Escape the Night

by Richard North Patterson

Book by Patterson, Richard North

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Legal Thriller

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Richard North Patterson is the author of fourteen previous bestselling and critically acclaimed novels. Formerly a trial lawyer, Patterson served as the SEC’s liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and has served on the boards of several Washington advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and women’s rights. He lives in San Francisco and on Martha’s Vineyard.
Macmillan.com Author Profile

Awards
Edgar Award, 1980, Best First Novel for The Lasko Tangent

Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, International Award, 1995 for Degree of Guilt

http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...

Reviews

[Barbara Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Escape the Night was originally published in 1983 and is now available as an e-book. I suggest that you add it to your e-book collection but save it for when you have some time to devote to it. I promise you won't want to put it down for long. I just had to know what would happen.

The story is about obsession and involves three generations of a family who own a publishing company in Manhattan. John Peter "Black Jack" Carey is the force who brought control of the company solely into his own hands. He's ruthless and fiercely devoted to his company. His wife endures years of emotional abuse but produces two sons, Phillip and Charles. These sons are prodded into competing with each other for favored status in their father's mind and, most importantly his will. Phillip, however, is weak and Charles is the golden one. Also Charles marries a beautiful woman and they have a son, John Peter Carey II, who is practically a clone of his father. Charles adores him, and in old age so does his father. Phillip is left as a pathetic also-ran.

The obsession begins when Charles unfortunately comes under the notice of the HUAC because they believe he is publishing leftist writers, and actually he is prescient in recognizing new talented writers who may have ideas that don't exactly mesh with what the HUAC sees as proper. He doesn't back down but eventually the HUAC backs off, except for the investigator who was assigned to their case. He is later fired and moves to the CIA where he learns more effective spying techniques. Another man is obsessed with the company and particularly Black Jack because his father committed suicide due to Black Jack refusing to rehire him. He is yet another danger.

I may have told a little too much, but I won't tell more because the last thing I want to do is ruin your enjoyment of this intricately plotted, beautifully written novel. Patterson is best known perhaps for his courtroom dramas and I have loved the ones I've read, but this is totally different. It is, I think, the best of his work that I have thus far encountered.

The characters, not just the family but the others as well, are portrayed just stereotypically enough to fit the plot and add to the fear factor. The evil ones are truly evil and one positively insane, but sometimes you know you just have to go with the flow and enjoy the read for what it is. If you do that, you'll be on tenterhooks for sure.

I read this during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and was prompted to be very thankful that I'm not a member of a powerful family, nor do I have wealth that anyone else would covet. I'm just a reader who can become involved with a good story and when I'm finished, go on to something else, but only after a little period of relishing what a good story it was.

Highly recommended
Source: Open Road Media via Netgalley

[sandra d stowell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed

The plot was confusing and seemed to ramble on . The author had a way of telling the story in a disjointed way....you had to stop and figure out when the characters and storyline changed. Would probably not read another of his books.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like I was reading three different types of books pasted together. The first 90 pages is an elegiac memoir of a sweet childhood, a happy Peter Carey, with underlying rumbles of trouble due to his parents' (Charles and Alicia Carey) complicated lives as rich people, but dependent on a dictator of a grandfather, John Carey, and about Charles' brother, Philip, who is deliberately set up by John as a competitor to Charles for a decade in taking over a publishing company that the grandfather started. Charles and Philip could not help but hate each other. John makes sure that every book acquisition is a race between the brothers in making the most money for the company, and that every decision is a threat to their possible advancement in the company. This part of the book is quite literary in tone, primarily due to Patterson's skill at writing.

The second part of the book is a deeper look at the competition between Charles and Philip, as well as exposing the wasting away of Charles' marriage to Alicia. Here, establishing the psychology behind their relationships appears to be the main point, as well as introducing how truly crazy characters, anti-communist spy hunter Englehardt and later, Clayton Barth with his pet psychopath Martin, enter their lives and topple over what is already an anxious setup. This part is the weakest in the writing; it's more like that of a summer beach read of a standard thriller genre, and the part where many readers may forget where they mislaid this book after setting it down somewhere. Charles and Alicia die in a car crash; John rewrites his will; uncle Phillip is expecting to fully own the company one day. However, when John dies, Phillip is disgusted that he is only 49% owner of the company; Peter holds 51% interest, even though still a child. Peter grows up, takes up the reins of his grandfather's company.

The third part begins to unravel the secrets behind the deaths of Charles and Alicia, and why the adult Peter continues to have a nightmare almost every night of his father burning. He has also fallen in love. He understands he is holding back from his beloved, Noelle, so he goes to see a therapist, Dr. Levy, a man who also was his father's best friend in school and who now is a Freudian psychiatrist. (For some reason, the remake movie 'Obsession' with Cliff Robertson popped into my head. I think its because of the soap opera elements, along with my growing realization this was not a 4 star read, was beginning to hit me). Although this part of the book extracted groans from me regarding the obvious attempt to link Freudian theories to the development of the Careys' relationships to each other, the book actually develops in this last section into a big cinematic ending. Everything is revealed, with guns banging away and a heroine to be saved from a horrible death (no explosions, though).

If I'd been given a more detailed synopsis about the book, I don't think I'd have chosen to read it. But once I'd started it, I was interested enough to finish it. Is that a back-assed recommendation, or what? The writing is expert as far as putting sentences down on paper, but otherwise if books could be disturbed 13-year olds, as changeable in focus and personality as the wind, I'd describe this book as a young teenager. However, it is definitely an R rated book, with scenes of graphic sex described.

Truthfully, I finished it also partially because I purchased it, and also since I like this author usually (he's much better in later books).

[David Gill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read many books by the author and enjoyed them thoroughly, this was, without doubt, the worse. It was contrived, it was painstakingly detailed, it was repetitive and I was pleased to get to the last page so I could get on with something better.

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Peter Carey was born into privilege during the McCarthy era, when the paranoia of Washington infected his parents’ house and seeped into Peter’s bones. His father was so obsessed with the family publishing business that he never had time for his son. Even as a teenager, Peter barely knew his father—and one dark night, an accident on a lonely road ensured he never would.
Peter’s memories of that horrific night have been erased by amnesia, but decades later he is still tortured by nightmares. When a strange conspiracy threatens to steal his company and take his life, he will have to remember . . . and find the key to survival that is locked in his own mind.

Originally released in 1983, this novel by Richard North Patterson is now available in eBook form.

An interesting, if somewhat sluggish, look into the world of a traumatised amnesiac, looked at through the eyes of a six-year old boy and of those of the adult. The plot does get moving after the halfway mark and is quite rewarding once you get to the end.

I think this book would have been a lot better if not for the fragmented way the story is put together. It felt like three distinct parts, melded together to form a story. It was difficult to get into, and to stay in - but, in the end, it all made sense so I can't be too critical.


Paul
ARH

[Amstriker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not, in my opinion, a typical Patterson novel. This deals with the mind although there are murders in the plot. However, Peter, at age 6, has a terrible experience in which his mother and father die, his uncle, maybe, saves him and he has amnesia remembering only small bits and pieces of the experience, but cannot put the pieces together to remember what really happened. The book develops a complex plot which tries to portray how a person with amnesia may try to discover answers to how to piece the puzzle together. In this case it is wrapped in the psychic of the characters that surround Peter's live. The interaction subsequently leads to discovery. It is an interesting reading experience, but may not be what you would initially expect from a Patterson book.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Peter Carey's parents were killed in a car accident. Peter was 6 years old and was thrown out of the car. His Uncle Philip took care of him although they were never close. Ever since the accident Peter had terrible nightmares about that day. When grew older he tried to get help for his problems. This novel could have been better if the story was not so strung out. I have read better books by this author.

[Beverley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Peter was in a car crash that killed his parents as a young child but now at thirty can't remember the weekend it happened and not knowing might be the death of him. Family squabbles, people out to get you, power, money, makes for a tale with lots of drama. Some of it seemed to be a bit much and over the top. Characters you liked as small children might be unlikable as adults as this story covers a lot of time. I've read better, I've read worse.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this in my basement - it's from 1983, and I know I read it then, but since I couldn't remember, I picked it up again. Great story! Wonder if they made this a movie - they should have! I kind of knew some of the culprits, but was surprised I had been on the wrong track. Great, quick read.

[Timothy M. Gorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

He switches voices in the same paragraph and sneaks in flashbacks in the middle of them. Gets a little confusing. Get a little tired of, "Wait, what????" reread. But it was an interesting story which takes place in the 80's before cell phones, GPS, Uber and microwaves.

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

More entertaining than I expected. Plot was a little sluggish/ hard to follow in the first 50 pages but it all built toward a satisfying conclusion. Not too many twists and turns but it was certainly an exciting ride.

[Paul Weaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable "Who dunnit".

[Mark Wesling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good story. Very complicated and didn't have to be.

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read quite a few years ago, probably the only book by Richard North Patterson that I could not stay into as much. Still a good read.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me...

[John Meitner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too complicated for me.....just don't like the format of his writing in this one.

[Julita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie jest tak źle, ostatnie 100 stron w miarę wciąga i ta psychologiczna część jest ciekawa, resztę trzeba było przeboleć.

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you think of the first 90 pages as the introduction, it’s not a bad book. But those first 90 pages were brutal.

[Andrea Moon]

DNF

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearly put it down but glad I didn’t. Very confused until last quarter of book.

[Gabriela Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really slow. The most interesting part happens almost at the end.

[Nephamor]

Surprising this was my first full length novel.. read it when I was about 10 and had to read with a dictionary by my side lol... But I loved every second of it although it took me a couple of years and reads to understand the whole story. I can practically narrate it by heart now.

[Donna Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Escape the night? Envision being trapped in a tunnel, inside of a tunnel, inside of a tunnel. Some are metaphoric or symbolic, but there's a whole lot of darkness in this espionage thriller, a suspenseful tale that will play with your head more than once before the author is done. Thank you to Net Galley and Open Road Media for the ARC.

The setting at the outset is New York City during the McCarthy era. Black Jack Carey owns a publishing house that carries work by a left-leaning writer that is being watched by the government. Pressure from HUAC comes to scrap the writer's work. Son Charles, eldest and best-loved son of Black Jack, refuses to yield to the pressure. Resentful younger son Phillip, weaker in character and more easily swayed, takes the side of the government. He hopes his sensible nature will cause his father to will Van Dreelen and Carey to him rather than Charles.

At multiple places within this white-knuckle thriller, I had to put the book away because even with the assistance of sleeping pills, I knew I could not fall asleep if this story was in my hands. Were it not for that, I surely would have finished it sooner. This title, along with a nonfiction galley, has occupied my interest and attention far more than any of the other four books I've been reading.

Our villain, a well-drawn government spook named John Joseph Englehardt, becomes obsessed with the Carey family:

"Englehardt had learned that men who spied on other men, out of the loneliness of such a job, came to like or dislike their chosen quarry. But in his soul, he knew that the secret passion for the Careys grew from something stronger.

"The brothers' rivalry was also his."

Eventually Englehardt is officially ordered to abandon the Careys, but his psychosis is too thoroughly developed to let go. He turns to the CIA and is able to extend his surveillance. Phillip Carey's cause has become his own. He despises Charles and is determined to do whatever dark thing is necessary for Phillip to inherit everything.

Generally speaking, I don't read books about wealthy folk, and this is for a variety of reasons I won't go into here. But the characters of John, Phillip, Englehardt, and later, Peter Carey, are so intimately sculpted that I had to buy the author's premise. Once I did so, the pace picked up and the story was unstoppable.

The ending came with hairpin turns and swift kicks to the reader's solar plexus, but everything that occurred seemed eminently believable, because the main characters and setting were so palpable.

My one small quibble with the writer--and it's a common problem in literature not specifically geared toward women, but someone has to talk about it--is that the people who were well developed and occupied center stage were all men. Women existed here only as a foil for what was going to happen to someone else. For the novel to go beyond "really good" to "outstanding", a novelist needs to be able to develop characters of both genders.

That shouldn't keep you from buying this title, though. It's one helluva ride. But don't think you're going to read it in small easy pieces. Once you pass a certain point, you have to keep going, and you may see the new day dawning and wonder where the night went.

Also, you'll want to avoid tunnels for awhile.

[Terry Reid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of his best...

I have read a lot of Patterson's books and this one was my least favorite. The first 2/3 was way too slow for me.

[Diogenes · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Dark and chilling, this story is driven by revenge, hatred and the insecurity of powerful men. There's a heavy dose of psychology, psychoanalysis and seriously disturbed and obsessed people. The plot is tied together a bit too easily and conveniently. It is often jarringly confusing; paragraphs in the present with a conversation suddenly leap to a new paragraph with dialog from a tape recording with the same characters. That said, the story is absorbing.

[Clota · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put off picking up a copy of RNP's books fot so many years, and then I was gifted with this book. Because I am polite, I gave it a read and....

Oh my gods! I don't understand why I didn't give this author a chance long ago. His character development is stellar; you become INVOLVED with them. The plot development is structured in a way that makes you want to keep reading, just to see what's happening next and next. And next. In other words, this book was HARD to out down. RNP must be brilliant, because all the intricacies of any and all plots/plans that he wrote in, are things I would never in a million years have ever thought of!

Brilliant read!

[Old Man Aries · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non posso dire che questo sia il migliore dei libri di Patterson che abbia mai letto: anzi, a dirla tutta è probabilmente uno dei meno belli ("peggiore" è un termine che con Patterson non posso proprio usare).
Capiamoci: la scrittura è scorrevole come al solito e lo stile è quello che ho imparato ad amare negli anni; è la storia che, semplicemente, non funziona appieno.
I motivi sono diversi: anzitutto l'intera vicenda sembra diluita; un romanzo lungo un terzo in meno avrebbe potuto narrare le stesse vicende senza risentirne affatto: cosa piuttosto insolita per l'autore che, pur non essendo mai "conciso", non è neanche inutilmente prolisso.
Poi i personaggi: diversamente dal solito sembrano per lo più abbozzati, non ben delineati, come fossero degli schizzi per un dipinto non terminato; gli stessi "antagonisti" hanno motivazioni piuttosto deboli e discutibili, che fanno cadere un po' l'attenzione.
Infine il colpo di scena finale che tanto colpo di scena non è: dove si voleva andare a parare era piuttosto chiaro e l'ultima parte, che viene comunque divorata proprio perché promette un climax non indifferente, lascia un po' l'amaro in bocca quando risulta già "telefonata".
Ora, rileggendo quel che ho scritto sembra che stia cercando di demolire questo romanzo, ma a dire il vero penso che meriti comunque la sufficienza: Patterson scrive comunque bene ed un po' di idee interessanti ci sono; il problema è che da lui mi aspetto molto di più e questo, in qualche modo, si paga in termini di soddisfazione.
Un paio di cenni sulla trama: dopo la morte del nonno e quella, ben più tragica, del padre, Peter Carey eredita la società di famiglia, una casa editrice tirata su quasi dal nulla, all'età di soli 8 anni; una clausola affida la gestione dell'azienda allo zio fino al compimento da parte di Peter dei 30 anni. All'avvicinarsi di tale scadenza lo zio cerca di convincerlo a vendere tutto ad un affarista senza scrupoli: perché tanto interesse nella sua società? E cosa sono quegli incubi che continuano a perseguitarlo? Per rispondere a queste domande rischierà il possibile, compresa la vita propria e della donna che ama.

[Cathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the Publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I haven't read any other Richard North Patterson titles so I went into this read with no preconceived knowledge of this writer. Having said that, I found "Escape the Night" to be a deep and thought provoking story. The Carey family is dysfunctional and seem to be at odds with each other. John Carey, the family patriarch ended up owning the Publishing Company he shoveled coal for. Charles and Phillip are his sons and both are now employed there. Phillip is resentful of the relationship Charles has with their father. Charles marries and has a little boy, Peter. Charles gives up his position at the publishing company to be home with Peter. Alicia is wife to Charles and Peter's mother, but she seems to be a mostly absent part of the family. On a family outing Charles losses control of the car and throws Peter out of the tumbling vehicle before it crashes and burns. You become reacquainted with Peter as a young man when he goes to work for his Uncle Phillip at the publishing company. Peter has suffered from amnesia since the death of his beloved father. He finds his nightly nightmares troubling now that he is involved with Noelle and is falling in love. He fears he will lose her so he reaches out to an old friend of his fathers, a psychiatrist, for help.

As the story progresses you are introduced to several characters that I can only state are seriously insane. There is Englehardt, an investigator for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). He has his own problematic relationship with his father and becomes obsessed with the Careys, particularly Philip. Clayton Barth, whose father was driven to suicide by John Carey. Finally psychopath Martin who loves to spy and slowly kill to satisfy his sadistic urges. What you have is a prescription for tragedy, but whose?

This is a very interesting read with all the players and the many twists and turns until the culmination at the end and recommend this title for anyone who enjoys a well written thriller.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fathers and Sons: Jealousy and Murder

John Carey run his publishing company with the hand of a tyrant setting his sons against each other in a contest to see who will be the heir apparent. Charles, the elder, is charismatic and good at identifying best selling books. Philip, the younger, is overshadowed by his brother and resents it. When Charles produces a son, Peter, in spite of his unhappy marriage, the child becomes the focus of his grandfather's attention.

Unfortunately for the Careys, they draw the attention of Englehardt, an investigator for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). He has his own problematic relationship with his father and becomes obsessed with the Careys, particularly Philip. Add to this mix, Clayton Barth, whose father was driven to suicide by John Carey and you have a prescription for tragedy.

This book has a very complex plot divided roughly into three parts: Peter Carey's childhood, the competition between Charles and Philip, and finally Peter as a young man falling in love and taking over the company. Personally, I have reservations about books that have an extensive backstory. The whole first section of this book is devoted to setting up the rivalries that culminate in the tragedy of the middle and end.

The characters are interesting. Patterson does a good job of illustrating the rivalries between brothers and the problems of tyrannical parents preferring one child over the other. However, because of the considerable attention paid to backstory, the book is very long and the writing uneven. Some sections are almost literary in quality; other parts are reminiscent of a romantic thriller.

If you enjoy a family saga, this may be your book. However, it has enough short comings that I have trouble recommending it.

I reviewed this book for Net Galley.

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book via NetGalley to give an honest review.

When I first started this book I was kind of wondering where it was exactly going, but as the story progressed I was finding myself wondering would Peter ever recovery from the death of his parents.

Peter had a semi happy childhood, until he was about five or six I can not truly remember his age that is when he loses his parents in the most tragic way. Then we read on to where he has grown up and now owns a majority of the company his grandfather owned. Not only that Peter seems to be missing part of his memory of when he lost his parents and because of that he has nightmares. This is when the story really starts taking off. We read on how Peter tries to go on with his normal life of running a business and being in a relationship but little does he know one who is close to him has secrets of his own. Now there is a shady character who has always had it out for the Carey's and what he did in the past carries on to the present. Everything comes together in the end and I did find myself coming to enjoy the book more than I expected to especially after the rocky first part for me. There is a lot of different things going on in the book especially descriptions and what not. If you can look past that then this may be a book you enjoy. There is a bit of thriller, suspense, murder.

There is some graphic sex scenes nothing too bad but just a heads up.