Mistress

by James Patterson

2014

Status

Available

Genres

Mystery

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Standard Shelves

Publication

Vision (2014), 432 pages

Description

"Ben isn't like most people. Unable to control his racing thoughts, he's a man consumed by his obsessions: movies, motorcycles, presidential trivia-and Diana Hotchkiss, a beautiful woman Ben knows he can never have. When Diana is found dead outside her apartment, Ben's infatuation drives him on a hunt to find out what happened to the love of his life. Ben soon discovers that the woman he pined for was hiding a shocking double life. And now someone is out to stop Ben from uncovering the truth about Diana's illicit affairs" -- from publisher's web site.

User reviews

LibraryThing member brendajanefrank

Patterson tried a new technique: writing a story with no character development, at all. This novel is a mystery reduced to action. The characters are just players in the action. You don't get to know them. You don't become invested or involved in the story. It's just flat - two dimensional. I have

enjoyed many Patterson books, but "Mistress" just left me cold.

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LibraryThing member she_climber

I love David Ellis and I've refused to read James Patterson any longer so this pairing was an issue for me, but I finally gave up my resistance when the book lay in front of me at the library one day. And I have to say I'm glad that I read it. Not David Ellis' best work, but I'll just blame that on

Patterson's influence. But the story was intriguing and kept me entertained. As did all the inane trivia spouted by the main character, Ben Casper.

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LibraryThing member KMT01

lacking. I found this to be true with this book. The plot for this book concerns whether the main character's friend Diana Hotchkiss committed suicide by jumping off the balcony of her apartment or whether she was pushed (murdered). If the crazy way the main character keeps relating everything to

movie titles, actors and lines or to some totally esoteric trivia about one of the presidents doesn't almost immediately turn you off, the absurdity of the plot will. I am now more than firmly convinced that this author has "written himself out" and is using weirder than weird plots created by the co-authors of the books to produce more books or else Patterson has lost it completely. In this case, Ben sets out to find answers to how and why Diana died. The search for answers involves Ben being shot at, chased and beaten by Federal agents and Russian assassins. I guess the reader is expected to believe all this and find the story another exciting thriller. I did not. I found it rather unbelievable and not as well written as Patterson's previous novels. I am really sorry the author, who has penned so many great books and who rightly deserves his place among the leading best-selling authors today, has stooped to this level. It is a real shame to read this terrible book, knowing that a once upon a time great, creative author is the co-author.

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LibraryThing member skinglist

This book was completely ridiculous. If it wasn't the typical Patterson brain candy, I"m not even sure I'd have bothered finishing it.
(First), he is (obsessed) with movie trivia and putting them randomly in parentheses which add nothing. In fact, they impede the story because the flow is constantly

interrupted by Ben as the narrator and main character's thoughts. I also think it made me crazy that this was 1st person, present tense.

Only in the late 20th century could this "it's the Russians, no wait, it's the Chinese" narrative make total sense and that's a sad state of political affairs. The scandal? Totally could have happened.

I never did figure out whether I'd read this before, but I won't be reading it again.

This read like a bad piece of fan fic at times

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LibraryThing member LivelyLady

A woman is presumed dead. In the investigation it is found that she lived a multi-dimensional life, but the truth is the last thing you would expect. I swore I would not read another Patterson, but picked this up for a break in other reading. I am sorry he is prostituting his name to other authors.

Again I resolve not to read anything with his name.

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LibraryThing member JeffV

I don't normally care for 1st person POV stories, but the audiobook production was really good and made it work. The protagonist, Ben, is owner and journalist for a web-based paper in Washington DC. Shortly after installing surveillance equipment in what he thinks is his girl friend's apartment (at

her behest), she does a double-gainer to the pavement from her 6th-story window. After attending funeral ceremonies in Madison, WI (the government hadn't released the body), an assassination attempt is made on Ben. Forces align against him...some trying to kill him, some trying to incarcerate him as body counts mount and Ben is the most common element.

What follows is entirely from Ben's perspective -- and that perspective changes radially as he learns more and more information. Much of the fictional framework is adapted from current news stories; it would be one hell of a conspiracy theory should Patterson be even close to the mark, but he does manage to insert certain world events (if slightly changed) into a plausible root cause, even if some of the fallout (a guns-a-blazing chase through DC, for example) are highly improbably.

Ben's character is made more interesting through symptoms of ADD. He lived most of his life with a terrible secret, and even that was not as he believed. He was a fount of presidential trivia knowledge, and had a penchant for translating events in his world to movie scenes, often to distraction when he really needed to be concentrating on survival. The reading was well done, as close to being a "page turner" as the audiobook form can get.

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LibraryThing member WillowStarSerenity

I just finished reading Mistress. It is a suspense/thriller written by James Patterson. While doing a favor for a friend, Benjamin finds himself a witness to a murder made to look like a suicide of a dear friend of his. While trying to dig to discover answers on why this happened, he steps on the

wrong toes. With his life in danger, he makes the decision to keep trying to uncover the truth. Will he find it or is this the end for him?

I loved this book! I’m a huge fan of James Patterson’s books as it is. This one did not disappoint my fancy at all. I loved the suspense and drama it brought on. It was like reading an episode of Prison Break. Well, an episode of Prison Break without the prison or plots to break out. The main story plot is very similar. It’s full of scandal, blackmail and cover ups. It’s simply amazing.

I love how authentic they made Ben. They actually wrote in his “issues”. Most people will probably find that annoying to read, but I found it genius. What better way to capture somebody’s personality then by showing the entire thinking situation they go through? It’s one of my favorite parts about this book.

I fully recommend this book to anybody who likes intense books that keep them on their edge. It’s bold and daring. I was hooked from page one. I do plan to read many more books by James Patterson. He’s one of my favorite authors. I’m so glad that I got to read this book!

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LibraryThing member diananagy

James Patterson is my favorite author. He writes some of the best books in the world, ever written. The thing with this book is that it is the best book he has ever written. Nearly every single book I've read by him, I have had a difficult time setting down. With this one, it wasn't like that. It

was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE TO SET DOWN. I literally starting read this the second I got it in the mail and tried to set it down to get the dishes and house cleaning done and literally sat down and read the entire book within a half a day. Not kidding. That's how good it was. So, if you want a book with twists and turns and suspense and mystery pick up this one. You'll never believe what the truth turns out to be. Not what or who you were expecting at all...none of them! Love it! Hope for another one just as good sometime soon! Read this book...Right away!

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LibraryThing member Sheri.Woods

I love James Patterson. No matter series it is. I am anxiously waiting for the next book all the time. They are pretty fast reads and very suspenseful. I know I don't want to put them down once I start one.

LibraryThing member Nataliec7

Quick read. Read it over a couple of days lounging at the beach and found it somewhat entertaining.
Not upto Patterson usual standard unfortunately.

LibraryThing member diananagy

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LibraryThing member jpsnow

A typical example of the genre. It's fast-paced and entertaining but the constant movie and trivia references detract somewhat. A good pool read as summer dwindled.

LibraryThing member wellreadcatlady

Well that was disappointing. This is my first time reading James Patterson and I am not impressed. A friend of Ben's dies and he is determined to figure out if its really a suicide. The deeper he goes into his friend's life in the political world the more people who want to stop him. There is

absolutely no character development for any characters, it's hilarious. The story jumps right into the action and doesn't stop, it reads like a mediocre tv cop show. It is a quick read and it does keep you interested in the story where you want to find out what the hell is going on, but the writing is just annoying and you don't give a damn about any of the characters.

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LibraryThing member HenriMoreaux

After reading Murder House and being impressed I thought I'd seek out some other Ellis/Patterson collaborations, upon finding Mistress and reading the reviews I was rather apprehensive as to whether this would be worth the time or not with many people finding it so abysmal.

Well, I was pleasantly

surprised to find out that whilst it was a little unusual, it was not at all a bad novel. By unusual, I refer to the fact that whilst it's written in first person in the view of the protagonist Benjamin Casper, it's also filled with many stream of consciousness interruptions in the form primarily of movie quotes or references but also presidential trivia. This aspect I found more of a distraction to the core of the novel than a positive, I can however see where the writers were trying to go, attempting to highlight Casper's personality disorder and how it impacts his conduct in a manner than wasn't dry and boring.

Overall, it was an interesting story, I won't go into what happens else it will ruin the events as they unfold, but I will say that it's worthwhile to not give up on what initially seems like a rather odd opening and odd circumstances happening to good ole Casper.

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LibraryThing member MHanover10

This is a fast-paced book that overs about a week. It's kind of far fetched that a reporter/news guy would figure everything out so quickly and can avoid the Russians shooting at him. Or people attacking him and surviving. But it's a James Patterson book so it's an enjoyable read. I do keep

wondering why he is writing books with other people. It's like he's spitting them out like a pez dispenser and the characters pretty much have no depth to them. But again, it's Patterson, so it's a fast read and enjoyable.

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LibraryThing member CarmenMilligan

I didn't love this one like I have the others. It was a little too over-the-top for me, even for Patterson. Still, I am giving it three stars because it's an easy and fast read.

LibraryThing member Paul_S

Too wacky. It has no redeeming qualities, maybe except creating the single most annoying protagonist I've ever seen.

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