Review: Gone by James Patterson

Title: Gone   

Author: James Patterson    

Series: Michael Bennett, #6      

Published: September 2013, Little, Brown & Company  

Format: Hardcover, 416 pages   

Source: Personal copy  

A crime lord has declared war on America. Only Detective Michael Bennett knows why.

Manuel
Perrine doesn’t fear anyone or anything. A charismatic and ruthless
leader, Perrine slaughters rivals as effortlessly as he wears his
trademark white linen suit. Detective Michael Bennett once managed to
put Perrine behind bars, the only official in the US ever to accomplish
that. But now Perrine is out, and he has sworn to find and kill Bennett
and everyone dear to him.

Detective Bennett, along with his ten
adopted children, their nanny, and his grandfather, are hidden safely on
a rural California farm, with guards courtesy of the FBI’s witness
protection program. Perrine begins to embark on an escalating series of
assassinations across the country, killings whose brazenness and
audacity bring into question the possibility of safety and law in the
US. The FBI has no choice but to ask Detective Bennett to risk it all in
Perrine’s war on America.

With explosive action and fierce
villainy that rivals James Bond movies at their best, GONE is the next
astounding novel by James Patterson.

My thoughts: As some of you know, I’m a huge James Patterson fan, but due to the many reading commitments I’ve had lately, I haven’t had a chance to read any of his recent books. He is one of the few authors whose books I buy in hardcover to add to my collection. Right now, I’m almost ashamed to admit that I have about 13 of his books sitting on my shelf waiting to be read – most of these released in the last two years. 

This book is last year’s installment in the Michael Bennett series – a series that I absolutely love! I chose to get caught up in this series first because I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this year’s installment of the series, Burn, which is due out in September, and I can’t wait to read that one and share it with you. 

I thought this was a great follow-up to the previous book, I, Michael Bennett, which ended with quite the cliff hanger! It picks up about 8 months after that book ends and is an intense and fast-paced read. Typical of a James Patterson book, the short chapters add to the tension, with events happening one after the other, switching back and forth from one scene to the another at breakneck speed so that you can’t help but keep reading until you find yourself at the end of the book after only meaning to read one or two more chapters.

Of all the books in this series, this one had me the most on edge. Not that I was frightened, but more for the fact that I really felt for Michael Bennett. His personal life was so wrapped up in this case – his family was constantly in danger. I loved the scenes with the children – their innocence perfectly balanced the psychopaths that their father was after.

I am glad I was finally able to read this book, especially before reading the new one. I’m pretty anal when it comes to reading series – I like to read them in order whenever I can. What about you…do you need to read them in order or can you jump around?

Books in this series:

1. Step on a Crack
2. Run For Your Life
3. Worst Case
4. Tick Tock
5. I, Michael Bennett 
6. Gone