James Patterson has published over three hundred books and this is easily in the top five. Joining with J.D. Barker, Patterson weaves a paranormal thriller that keeps the pages turning and the light on. Death of the Black Widow is a story told over a number of timeframes, beginning in the present—where an old Walter O’Brien is plotting an assassination—moving backward to O’Brien’s first day as a cop, and then forward chronicling his lifelong pursuit of the Black Widow. 

 

Patterson doesn’t typically write supernatural fiction, meaning that the big reveal that the killer wasn’t exactly human was caught me off-guard. It’s a well-written, superbly-concealed secret not made entirely clear until well into the book. The genius is that it leaves readers to grapple with it just like the characters must. Supernatural? Otherworldly? O’Brien is a gritty street cop who deals in facts. Coming to the conclusion that the girl who escaped from him on this first night wasn’t altogether human was something that took years—and part of his sanity. It does the same for the reader. Barker and Patterson also don’t dwell on the supernatural. It’s just written as part of the story, never overshadowing it or becoming a parody of itself. If you wish Steven King wrote like James Patterson, Death of the Black Widow is the novel for you. 

 

Everything from the book’s tone to its setting to its pacing is absolutely perfect. Barker and Patterson craft an intensely creepy story that manages to also feel real and is grounded in reality. The movement across the timeline shows the story’s progression, while slowly explaining the mystery of the modern-day events. At first, it’s not even clear how O’Brien’s first day on the job—where it seems the victim of a kidnapping escapes from his squad car—is related to the current events. What soon becomes obvious is that the person they all thought was the victim was actually the villain…and now, decades later, O’Brien is poised with some vigilante justice to take her down. 

 

Death of the Black Widow is an immersive story that is obviously way more Barker than Patterson. Patterson’s style shines through, but its Barker’s storytelling that really makes the book work, as he makes the unbelievable believable. As I’ve worked my way through Patterson’s seemingly interminable list of books, there are a lot that are good but forgettable. This is the rare Patterson novel that’ll stick with you. As I finished the final page, I was already circling back around to page one for a second read.