Decent characters pepper the story and provide entertainment throughout, though none standout as being stellar for me. Jericho Hooper is built up pretty big in the beginning but plays a smaller role than expected, and also comes across a bit stiff and one dimensional. I didn't realise it was book 3 in a series and I haven't read the previous books but I don't think that took away from the story. Among his creations are some of the world's most popular series including Alex Cross, the Women's Murder Club, Michael Bennett and the Private novels.

He has had to endure the death of his wife, as well as that of his partner, and the imprisonment of his father, also a Chicago police officer. The action is furious, and Patterson and Ellis use the investigation to introduce Billy to readers and give them a thorough tour of the Windy City and its suburbs. It appears that the mom has found out horrible things about her husband, enough to drive her to leave and divorce him. In 2014, he was sworn in as the youngest-serving Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, where he now spends his days writing judicial opinions.Hachette Book Group is a leading book publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the third-largest publisher in the world. I have been a big fan of James Patterson for perhaps thirty years having read over a hundred novels but have been disappointed with the nasty language in the more recent stories. Chicago PD Detective Billy Harney was on the trail of a kidnapper, who as far as they knew, had a victim in the vehicle as they followed him. As Chicago’s special-ops leader Detective Billy Harney knows well, money is not the only valuable currency.

The character of Billy’s sister was further developed in this book, which added depth to the series. ESCAPE meets all the James Patterson tests --- clear, sharp writing; an entertaining plot; and 121 chapters in 400 pages. Full of sarcasm and great narrative flow, Patterson and Ellis provide readers with a great deal of entertainment throughout the reading experience. One key rule to reading Patterson is that you really have to suspend your sense of reality and disbelief to enjoy the adventure. This was my first James Patterson book with co-author David Ellis —not realizing it was Book 3 of a Billy Harney series.

I loved the super short chapters, the way all the moving pieces slowly came together, and the likeable hero of the story. Even when things appear to be clear-cut, there’s a twist and the story reaches a tense climax, with Harney in the middle.

This was one of his best books (along with the list of his many co-authors) that I had read in a long time.Now, in 2022, Patterson and Ellis have brought back Harney for a third thriller, changing the book type title lingo to “Escape” and setting up Detective Harney’s hunt for a child kidnapper.

No spoilers here, my friends, but it was an impactful and sad event that kicked the plot forward in a way that invested the reader emotionally into the outcome of the story.

Hard-working and honest to a fault, he cannot be bought but is willing to circumvent procedures and policies that he believes would prevent justice from being administered. The cast of villains includes a sadistic sexual predator and an evil billionaire who believes his money makes him invulnerable to the criminal justice system. His experience and solid writing ability are present in his solo novels, which make for enjoyable reading. Firm plot lines offer the reader some suspense and leave the book from being too predictable, helping to keep the book mysterious when needed. The ending was also set up like there might be a book 4 in the future so will definitely keep an eye out for that.