James Patterson - The 17th Suspect

A KILLER WHO CHOOSES VICTIMS PERSONALLY GETS TOO CLOSE TO SERGEANT LINDSAY BOXER.

A series of shootings exposes San Francisco to a methodical yet unpredictable killer, and a reluctant woman decides to put her trust in Lindsay Boxer. The confidential informants tip leads Lindsay to disturbing conclusions, including that something has gone horribly wrong inside the police department itself.

The hunt for the killer lures Lindsay out of her jurisdiction, and gets inside her in dangerous ways. Lindsays friends and confidantes in the Womens Murder Club warn her against taking the crimes too much to heart. With lives at stake, the detective cant stop herself from following the case into ever more terrifying terrain.

A decorated officer, loving wife, devoted mother and loyal friend, Lindsay is confronting a killer who is determined to undermine it all.

James Patterson is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. His books have sold in excess of 365 million copies worldwide. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past two decades the Alex Cross, Womens Murder Club, Detective Michael Bennett and Private novels and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers.

James is passionate about encouraging children to read. Inspired by his own son who was a reluctant reader, he also writes a range of books for young readers including the Middle School, I Funny, Treasure Hunters, House of Robots, Confessions, and Maximum Ride series. James has donated millions in grants to independent bookshops and has been the most borrowed author of adult fiction in UK libraries for the past eleven years in a row. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.

Maxine Paetro has collaborated with James Patterson on the bestselling Womens Murder Club, Private, and Confessions series. She lives with her husband in New York State.

To the friends of the Womens Murder Club

1STTO DIE

Four friends come together to form the Womens Murder Club. Their job? To find a killer who is brutally slaughtering newly-wed couples on their wedding night.

2NDCHANCE (with Andrew Gross)

The Womens Murder Club tracks a mystifying serial killer, but things get dangerous when he turns his pursuers into prey.

3RDDEGREE (with Andrew Gross)

A wave of violence sweeps the city, and whoever is behind it is intent on killing someone every three days. Now he has targeted one of the Womens Murder Club

4THOF JULY (with Maxine Paetro)

In a deadly shoot-out, Detective Lindsay Boxer makes a split-second decision that threatens everything shes ever worked for.

THE 5THHORSEMAN (with Maxine Paetro)

Recovering patients are dying inexplicably in hospital. Nobody is claiming responsibility. Could these deaths be tragic coincidences, or something more sinister?

THE 6THTARGET (with Maxine Paetro)

Children from rich families are being abducted off the streets but the kidnappers arent demanding a ransom. Can Lindsay Boxer find the children before its too late?

7THHEAVEN (with Maxine Paetro)

The hunt for a deranged murderer with a taste for fire and the disappearance of the governors son have pushed Lindsay to the limit. The trails have gone cold. But a raging fire is getting ever closer, and somebody will get burned.

8THCONFESSION (with Maxine Paetro)

Four celebrities are found killed and there are no clues: the perfect crime. Few people are as interested when a lowly preacher is murdered. But could he have been hiding a dark secret?

9THJUDGEMENT (with Maxine Paetro)

A psychopathic killer targets San Franciscos most innocent and vulnerable, while a burglary gone horribly wrong leads to a high-profile murder.

10THANNIVERSARY (with Maxine Paetro)

A badly injured teenage girl is left for dead, and her newborn baby is nowhere to be found. But is the victim keeping secrets?

THHOUR (with Maxine Paetro)

Is one of Detective Lindsay Boxers colleagues a vicious killer? She wont know until the 11th hour.

12THOF NEVER (with Maxine Paetro)

A convicted serial killer wakes from a two-year coma. He says hes ready to tell where the bodies are buried, but what does he want in return?

UNLUCKY 13 (with Maxine Paetro)

Someone returns to San Francisco to pay a visit to some old friends. But a cheerful reunion is not on the cards.

14THDEADLY SIN (with Maxine Paetro)

A new terror is sweeping the streets of San Francisco, and the killers are dressed in police uniform. Lindsay treads a dangerous line as she investigates whether the criminals are brilliant imposters or police officers gone rogue.

15THAFFAIR (with Maxine Paetro)

Four bodies are found in a luxury hotel. Lindsay is sent in to investigate and hunt down an elusive and dangerous suspect. But when her husband Joe goes missing, she begins to fear that the suspect she is searching for could be him.

16THSEDUCTION (with Maxine Paetro)

At the trial of a bomber Lindsay and Joe worked together to capture, his defence raises damning questions about Lindsay and Joes investigation.

A list of more titles by James Patterson can be found at the back of this book

JUST AFTER 4 A.M. under a starless sky, a man in a well-worn tweed coat and black knit cap crossed Broadway onto Front Street, humming a tune as he strolled south to Sydney G. Walton Square.

The square was a cozy one-block park, bounded by iron fencing with an artifact of a brick gate set at a diagonal on one corner. Inside were paths and seating and garden beds, cut back now at the end of the growing season.

During the day Walton Square was crowded with office workers from San Franciscos Financial District, eating their take-out lunches near the fountain. At night the streets were empty and the park was occupied by homeless people going through the trash cans, sleeping on the benches, congregating near the gate.

The man in the shapeless tweed coat stopped outside the iron fencing and looked around the park and surroundings with purpose. He was still humming tunelessly and gripping a 9mm gun in his right-hand pocket.

The man, Michael, was looking for someone in particular. He watched for a while as the vagrants moseyed around the park and on the sidewalks that bounded it. He didnt see the woman he was looking for, but he wasnt going to let this night go to waste.

As he watched, a man in a ragged layering of dirty clothing left the park and headed east, in the direction of the Embarcadero and the piers, where the garbage in the trash cans was more exotic than discarded office worker sandwiches.

The ragged man was talking to himself, scratching his beard, and seemed to be counting, touching his right thumb to each of the fingers on his right hand and pensively repeating the ritual.