Product Description

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 unspeakable from happening. New York City is under siege by a secret militia group - and that's just the beginning of the relentless terror of BLACK FRIDAY.

Originally published in 1987 as Black Market, also by James Patterson.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27441 in Books
• Published on: 1989
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 480 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780446609326
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
While Patterson's thriller is slightly out-of-date with its Cold War setting, it remains dramatically contemporary in its vision of a stock market thrown into chaos when a group of saboteurs blows up several Wall Street institutions. Actor Fernandez's mellow reading allows the story to unfold unhurriedly, though too slowly for the first half. Arch Carroll, head of the CIA's antiterrorist division, and Caitlin Dylan, director of enforcement for the SEC, team up professionally, and later romantically, to locate the Wall Street terrorists before they strike again. Arch travels to Paris and back (unfortunately, Fernandez, who capably reproduces other accents, has a poor grasp of French pronunciation), as he finds himself on the trail of former colonel David Hudson and his ragtag band of vengeance-seeking Vietnam veterans. Based on the Warner mass market paperback (originally published as Black Market in 1987).
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
James Patterson is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books, including Beach Road, Honeymoon, Suzanne's Diary For Nicholas, and the Alex Cross and Women's Murder Club series of thrillers. More than 100 million of his books are in print around the world, making him one of the top-selling writers of all time.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1

Colonel David Hudson leaned his tall, athletic body against the squat, battered trunk of one of New York's Checker-style taxis.

Raising one hand to his eye, Hudson loosely curled his fingers to fashion a "telescope." He began to watch morning's earliest light fall on the Wall Street scene.

He carefully studied 40 Wall Street where Manufacturers Hanover Trust had offices. Then, No. 23 Wall, which housed executive suites for Morgan Guaranty. The New York Stock Exchange Building. Trinity Church. Chase Manhattan Plaza.

Once he had it all vividly in sight, Colonel Hudson squeezed his fingers tightly together. "Boom," he whispered quietly.

The financial capital of the world completely disappeared behind his clenched right fist.

Boom.

Seconds before 5:30 on that same morning, Sergeant Harry Stemkowsky, the man designated as Vets 24, sped down the steep, icicle-slick Metropolitan Avenue Hill in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn.

He was riding in a nine-year-old Everest and Jennings wheelchair, from the Queens VA. Right now, he was pretending the chair was a Datsun 280-Z, silver metallic, with a shining T-roof.

"Aahh-eee-ahh!" He let out a banshee screech that pierced the deserted, solemnly quiet morning streets.

His long thin face was buried in the oily collar of a khaki Army fatigue parka replete with peeling sergeant's stripes, and his frizzy blond ponytail blew behind him like ribboning bike streamers. Periodically, he closed his eyes which were tearing badly in the burning cold wind. His tightly pinched face was getting as red as the gleaming Berry Street stoplight he was racing through with absolute abandon.

His forehead was burning, but he loved the sensation of unexpected freedom.

He thought he could actually feel streams of blood surge through both his wasted legs again.

Harry Stemkowsky's rattling wheelchair finally came to a halt in front of the all-night Walgreen's Drugstore.

Under the fatigue jacket and the two bulky sweaters he wore, his heart was hammering wildly. He was so goddamn excited-his whole life was beginning all over again.

Today, Harry Stemkowsky felt he could do just about anything.

The drugstore's glass door, which he nudged open, was covered with a montage of cigarette posters. Almost immediately, he was blessed with a draft of welcoming warm air, filled with the smells of greasy bacon and fresh-perked coffee.

He smiled and rubbed his hands together in a gesture that was almost gleeful. For the first time in years he was no longer a cripple.

And for the first time in more than a dozen hard years Harry Stemkowsky had a purpose.

He had to smile. When he wrapped his mind around the whole deal, the full, unbelievable implications of Green Band, he just had to smile.

Right at this moment, Sergeant Harry Stemkowsky, the official messenger for Green Band, was safely at his firebase inside New York City. Now everything could begin.

Customer Reviews

Early Patterson but certainly not bad Patterson
This book is pre Alex Cross and certainy not as good but it definitly comes off strong. It is not about serial killers however,and that may be a fresh change in his books. Or refreshed whichever way you look at it since it has been rereleased. That aside, I found this book to be very fast paced and exciting. While some things are predictable (unlike his current works which leave you with the feeling that you will never know what will happen) this book is still very much worth the read. Arch Carroll ( the main character) is not as deeply defined as Alex Cross but this never takes away from a great story that will move you along nicely. I am a fan of great "national security" type books and found this one very satisfying but if one is in the market for a serial escapade then this is not the book for you. If you are in the mood for an abridged Clancy type book then by all means have at it. Will not disappoint!

Why trick us with a new name?
I saw that there was a "new" James Patterson paperback on the best seller list, so I rushed to the book store and purchased it. That night, I put aside the novel by another writer and anxiously opened Black Friday. "Whoa! This sounds familiar", I thought. "Ah, maybe this will be a book related to Black Market, an older book by Patterson. A new story that develops some of the characters we last saw in Black Market." But, alas, it is the same book with a new name and almost new cover. Boy, do I feel dumb and taken in.

Actually, it was a very good book with lots of great action when it was called Black Market. Why did the publishers think they needed to issue a slightly reworked issue under a new name? Now, I see from the write-ups at Amazon that his next "newest" is a rewrite of another old book. I'm sorry if James Patterson has writers block or something, or perhaps he died and I didn't hear about it. But don't fool us with new names for the same old good stuff we've read before.

If you haven't read Black Market, then get Black Friday. It's certainly worth the cover price.

7 bucks? Buy yourself a lunch before you get this book.
It's your average suspense/action story. In this day and age, that just doesn't support a book anymore.

The characters seem as though they were ripped straight from "Die Hard". There's the widowed New York cop with a drinking problem and a bad attitude. He has a friend/tutor (the only other man who still believes in him). And then there's the bad guy- an ex-military colonel set on revenge and wealth. You can't get any more redundant.

Even so, the author doesn't seem to understand who his creations really are. He doesn't describe them, he explains them- looking at them from a third-person point of view.

While reading the book, it seems as though Patterson was so focused on his idea of the bombing of Wall Street, he forsake all other elements. He often writes himself into corners, making the bad guys too good at what they do, so that the good guys can only find them through MANY strokes of luck.

The hows and whys are not explained. It is still unclear as to why New York was bombed and how the stolen money was used. Details throughout the book are lacking, so that I'm not even sure how the money was stolen in the first place!

The conclusion only blurs the picture more. What happens to our hero cop? DO the bad guys succeed? You sure can't tell from the way it was written. The chief bad guy isn't mentioned again until the Epilogue, almost as an afterthought.

The guns and explosions were put in great detail, but everything else is only as clear as a paper bag. Stereotyped New Yorkers and B-grade movie lines add to the pain. It's a crowded genre, go find a better book to read.