Product Description

A stunningly brilliant psychopathic killer who has skillfully eluded the police from London to Paris to New York. A beautiful woman journalist suddenly in grave danger. An unorthodox New York detective whose motive for stopping the killer couldn't be more personal or emotional.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12613 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780446606387
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Edgar-winner Patterson ( The Jericho Commandment )he is also chairman of J. Walter Thompson USAalmost captures the slick, conspiracy-theory giddiness of pre- Prizzi Richard Condon. While leading a raid against top drug-dealer Alexandre ("the Grave Dancer") St.-Germain, New York police Lieutenant John ("Stef") Stefanovitch is caught in a devastating ambush and crippled. French-born St.-Germain, enforcing and enjoying his harsh, "street law" terror, kills Stef's wife. Two years later St.-Germain is gunned down in a posh Manhattan brothel. Hidden videotapes catch St.-Germain asking, "Is it the Midnight Club?" Wheelchair-bound Stef, with true-crime bestselling writer Sarah McGinniss, starts to uncover an international crime cartel making billions a year, and a secret NYPD execution squad. Plenty of gore, many plot twistssome quite murkyand a little sex will keep readers turning pages up to the melodramatic, rather unlikely ending. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The charming, urbane, but megalomaniacal Alexandre St. Germain wanted nothing less than control of international organized crime. A sadistic psychotic as well, he shot and crippled New York policeman John Stefanovitch and then killed Stef's beloved wife. A few years later, during a purge of other New York crime lords, St. Germain is brutally murdered--or is he? Stef, confined to a wheelchair, joins with a rogue cop, whose brother was tortured and killed by St. Germain, and a beautiful journalist, with whom Stef falls in love, to unravel a complicated conspiracy. Written before Patterson's popular Alex Cross novels, The Midnight Club lacks the suspense of those tales, building up slowly to a rather tame resolution. Like the Cross books, however, it includes many unpleasant elements, including a kidnapped child. Michael Kramer, as always, does a splendid job of reading, but even he cannot make this story gripping. Not recommended.
-Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
"Guaranteed: you'll devour this yarn-burner in one sitting."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
John Stefanovich, a tough New York cop, has one mission in life--to nab Alexandre St. Germain, the most treacherous and powerful member of the Midnight Club--a secret international society whose membership is limited to an elite group of ruthless crime czars, all of whom are "respectable" businessmen. Blasted by St. Germain's shotgun, Stef is left in a wheelchair, but no less determined. With the help of a beautiful journalist and a Harlem cop, Stef is determined to crack the Midnight Club And he's up against odds that are as unknown as they are deadly....

Customer Reviews

Worth the time it takes to read it
I don't think James Patterson will ever write as good as he does when he writes about Alex Cross. However, this is the first NON Alex Cross book of Patterson's that I have been able to finish. The story in this book was a good one, but it got a little confusing with so many different members of the Club. I felt the author should have focused more on the one main villain in the Midnight Club rather than trying to draw in more of them and show their different personalities. This was a fairly decent read, but I felt that putting the lead character in a wheelchair was a forced flaw. Most of Patterson's lead characters are really not flawed at all, but this one was way too obvious. I felt that the love story was a bit predictable and it seemed forced to me. The contempt these two characters felt for each other at the beginning was a waste of time - it was obvious how that would turn out. All in all, not bad for not having Alex Cross.

A Slow Book
This is my second non Alex Cross book that I've read and I'm slowly beginning to feel as if I shouldn't waste anymore time on a book that doesn't feature this character. With that said, I found this book VERY slow moving. The plot moved along very slowly but I kept reading it hoping that it would improve. I must say that I absolutely LOVED the ending which at least made me want to give it 3 stars but I'm sure that lots of people will be so bored that they won't stick around that long!

Somewhat suspenseful but characters totally unbelievable
Like others, I found this book to be very disappointing and one of Patterson's worst works.

The book was very good at some points and there were times when I even found it to be very suspenseful. However, a lot of it was boring and had me rolling my eyes at how recycled it was.

I thought the worst part was by far Patterson's characterization of the main people, especially the cop in the wheelchair. While Jeffery Deavers (who also writes a book series with a hero who is paralyzed) seemed to do research on what it is like to have a spinal cord injury, it is obvious that Patterson was flying strait from the hip. I found it pretty hard to believe that this guy seemed to be able to get around everywhere, and the ending? puhlease! I felt like I was watching a made for TV movie or something. Been there done that. It makes me wonder if he did any research at all when writing his last book "When the Wind Blows."

Anyway, I know this was one of Patterson's first books, but I'm still pretty disappointed. I guess that's what happens when you've been spoiled by his Cross novels for so long.