Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
Vision (2009), Edition: Reprint, 384 pages
Description
Fiction. Thriller. HTML:Lauren Stillwell is not your average damsel in distress. When the NYPD cop discovers her husband leaving a hotel with another woman, she decides to beat him at his own game. But her revenge goes dangerously awry, and she finds her world spiraling into a hell that becomes more terrifying by the hour. In a further twist of fate, Lauren must take on a job that threatens everything she stands for. Now, she's paralyzed by a deadly secret that could tear her life apart. With her job and marriage on the line, Lauren's desire for retribution becomes a lethal inferno as she fights to save her livelihood--and her life. Patterson takes us on a twisting roller-coaster ride of thrills in his most gripping novel yet. This story of love, lust and dangerous secrets will have readers' hearts pounding to the very last page.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member eejjennings
I felt I should read a book by Patterson (for my job) and this one was short enough to read in an evening. I can see why they are popular, but I won't be reading anything by him again soon. I felt like I needed a shower when I was finished---and a really well-written book to get his out of my
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system. Show Less
LibraryThing member cycoduck
I get the feeling this book was written in a hurry, hence, the title. Almost no character development, everyone is like a prop inserted to keep the story going. Even the main character feels wooden. Definitely not one of his better books.
LibraryThing member miyurose
Am I the only one who thinks Patterson falls ridiculously flat when he tries to write from a woman’s point of view? I didn’t believe for a second that Lauren was a competent NYPD detective. Her narration is flighty and shallow and exaggerated. She sleeps with a man once, this so-called quickie,
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but in narration she treats it like some long-established affair. And the writing here is ridiculously bad, something I would expect from a first-time author, not someone with 50ish books under his belt. The amount of “quoted words” drove me crazy. The saddest thing here is that the story had real promise, but very little is fleshed out. Instead we have a book full of shallow, selfish, unlikable characters and Patterson’s now-trademark white space. If you have ever been a Patterson fan, do yourself a favor and skip this one. If I hadn’t been stuck in a car for 7 hours, I wouldn’t have bothered. Show Less
LibraryThing member readingwithtea
"A kind of pleading in his almond-shaped brown eyes"
Oh wow is this book awful. Someone took a cliché dictionary out of the library, cobbled every entry together into something like a cop thriller, and put a famous name on the front cover.
The protagonist, Lauren, is a hypocritical adulterous whiner
Oh, but never mind the conflict of interest in the upcoming prosecution case, she's the best, she's going to take it... "Bronx assistant DAs practically fought to take my cases because they could just about read my reports aloud for their prosecutions". For someone who's so bullish about her own abilities, she uses a whole lotta qualifiers in that sentence.
Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I promise never to open another novel bearing the James Patterson brand as long as I live. For my penance, I agree to rid my shelves of this rot.
(seriously, it's too bad even for BookMooch. I'm going to leave them on the Tube.)
Oh wow is this book awful. Someone took a cliché dictionary out of the library, cobbled every entry together into something like a cop thriller, and put a famous name on the front cover.
The protagonist, Lauren, is a hypocritical adulterous whiner
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who has an affair... to teach her cheating husband a lesson. Um... ironic, much? So when this revenge turns out to be full of salmonella and gunshot rather than being served cold, it's pretty tough to have any sympathy for her.Oh, but never mind the conflict of interest in the upcoming prosecution case, she's the best, she's going to take it... "Bronx assistant DAs practically fought to take my cases because they could just about read my reports aloud for their prosecutions". For someone who's so bullish about her own abilities, she uses a whole lotta qualifiers in that sentence.
Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I promise never to open another novel bearing the James Patterson brand as long as I live. For my penance, I agree to rid my shelves of this rot.
(seriously, it's too bad even for BookMooch. I'm going to leave them on the Tube.)
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LibraryThing member ladybug74
I enjoyed this book and read it all in one day. The beginning was a bit "choppy" for me and I found it unbelievable that everything kept falling into place so easily for Lauren. I didn't like her too much at first because of all of the lies she told, but towards the end I began hoping things would
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turn out well for her. I was definitely drawn into this story quickly and could not put it down once I got a few very short chapters into it. Show Less
LibraryThing member carrjr
Lauren Stillwell was a lawyer turned detective in NYC. Paul Stillwell was her husband. Lauren thought Paul was having an affair so she decided to do the same with another cop -Scott thayer(undercover at another precinct). Scott left his apt & he was attacked by (Paul). Lauren tried to cover up what
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happened. Things went from bad to worse. A druggie named Orentz was named for the murder. He didn't do it but his brother seeked revenge again Lauren. Lauren discovered she was pregnant. Paul took a trip to D.C. and Laren followed him only to find out that he had another family. Orentz chased them and Paul's car went into the river where he drowned. Lauren jumped in but made it out. Lauren retired from the police force and moved to San Juan where her former partner Mike lived. Lauren lived off the money that Paul had stashed in the Cayman Islands. She gave birth to a boy and named him Thomas after her father - a former cop. Paul killed Scott because of blackmail. He did not know about the "quickie." Show Less
LibraryThing member xinu
Throughout the book I found myself turning around the protagonist's situation in my head in a "what if this happened to me" manner. This was a good read; real page-turner.
LibraryThing member porchsitter55
My first James Patterson book....it was expertly written....just as one thing would happen and start to fizzle, immediately, something else would happen!!! Always kept my interest, from beginning to end. This was a good book written by a great writer.
LibraryThing member nlafevre
Best book I've read in a long time. I read it in one day because I could not put it down.
LibraryThing member pattiea
A very engaging, quick read. However, like most of Patterson's novels, there are enough plot holes to drive a truck through, but just ignore them, and you'll be in for an exciting page-turner.
LibraryThing member truds07
THis book was really interesting...it has a great story line, and keeps you wondering all the way through.
LibraryThing member CutestLilBookworm
Fast-paced read, with typical Patterson short power-packed chapters. Story revolved around a woman who catches her husband in a compromising position with another woman and decides to get even. Things get quite complicated afterwards, especially because of her line of work--which Patterson reveals
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at just the right moment to make you gasp. The decisions she makes, reveal her complicated character--is she selfish or just a woman trying to save her marriage. The loose ends are tied up with quite a bang, but the ending still left me with a bad taste in my mouth about the protagonist. Even still, if I were in her shoes I might even do the same thing, lol. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy crime fiction with a twist. And as mentioned before, its a pretty quick read. Show Less
LibraryThing member honeydew69862004
The Quickie is about a cop who has an affair. She does some covering up of a crime her husband did only to find out his true self. It's an ok book but at times you just want to yell out loud to her for being dumb.
LibraryThing member SonicQuack
The Quickie in name and nature (as the Mr Men books say) from Mr Patterson. This brief crime thriller uses the standard Patterson mirco-chapters and produces twists and turns with amzing alacrity. Although some of the plot elements are fairly transparent it's written well enough to keep you turning
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the pages to see if you are correct. When the first surprise rears up only a few chapters in, Patterson has clearly set the scene for the rest of the novel and he sticks to his word. The cover seems to suggest that The Quickie is a piece of turgid female romance, however rest assured that it's a safe read, not capturing the tension of Patterson's better novels, although it's still an entertaining piece. Show Less
LibraryThing member Df6B_ArielB
So far this book is crazy. I didn't think Paul was that crazy. I mean I would not kill a cop even if my sprouse ceathed on me with one. I wonder how Mr. Patterson is going to throw one of his famous twists in the story. This book was little diffcult to get into, but overall well written. I can't
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believe Paul's had a double life. Why didn't he just divorce lauren is beyond me. This book had really strong character and a very strong plot. Show Less
LibraryThing member ruinedbyreading
This is one of the worst books I've read to date.
Let me tell you why.
The plot is basically this - a detective from the NYPD cheats on her husband because she suspects he's cheating too. But after her boy toy hops out of bed and goes to get them some food, her husband shows up and kills him and
It's predictable. The plot twists and cheap thrills can be seen from a mile away and only serve to make me roll my eyes. The chapters are, on average, a page or two long. It's choppy and over dramatic. It makes me kind of sad that things like this are considered best sellers, much less actually get published. It's a waste of time and money.
Let me tell you why.
The plot is basically this - a detective from the NYPD cheats on her husband because she suspects he's cheating too. But after her boy toy hops out of bed and goes to get them some food, her husband shows up and kills him and
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dumps the body. So does she keep her mouth shut or tell everyone what she knows?It's predictable. The plot twists and cheap thrills can be seen from a mile away and only serve to make me roll my eyes. The chapters are, on average, a page or two long. It's choppy and over dramatic. It makes me kind of sad that things like this are considered best sellers, much less actually get published. It's a waste of time and money.
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LibraryThing member Sandra305
This book is definitely a thriller with endless twists and turns throughout, but I couldn’t identify with any of the characters--particularly the female protagonist. I liked the short chapters because they added to the pacing and the drama, but I felt the ending seemed a bit contrived and
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underdeveloped. Show Less
LibraryThing member courtneychowning
The books is not nearly as scandalous as the cover looks so don’t be dismayed. This book follows a NYPD detective who witnesses her husband murder a man and her attempt to save him from being caught.
I always love a good murder mystery book but I can usually figure out the outcome pretty early in
While the cover loves like the book would contain a lot of sexual situations, it really does not. Yes, it does contain some, but it is not the focus of the book.
If you like to read murder mysteries then I think you might just enjoy this book.
I always love a good murder mystery book but I can usually figure out the outcome pretty early in
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the book. While I was correct in my assumption of the outcome of this book, the path to get there was not what I was expecting. There were quite a bit of twists and turns in this murder mystery. I found it hard to put the book down.While the cover loves like the book would contain a lot of sexual situations, it really does not. Yes, it does contain some, but it is not the focus of the book.
If you like to read murder mysteries then I think you might just enjoy this book.
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LibraryThing member kariannalysis
You may notice a trend in my reviews lately. I keep saying “I just got this book because I needed it for my A to Z Challenge.” You may also notice that I have REALLY liked all of them. And this one went way above and beyond.
I have always heard great things about James Patterson, but this is the
I knew from the back of the book that cheating was involved and a murder, but I was shocked throughout the entire book how many twists and turns there were. Every time I thought nothing else could happen, another curveball was thrown. There’s really not a lot I can say about this book without giving things away, except don’t ever think you’re in the clear of the drama. It’s always around the corner.
One of the things I really liked about this book, and I’m not sure if it rings true for all Patterson books, but they have super short chapters. Most are 2-3 pages. Yes, there are over 100 chapters, but I’m the kind of reader who likes to pop open my book when I have a few minutes here and there. With such short chapters, I was able to knock out a chapter in my couple of minutes and not get stuck in the middle of something huge.
This book is definitely not the normal type of book I read. I am more of a fluff reader, but after this, I’ll have to start picking up more of his books. If they’re all this drama filled, I’m a lifer
I wish I could just spill all the drama, but I’m not going to. Instead, I am going to give this book 5 bookmarks. Yes, you heard right. There’s not one thing I have to complain about this book. Absolutely loved it!
I have always heard great things about James Patterson, but this is the
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first one of his that I’ve picked up.I knew from the back of the book that cheating was involved and a murder, but I was shocked throughout the entire book how many twists and turns there were. Every time I thought nothing else could happen, another curveball was thrown. There’s really not a lot I can say about this book without giving things away, except don’t ever think you’re in the clear of the drama. It’s always around the corner.
One of the things I really liked about this book, and I’m not sure if it rings true for all Patterson books, but they have super short chapters. Most are 2-3 pages. Yes, there are over 100 chapters, but I’m the kind of reader who likes to pop open my book when I have a few minutes here and there. With such short chapters, I was able to knock out a chapter in my couple of minutes and not get stuck in the middle of something huge.
This book is definitely not the normal type of book I read. I am more of a fluff reader, but after this, I’ll have to start picking up more of his books. If they’re all this drama filled, I’m a lifer
I wish I could just spill all the drama, but I’m not going to. Instead, I am going to give this book 5 bookmarks. Yes, you heard right. There’s not one thing I have to complain about this book. Absolutely loved it!
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LibraryThing member Blazingice0608
Really good thriller, im not much of a Patterson fan, especially his stand alone titles, but this one just never stopped pushing with action, i read it in just over one day. A perfect little read for the beach or a rainy day, Only complaint about it is that i kept waiting for a big plot twist, but
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everything just kind of turned out exactly as it seemed. Show Less
LibraryThing member marcejewels
I do not think I have ever read a book with so many jaw dropping twists. This suspense story was superb.
I wasn't able to give a Teaser from it and now I don't even know what to write as a Review without spoiling it for you.
Honestly how is it possible to have that many twists and surprises. This is
In the beginning I did roll my eyes a little because I was just like how unethical, that won't happen but it was good and kept me interested and once the first surprise happened I was hooked.
James Patterson along with Michael Ledwidge gave us a Brilliant Suspense story, go out and buy this one now.
I wasn't able to give a Teaser from it and now I don't even know what to write as a Review without spoiling it for you.
Honestly how is it possible to have that many twists and surprises. This is
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not a wait to the end to find out what happens, this is a race to put all the puzzle pieces together to see the end result of brilliance. Lots of action, suspense, romance and LIES.In the beginning I did roll my eyes a little because I was just like how unethical, that won't happen but it was good and kept me interested and once the first surprise happened I was hooked.
James Patterson along with Michael Ledwidge gave us a Brilliant Suspense story, go out and buy this one now.
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LibraryThing member VinnyL
This book could be renamed "Guilt" or "Pressure" because the entire book rests upon Lauren Stilwell's reaction to unrelenting guilt and pressure. Yes, you could say that her reactions are sometimes melodramatic and gender inappropriate, but the plot never gives you much time to dwell on these
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facts. By the end of the book, which rolls around very quickly, the reader is almost out of breath trying to keep up with the plot development. Yes, this turned out to be a good, quick read. Patterson can be relied on to move things along. Show Less
LibraryThing member JeffV
A NYC homicide detective tries to surprise her Wall Street husband for lunch -- and finds him with a fetching young blonde. Things have not been going well between them lately, and she figures this is why. She decides to counter with an affair of her own -- a fellow cop. But things go awry when her
As it happens, Lauren is assigned as the lead investigator. She is in a position to cover for her husband....at great effort. Meanwhile, the investigation happens to turn up the perfect stooge -- a drug dealer with a history of trying to kill a cop that was being investigated by the dead officer. During his apprehension, he succumbs to lead poisoning inflicted by her partner. But also she quite accidently leaves the dead dealer in possession of the cop's murder weapon (his own firearm). All neat and clean, right?
Well, not exactly.
Every time Lauren thinks she's clear, another person, another loose end pops up. She still never confronted her husband about the murder, but he had told her the blonde was a recruiter who offered him a job at three times his current salary. Lauren bought it....but husband Paul still has more secrets that she uncovers when unknown DNA from the cop killing crime scene is a match from a robbery five years earlier in Washington DC. And then she begins to learn the whole truth of her husband.
For Lauren to not only survive the travails of this story but to come out on top requires, quite frankly, an unbelievable string of good fortune. The book is well written though, the tension palpable throughout. The ending was not unpredictable, but the path there was convoluted and full of surprises.
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husband confronts the cop...and later the cop winds up dead. Oddly, he then becomes the perfect husband along with an exciting promotion that would allow them to live in their dream house.As it happens, Lauren is assigned as the lead investigator. She is in a position to cover for her husband....at great effort. Meanwhile, the investigation happens to turn up the perfect stooge -- a drug dealer with a history of trying to kill a cop that was being investigated by the dead officer. During his apprehension, he succumbs to lead poisoning inflicted by her partner. But also she quite accidently leaves the dead dealer in possession of the cop's murder weapon (his own firearm). All neat and clean, right?
Well, not exactly.
Every time Lauren thinks she's clear, another person, another loose end pops up. She still never confronted her husband about the murder, but he had told her the blonde was a recruiter who offered him a job at three times his current salary. Lauren bought it....but husband Paul still has more secrets that she uncovers when unknown DNA from the cop killing crime scene is a match from a robbery five years earlier in Washington DC. And then she begins to learn the whole truth of her husband.
For Lauren to not only survive the travails of this story but to come out on top requires, quite frankly, an unbelievable string of good fortune. The book is well written though, the tension palpable throughout. The ending was not unpredictable, but the path there was convoluted and full of surprises.
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LibraryThing member debavp
This lived up to the title, I read it in one sitting. After getting past the initial "oh for pity's sake" moment at the start, it was a fascinating look at the snow ball effect of one mistake that leads to another. Of course, in real life this would never have gotten so far, but it was interesting
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to see it play out as fiction. Once again though, Patterson throws in a epilogue that was just plain lazy. Tying up loose ends should be just that, not slapping a dime store bow on it. Show Less
LibraryThing member ZachMontana
Nice twisty plot and well read book on CD.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
384 p.; 4.25 inches
ISBN
044619896X / 9780446198967