Publication
New York, NY : Little, Brown and Co., 2019.
Collection
Call number
Fiction P
Physical description
363 p.; 25 cm
Status
Available
Call number
Description
Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: In this action-packed thriller, a quiet seafront town is targeted by vicious criminals, leaving locals no choice but to team up and save the place they love. The Inn at Gloucester stands alone on the rocky shoreline. Its seclusion suits former Boston police detective Bill Robinson, novice owner and innkeeper. As long as the dozen residents pay their rent, Robinson doesn't ask any questions. Neither does Sheriff Clayton Spears, who lives on the second floor. Then Mitchell Cline arrives, with a deadly new way of doing business. His crew of local killers break laws, deal drugs, and bring violence to the doors of the Inn. That's when Robinson realizes, with the help of journalist Susan Solie, that leaving the city is no escape from the reality of evil �?? or the responsibility for action. Teaming up with Sheriff Spears and two fearless residents �?? Army veteran Nick Jones and groundskeeper Effie Johnson �?? Robinson begins a risky defense. The solitary inhabitants of the Inn will have to learn, before time runs out, that their only choice is between standing together �?? or dying… (more)
Genres
User reviews
LibraryThing member jfe16
In the wake of his wife’s death, Billy Robinson, once a Boston homicide detective, struggles to run the Gloucester, Massachusetts inn he and Siobhan opened together. The eccentric group of residents have become something like a family and, when a drug epidemic threatens their town, they rally to
This stand-alone, with its cast of realistic characters struggling with the vicissitudes of life, keeps the suspense building as the tension continually grows. There’s no guessing about who did what; the bad guy/drug dealer is identified from the beginning. But that’s not a detriment to the telling of the tale. The realism of the fight to free the town of drugs causes some gritty moments. There are also some unexpected plot twists and an intriguing [although a bit predictable] twist on an often-done theme. It’s a quick, but thoroughly enjoyable read.
Recommended.
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fight back. Will they succeed? Or will the heartless drug dealer who has invaded their town continue his reign of terror?This stand-alone, with its cast of realistic characters struggling with the vicissitudes of life, keeps the suspense building as the tension continually grows. There’s no guessing about who did what; the bad guy/drug dealer is identified from the beginning. But that’s not a detriment to the telling of the tale. The realism of the fight to free the town of drugs causes some gritty moments. There are also some unexpected plot twists and an intriguing [although a bit predictable] twist on an often-done theme. It’s a quick, but thoroughly enjoyable read.
Recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
The Inn, by James Patterson and Candice Fox; Edoardo Ballerini is the narrator.
Two Boston cops were fired after being disgraced by their behavior. Although Malone and Robinson had also been close friends, one betrayed the other and they parted as enemies. Both had loved being cops, but their
Bill Robinson and his wife move to Gloucester, MA where they open an inn. It had always been his wife’s dream to retire and run an inn, so they simply started a bit early. The inn’s guests and full time residents were all misfits of one kind or another. One could not speak, one was an author, one never left his room, one was a journalist for a local paper who had formerly been an FBI agent, one was in a wheelchair and housebound, one was a sheriff, one was a retired doctor, one was a teenage relative, and one was a former soldier. Each character has a secret, a hidden past and seemed emotionally compromised. The past of each one was revealed as the story developed. All were misfits of one kind or another, who seemed only able to fit in at the Gloucester Inn. When kids started dying from drug overdoses, Robinson wanted to rid the town of the newcomer who had brought this plague to his home. He has no authority to do what he does, and he is warned about the danger involved if he gets tangled up with this kingpin. Cline is unforgiving and violent and does not allow or tolerate any defiance.
After Bill’s efforts to stop Cline bring death and violence to his family and his Inn, instead of retreating, he becomes more embroiled with trying to stop the drug fest. Working with some inn residents, among them a mentally challenged veteran suffering from PTSD and a former FBI agent, a woman for whom he soon developed romantic interests that had long been idle since his wife’s death, he began to chase down the drug lord and proceeded to bring further havoc to his town. It seemed that the townspeople’s allegiance was easily bought and paid for by Cline. They did his bidding and few could be trusted.
The book definitely had the fingerprint of a female author. The dialogue was unnecessarily crude, even as it also tried to be lyrical. The story seemed incongruous. There were too many crises occurring without satisfying resolution. The characters were alternately low end or endowed with a sophistication that was not credible. One unsatisfying surprise reared its head after another, and there was no bridge to get from one place to the other.
The devices used to interest the reader, like the discovery, in the desert, of an arm unattached to a body, or finding a rat stuck in a toilet drain that later becomes a household pet, or seeing a detached human head in front of a statue, make the story ridiculous, at times, rather than more mysterious. Most of the odd events seemed to have little purpose and were used for shock value only. Scenes seemed to change at random with events brought up and then dropped. If introduced again, later on, it never quite knitted into the story smoothly. It became disjointed. What could have been a good detective novel about the drug world, descended instead into chick lit and romance.
Murder consistently followed mayhem and vice versa. Most of the characters were damaged. They were emotionally challenged. They all had secret pasts. The novel was filled with stereotypes easily that were easily identified as misfits. Just when you thought the story was finally heading in one direction, the author introduced another diversion, another murder, another hint at trouble which often turned out to be nothing of import. It became tedious.
I would not recommend the book for anything but a mindless vacation or a plane flight. Then the novel might work as a necessary distraction. The main message seemed to be that everyone was capable of being corrupted by greed with or without the fear of reprisals.
Two Boston cops were fired after being disgraced by their behavior. Although Malone and Robinson had also been close friends, one betrayed the other and they parted as enemies. Both had loved being cops, but their
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careers were over.Bill Robinson and his wife move to Gloucester, MA where they open an inn. It had always been his wife’s dream to retire and run an inn, so they simply started a bit early. The inn’s guests and full time residents were all misfits of one kind or another. One could not speak, one was an author, one never left his room, one was a journalist for a local paper who had formerly been an FBI agent, one was in a wheelchair and housebound, one was a sheriff, one was a retired doctor, one was a teenage relative, and one was a former soldier. Each character has a secret, a hidden past and seemed emotionally compromised. The past of each one was revealed as the story developed. All were misfits of one kind or another, who seemed only able to fit in at the Gloucester Inn. When kids started dying from drug overdoses, Robinson wanted to rid the town of the newcomer who had brought this plague to his home. He has no authority to do what he does, and he is warned about the danger involved if he gets tangled up with this kingpin. Cline is unforgiving and violent and does not allow or tolerate any defiance.
After Bill’s efforts to stop Cline bring death and violence to his family and his Inn, instead of retreating, he becomes more embroiled with trying to stop the drug fest. Working with some inn residents, among them a mentally challenged veteran suffering from PTSD and a former FBI agent, a woman for whom he soon developed romantic interests that had long been idle since his wife’s death, he began to chase down the drug lord and proceeded to bring further havoc to his town. It seemed that the townspeople’s allegiance was easily bought and paid for by Cline. They did his bidding and few could be trusted.
The book definitely had the fingerprint of a female author. The dialogue was unnecessarily crude, even as it also tried to be lyrical. The story seemed incongruous. There were too many crises occurring without satisfying resolution. The characters were alternately low end or endowed with a sophistication that was not credible. One unsatisfying surprise reared its head after another, and there was no bridge to get from one place to the other.
The devices used to interest the reader, like the discovery, in the desert, of an arm unattached to a body, or finding a rat stuck in a toilet drain that later becomes a household pet, or seeing a detached human head in front of a statue, make the story ridiculous, at times, rather than more mysterious. Most of the odd events seemed to have little purpose and were used for shock value only. Scenes seemed to change at random with events brought up and then dropped. If introduced again, later on, it never quite knitted into the story smoothly. It became disjointed. What could have been a good detective novel about the drug world, descended instead into chick lit and romance.
Murder consistently followed mayhem and vice versa. Most of the characters were damaged. They were emotionally challenged. They all had secret pasts. The novel was filled with stereotypes easily that were easily identified as misfits. Just when you thought the story was finally heading in one direction, the author introduced another diversion, another murder, another hint at trouble which often turned out to be nothing of import. It became tedious.
I would not recommend the book for anything but a mindless vacation or a plane flight. Then the novel might work as a necessary distraction. The main message seemed to be that everyone was capable of being corrupted by greed with or without the fear of reprisals.
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LibraryThing member ZachMontana
Involves disgraced former Boston police detective turned Inn owner on the coast dealing with interesting and somewhat dysfunctional residents and fighting a war against a local drug boss. Kept my interest, but not Patterson's best.
LibraryThing member purple_pisces22
I found this to be sort of mediocre for James Patterson and Candice Fox. I enjoyed the story but now that I’m finished I have a hard time recalling exactly what it was about. After being forced out of the police department, the main character Bill moves to a rural area to run a bed-and-breakfast
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with his wife. After his wife days, he find other ways to fill his time while still running the bed-and-breakfast. Of course these other ways involve the law. Ultimately, Bill must take a stand to save the little town against the evils of bad men. Show Less
LibraryThing member rmarcin
The Inn is a novel about a lot of misfits all living together at The Inn. When there is a out of control teen, his mother comes to Bill, an ex-cop from Boston who owns the Inn, for help. Bill discovers that the teen has taken a drug and this sets off a mission to rid the town of the drug lord.
All
There was a bit too much violence for me in this one. The writing was just OK. The plot was fine, but not anything that made me want to read more.
#TheInn #JamesPatterson
All
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these people team up to help Bill rid the town of Cline. While doing so, they show Bill how much they care for him. There was a bit too much violence for me in this one. The writing was just OK. The plot was fine, but not anything that made me want to read more.
#TheInn #JamesPatterson
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LibraryThing member PhillipThomas
A fairly predictable story-line where the balance between the good guys and bad guys ebbs back and forth until good finally prevails.
There are quite a few characters in the book, and while it took some time to sort out who is who, most developed well as the story progressed.
For some reason it took
There are quite a few characters in the book, and while it took some time to sort out who is who, most developed well as the story progressed.
For some reason it took
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a while for me to get into the story. It's a book that's easy to put down and pick up again later. By the end I'd enjoyed the book. Show Less
Language
ISBN
9780316527583