Review: The Coast-to-Coast Murders by James Patterson & J.D. Barker (audio)

Title: The Coast-to-Coast Murders
Author: James Patterson & J.D. Barker
Narrator: Jason Culp, Tristan Morris, Renata Friedman
Published: September 2020, Hachette Audio / Little, Brown & Company
Length: 14 hours 14 minutes / 560 pages
Source: Audio via Library / Print - personal copy

Summary:

A detective and FBI agent join forces on what seems like an open-and-shut case -- but a new rash of killings sends them on a pulse-pounding race against time in this intense thriller. 

 

Michael and Megan Fitzgerald are siblings who share a terrifying past. Both adopted, and now grown -- Michael is a long-haul truck driver, Megan a college student majoring in psychology -- they trust each other before anyone else. They've had to. Their parents are public intellectuals, an Ivy League clinical psychologist and a renowned psychiatrist, and they brought up their adopted children in a rarefied, experimental environment. It sheltered them from the world's harsh realities, but it also forced secrets upon them, secrets they keep at all costs.

 

In Los Angeles, Detective Garrett Dobbs and FBI Agent Jessica Gimble have joined forces to work a murder that seems like a dead cinch. Their chief suspect is quickly identified and apprehended --but then there's another killing just like the one they've been investigating. And another. And not just in Los Angeles -- the spree spreads across the country. The Fitzgerald family comes to the investigators' attention, but Dobbs and Gimble are at a loss -- if one of the four is involved, which Fitzgerald might it be?

 

From coastal California to upstate New York, Dobbs and Gimble race against time and across state lines to stop an ingenious and deeply deranged killer -- one whose dark and twisted appetites put them outside the range of logic or experience.

My thoughts:  If you have been following me for any amount of time, you know I am a big James Patterson fan. But this is the first time I've read anything by J.D. Barker, an author I have been wanting to read for some time, so I was excited when I saw this duo paired up...and boy did this book live up to my expectations and then some!

This book is one thrilling, crazy ride so be prepared to not do anything once you start reading it. It completely kept me enthralled and engaged from start to finish and with all the twists and turns, I did not know where it was heading. I thought a few times I had things worked out only to be completely thrown off course with the latest twist. This book has one shock after another and really keeps you guessing all the way through!

I don't typically reread these kinds of books but this one is so twisted and crazy that I really think I might need to. There is so much packed into this book and at the length it is, that's saying something. I loved the way it was told, moving forward, but then going back in time to give us the history of these siblings. There is so much there that gives us the clues if only you are paying attention. 

I think this is one of the better of the books I've read of all the James Patterson pairings and I hope he writes with J.D. Barker again. And now I will certainly be adding all of J.D. Barker's books to my list...hopefully I will find the time to read them!


Audio thoughts: I decided to go the audio route with this book and what a thrilling experience that was. All the narrators were new to me but I thought they all did a fantastic job. This one really kept me glued to the story and the length didn't even bother me as I was totally focused on what was going on. This was definitely a case where I found myself walking just a little longer because I didn't want to stop listening and get back to real life!