James Patterson and J.D. Barker | pub: Aug. 2021 | 432 pages
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A quick visit back to the Patterson book farm. I know these days he’s experiencing some weird end of life crisis, claiming white men get discriminated against in the worlds most predominantly white industry – publishing, but, one, at the time I read this, he was sitting in the corner being quiet, likely writing his latest mixed bag of mediocrity, and two, though I find his comments egregious and tone def, one mistake does not an idiot make. (Though it could make for a decent clout grab on a boring autobiography 👀 jus’ sayin) I’ll chalk this one up to dementia and keep one good eye on ol’boy.
The Noise was a weird story, and from the beginning, I wasn’t sure if I would finish it. It starts with the scene described in the book’s public summary – little girls playing in a field, when a strange noise comes from the woods. Their dad grabs them and stashes them in a cellar of sorts. Eventually, the girls come out and finds everyone horribly dead. What happened? Fast Forward to the gathering of scientist at a remote location in the same woods. These key folks have been picked up by the government, under the cloak of darkness and mystery, and bought to this remote location to try and figure out what is going on. they cannot have access to their cellphones, news, they barley know what they are researching or why. Just demanded to figure it out, in a camp in the middle of the woods, under heavy security.
Pros: The premise of the plot is good. There is a noise that has been weaponized on living things. Just a noise. This could have vast implications. We are started on a search of trying to figure out what the noise is and how best to protect us from it and find out how it came to be.
Cons: We eventually get a character to root for, but it takes a while for our savior to show up. For most of the book there is just a lot of government overreach, yelling, killing, and people confused and misguided. Heavy on the miscommunication tropes.
I’m not sure how Patterson collaborates with co-authors but, this one feels disjointed. I feel like Patterson wrote the first 10 chapters and Barker wrote the rest. The first part of the book is government overreach, military intimidation, scientist working in confusion – a little romantic entanglement- very Patterson. Once the story gets ramped up, we start to get elements of Barker’s horror tendency’s. The noise has been weaponized. there is a larger conspiracy and some supernatural interference.
This is a thriller that doesn’t allow me to tell you many details without fear of giving up the ending. I guess overall I would say – read on and get to the ending. Its a good Barker ending in that everything does not end well for all parties.
Overall, I think I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads. Not bad, but, not great. I think this was my first intro to Barker and I’ve read several of his books since. I appreciate these co-authored books with Patterson for just that – he’s introducing me to authors that wouldn’t be on my radar otherwise. Its too bad Patterson’s mouth and misguided privilege is going to cause me to back away from him. Anyway – decent read – check it out.
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