one of his more believable ones. The premise is that there is an elaborate conspiracy to do some financial terrorism. Who is behind the conspiracy ends up being the twist, but Patterson does do a good job leading you there so you can figure it out on your own. This conspiracy is run by a bunch of vietnam vets who appear to want to get back at the country for how poorly they were treated after the war. The general story is decent although kind of far fetched, some of the financial aspects are...more
Sort of an "end of the world as we know it"-I saw a review in which Stephen King criticized James Patterson, saying something along the lines that he is a superficial writer who will never understand a real story (that is definitely not a direct quote!) I enjoy James Patterson's writing, but many of the plots ARE superficial and don't have a lot of background details at times. This is one of those books that I thought could have been developed further to make for a more suspenseful story.
A story of deception, secret government sects, global terrorism, Vie-veteran guerrilla, bomb threats on Wall Street...set in the middle of Cold War.
Cut the length in half and you might get a decent thriller. But as it is, the pace was too slow, the twists and turns too convoluted, the characters were a bit too one-dimensional for my taste...I'm just not convinced.
Great premise, poor execution. Sad, but true.
Cut the length in half and you might get a decent thriller. But as it is, the pace was too slow, the twists and turns too convoluted, the characters were a bit too one-dimensional for my taste...I'm just not convinced.
Great premise, poor execution. Sad, but true.
Nothing that I expected from a James Patterson novel. If this would've been the first book I read I would never have made an attempt to read his others. The plot is at worst confusing and at best mundane. I even had to go back a few times to figure out how the character got to the suspicions he had. I usually finish a book in 3 days but this one has been on my desk for over a week.
A little different than what I usually expect from James Patterson. The World Economic system is open to challenge by terrorists in this novel. But who are the terrorists? Who created them? Financed them? Planned the cabal? These are the questions answered with a few surprises along the way. Actually, the whole thing was rather frightening.
Better than three stars on the unintentional comedy scale, since it was originally published in 1987 and concentrates on an attack in NYC that wreaks havoc on world markets. A touch close to home for those of us who live near NYC, but the cold war and Lehman Brothers discussions are fun to read and look back on. Not Patterson's best work.
I love James Patterson novels, but this one took me the longest to finish. I'm usually through them in at least a week, but this one seemed to drag on. The story seems good enough, but i don't feel much for the characters and the twist is predictable. Not as bad as some books i have read, but still disappointing coming from my favourite author.
It's funny, although this book is...how old? 24-ish years old, it quite scarily reminded me about things happening today... Very good story though, and I thought I had it all worked out at the end, but I was way off the mark! That's what I like to see...a book that keeps me guessing right to the end, and then proves me wrong on every level!
This one was just too complicated. I think it was because of the Wall Street/financial setting. Lots of action and if it had been a straight-out murder mystery thriller I would have liked it more but I couldn't relate to them trying to bring down the global economy. Skip it.
Finished reading James Patterson - Black Friday. Something goes wrong on Wall Street and causes chaos and disruption. A group known as Green Band is moving within the shadows to get its message across the world. Can they be stopped or will the world plunge into darkness? :)
A twist near the end you don't see coming. This is early Patterson and some of the plot is kind of outdated - pre end of the Cold War days. The ending was a little "neat" and little too sudden. I didn't think all the threads were tied up as well as they could have been.
Wait a minute. It's been like pulling teeth to get through this book. Something I do is never give up on a book. Just as I was about to put it down, I run into a segment that suddenly makes it a keeper. Back to the story... Although this book didn't pin me down like his other books, I am glad I finished it. What really impressed me in the end was the thought of how much research he put into this and all of his work. He remains my favorite thriller author, and I have six books of his on tap right...more
For those who like conspiracy theory books this one is for you.....veterans, government officials, law enforcement. They are all interwoven for another great Patterson tale that sadly could be true in today's shaky world.
I have found with most of James Patterson's stand-alone novels that they are unchallenging easy reads but this was better than many. This is probably due to my preferring to read books in a series than one-offs.
Interesting to read this 25-year-old book. I think the author spent much more time on research and such than he does now. I enjoyed it, but it must be read with the 80s in mind. Eerily prophetic in parts, though.
I enjoyed this book for its content, and the story line. The kindle version had a lot of typographical errors throughout the book and a lot of punctuation was left out. It made me think that it was turned into a kindle book from being read aloud. Overall good book.
not sure why I still read his stuff...not very good. I ditched Jester before even starting it since my aunt likes Patterson and didn't even like that book...I figured it didn't have a chance with me.
Let me preface by saying I enjoy reading Patterson; however, this book was my least favorite. It was long and drawn out. I believe he may have been trying to just fill pages. I debated on whether to finish but I did. I am giving it a 2 because of the ending which could have taken place much sooner.
Normally I love James Patterson but this one is one of his earlier books and you can tell. Half way through I didnt care really what happened. I pushed on and finished it but it really was a bit too confusing and a bit drawn out.
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The subject of a Time magazine feature called, "The Man Who Can't Miss," James Patterson is the bestselling author of the past year, bar none, with more than 16 million books sold in North America alone. In 2007, one of every fifteen hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. In the past three years, James has sold more books than any other author (according...more
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Offical UK Site
The subject of a Time magazine feature called, "The Man Who Can't Miss," James Patterson is the bestselling author of the past year, bar none, with more than 16 million books sold in North America alone. In 2007, one of every fifteen hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. In the past three years, James has sold more books than any other author (according...more
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