James Patterson - The Thomas Berryman Number

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

If you purchase this book without a cover you should be aware that this book may have been stolen property and reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher. In such case neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

Copyright 1976 by James Patterson

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The author is grateful to Warner Bros. Music for permission to quote excerpted lyrics from Ballad of a Thin Man by Bob Dylan. Copyright 1965 by M. Witmark & Sons. All rights reserved.

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First eBook Edition: April 1996

The Hachette Book Group Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-759-56762-7

GREAT ACCLAIM FOR JAMES PATTERSON AND

THE THOMAS BERRYMAN NUMBER

PATTERSON JOINS THE ELITE COMPANY OF THOMAS HARRIS AND JOHN SANFORD.

San Francisco Examiner

PATTERSON KNOWS HOW TO SELL THRILLS AND SUSPENSE IN CLEAR, UNWAVERING PROSE.

People

THE THOMAS BERRYMAN NUMBER IS SURE-FIRE!

New York Times

WRITTEN SIMPLY, POWERFULLY, WITH SHIFTING POINTS OF VIEW. The book will satisfy mystery and thriller fans, as well as students of the human condition.

Washington Post Book World

BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN!

Library Journal

JAMES PATTERSON IS TO SUSPENSE WHAT DANIELLE STEEL IS TO ROMANCE.

New York Daily News

PATTERSONS SKILL AT BUILDING SUSPENSE IS ENVIABLE!

Kansas City Star

PATTERSON DEVELOPS CHARACTERS WITH BROAD STROKES AND FINE LINES. Even the villains are multilayered and believable.

Nashville Banner

HURRAY! ONCE YOU READ PAGE ONE YOU WILL NOT STOP UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED.

Robin Moore, author of The French Connection

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.

Buffalo News

PATTERSON KNOWS HOW TO KEEP THE POT BOILING.

Publishers Weekly

MR. PATTERSON IS A SKILLFUL PLOTTER, and has constructed an elaborate thriller full of twists and false starts.

Baltimore Morning Sun

A WILD RIDE, FROM THE IVIED HALLS OF SOUTHERN ACADEMIA TO THE CRASHING BIG SUR SURF.

Denver Post

THIS NOVEL IS HARD TO SET ASIDE. PATTERSONS COMPLEX TALE CHILLS, ENTHRALLS, AND ENTERTAINS THE READER IN A DAZZLING AND UNFORGETTABLE READING EXPERIENCE.

Toronto Star

Robert B. Parkers Spenser, Patricia Cornwells Kay Scarpetta, and Evan Hunters 87th Precinct detectives ITS TIME TO GET OUT THE PARTY HATS, WELCOME JAMES PATTERSON TO THE CLUB.

Grand Rapids Press

A TENSE, COMPLEX PLOT OF ABDUCTION AND MURDER THAT IS HARD TO PUT DOWN. THE READER IS HOOKED FROM PAGE ONEThis is a crime story so scary it will hold the readers attention and leave a lingering horror at the back of the mind for days.

Baton Rouge Magazine

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.

West Coast Review of Books

EXPECT NONSTOP, MUSCLE-JANGLING THRILLS DONT READ IT ALONE, OR ON A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT.

Womans Own Magazine

DESERVES TO BE THIS SEASONS #1 BESTSELLER AND SHOULD INSTANTLY MAKE JAMES PATTERSON A HOUSHOLD NAME.

Nelson DeMille

A FIRST-RATE THRILLERFASTEN 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.

Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)

A TALE WITH THE POLISH OF A MASTERIts the sort of tale that keeps your hands gripping the book and your heart pounding at any unusual noise in the house.

Oakland Press

PATTERSON HAS CREATED A FAST-MOVING, CHARACTER-DRIVEN ROLLER COASTER OF A THRILLER.

Mostly Murder

AS ENGROSSING AS IT IS GRAPHICAN INCREDIBLY SUSPENSEFUL READ WITH A ONE-OF-A-KIND VILLAIN WHO IS AS TERRIFYING AS HE IS INTRIGUING.

Clive Cussler

THIS IS HORROR THATLL HAVE READERS CHECKING THE WINDOW AND DOOR LOCKS, PULLING DOWN THE SHADES.

Hartford Courant

The novel of James Patterson

FEATURING ALEX CROSS

Double Cross

Cross

Mary, Mary

London Bridges

The Big Bad Wolf

Four Blind Mice

Violets Are Blue

Roses Are Red

Pop Goes the Weasel

Cat & Mouse

Jack & Jill

Kiss the Girls

Along Came a Spider

THE WOMENS MURDER CLUB

7th Heaven (and Maxine Paetro)

The 6th Target (and Maxine Paetro)

The 5th Horseman (and Maxine Paetro)

4th of July (and Maxine Paetro)

3rd Degree (and Andrew Gross)

2nd Chance (and Andrew Gross)

1st to Die

OTHER BOOKS

Youve Been Warned (and Howard Roughan)

The Quickie (and Michael Ledwidge)

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Step on a Crack (and Michael Ledwidge)

Judge & Jury (and Andrew Gross)

Maximum Ride: Schools Out Forever

Beach Road (and Peter de Jonge)

Lifeguard (and Andrew Gross)

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Honeymoon (and Howard Roughan)

santaKid

Sams Letters to Jennifer

The Lake House

The Jester (and Andrew Gross)

The Beach House (and Peter de Jonge)

Suzannes Diary for Nicholas

Cradle and All

Black Friday

When the Wind Blows

See How They Run

Miracle on the 17th Green (and Peter de Jonge)

Hide & Seek

The Midnight Club

Season of the Machete

The Thomas Berryman Number

For previews of upcoming James Patterson novel and information about the author, visit www.jamespatterson.com.

Down on the Farm (1962)

Claude, Texas, 1962

The year he and Ben Toy left Claude, Texas1962Thomas Berryman had been in the habit of wearing black cowboy boots with distinctive red stars on the ankles. Hed also been stuffing four twenty-dollar bills in each boot sole. By mid-July the money had begun to shred and smell like feet.