You are about to begin one of the classic American novels of suspense by one of the world's bestselling authors. It begins with three terrifying murders in the South. It ends with a relentless and unforgettable manhunt in the North. In between is the riveting story of a chilling assassin, the woman he loves, and the beloved leader he is hired to kill with extreme prejudice.
The Thomas Berryman Number
by James Patterson
The author is grateful to Warner Bros. Music for permission to quote excerpted lyrics from “Ballad of a Thin Man” by Bob Dylan. Copyright Š 1965 by M. Witmark & Sons. All rights reserved.
GREAT ACCLAIM FOR JAMES PATTERSON AND
“PATTERSON JOINS THE ELITE COMPANY OF THOMAS HARRIS AND JOHN SANFORD.”
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“PATTERSON KNOWS HOW TO SELL THRILLS AND SUSPENSE IN CLEAR, UNWAVERING PROSE.”
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IS SURE-FIRE!”
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“WRITTEN SIMPLY, POWERFULLY, WITH SHIFTING POINTS OF VIEW. The book will satisfy mystery and thriller fans, as well as students of the human condition.”
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“BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN!”
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“JAMES PATTERSON IS TO SUSPENSE WHAT DANIELLE STEEL IS TO ROMANCE.”
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“PATTERSON’S SKILL AT BUILDING SUSPENSE IS ENVIABLE!”
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“PATTERSON DEVELOPS CHARACTERS WITH BROAD STROKES AND FINE LINES. Even the villains are multilayered and believable.”
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“HURRAY! ONCE YOU READ PAGE ONE YOU WILL NOT STOP UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED.”
—Robin Moore, author of
“HE CREATES A MULTILAYERED, CONVOLUTED PLOT THAT KEEPS READERS OFF-BALANCE, JOLTING THEM AROUND NARRATIVE HAIRPIN TURNS WHILE TRANSFIXING THEM WITH AN EXTRAORDINARY SUSTAINED TENSION.”
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“PATTERSON KNOWS HOW TO KEEP THE POT BOILING.”
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“MR. PATTERSON IS A SKILLFUL PLOTTER, and… has constructed an elaborate thriller full of twists and false starts.”
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“A WILD RIDE, FROM THE IVIED HALLS OF SOUTHERN ACADEMIA TO THE CRASHING BIG SUR SURF.”
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“THIS NOVEL IS HARD TO SET ASIDE. PATTERSON’S COMPLEX TALE CHILLS, ENTHRALLS, AND ENTERTAINS THE READER IN A DAZZLING AND UNFORGETTABLE READING EXPERIENCE.”
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“Robert B. Parker’s Spenser, Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta, and Evan Hunter’s 87th
Precinct detectives… IT’S TIME TO GET OUT THE PARTY HATS, WELCOME JAMES PATTERSON TO THE CLUB.”
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“A TENSE, COMPLEX PLOT OF ABDUCTION AND MURDER THAT IS HARD TO PUT DOWN. THE READER IS HOOKED FROM PAGE ONE…This is a crime story so scary it will hold the reader’s attention and leave a lingering horror at the back of the mind for days.”
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“AN ENJOYABLE READ, WRITTEN IN CONCISE, PITHY LANGUAGE THAT MOVES AS GRACEFULLY AS IF WE WERE WATCHING IT ON WIDE SCREEN AT THE LOCAL THEATER.”
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“EXPECT NONSTOP, MUSCLE-JANGLING THRILLS… DON’T READ IT ALONE, OR ON A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT.”
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“DESERVES TO BE THIS SEASON’S #1 BESTSELLER AND SHOULD INSTANTLY MAKE JAMES PATTERSON A HOUSHOLD NAME.”
—Nelson DeMille
“A FIRST-RATE THRILLER—FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS AND KEEP THE LIGHTS ON!”
—Sidney Sheldon
“PATTERSON BRILLIANTLY EXPLORES DARK CREVICES OF THE ABERRANT MIND…[AND] LETS US SOAR AND DIP WITH ROLLER-COASTER THRILLS.”
—Ann Rule
“PATTERSON IS AN EXCELLENT WRITER.”
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“A TALE WITH THE POLISH OF A MASTER…It’s the sort of tale that keeps your hands gripping the book and your heart pounding at any unusual noise in the house.”
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“PATTERSON HAS CREATED A FAST-MOVING, CHARACTER-DRIVEN ROLLER COASTER OF A THRILLER.”
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“AS ENGROSSING AS IT IS GRAPHIC…AN INCREDIBLY SUSPENSEFUL READ WITH A ONE-OF-A-KIND VILLAIN WHO IS AS TERRIFYING AS HE IS INTRIGUING.”
—Clive Cussler
“THIS IS HORROR THAT’LL HAVE READERS CHECKING THE WINDOW AND DOOR LOCKS, PULLING DOWN THE SHADES.”
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PROLOGUE
Claude, Texas, 1962
The year he and Ben Toy left Claude, Texas—1962—Thomas Berryman had been in the habit of wearing black cowboy boots with distinctive red stars on the ankles. He’d also been stuffing four twenty-dollar bills in each boot sole. By mid-July the money had begun to shred and smell like feet.
One otherwise unpromising afternoon there’d been a shiny Coupe de Ville out on Ranch Road #5. It was metallic blue. Throwing sun spirals and stars off the bumpers.
He and Ben Toy had watched its approach for six or eight miles of scruffy Panhandle desert. They were doing nothing. “Bored sick and dying fast on a fencerail,” Berryman had said earlier. Toy had only half-smiled.
“You heard about that greaseball Raymond Cone? I suppose you did,” the conversation was going now.
